I may be overthinking this, but would you feel guilty about changing trainer?
Context. I've had my dog for over a year. He is a staffy cross (rescue, so who knows with what). We have been going to classes with the same trainer over that time - not constantly due to cost, but pretty regularly and we work with him at home. I now seem to have got to a stage of finding one particular behaviour tricky to stop.
Basically he lies down and stares at other dogs on walks. He isn't aggressive at all, he seems to just want to play. Tail goes manically etc. However this has many problems. One he is obviously not moving. Also other dog owners are not always great. Most will walk their dog on, I'll ask that their dog doesn't say hello as we are working on getting him to focus on me and check in before any greetings (this is what our current trainer worked with us on). However sometimes dogs are off lead with zero recall or on-lead but just allowed to come over with no permission. He seems to set off some dogs, maybe breed, the staring or that he is still intact, which has led to him being snapped at and bitten at more than once. He has only reacted by growling once to this (and I think this was more because the other dog got too close to my partner) and as yet it doesn't seem to have had any long lasting effect on his behaviour.
Anyway we have done some work with the trainer as I said. She uses stooge dogs, and he does really well in these sessions. However I think this is because once he has seen a dog they don't hold the same level of interest. Hence I'm wondering whether I try a different trainer who may have a different approach. I have a friend with a staffy who worked with a different person.
Both trainers in question are qualified with behaviourist training etc. Is there any value in trying someone else or is it just perseverance? Are some trainers particularly 'good' with different breeds? Also the second trainer is cheaper, which in these times is a consideration.