Dog Health Questions: Should i be worried about my dog trainer?

I went along to a dog training class and ive been there about 3 months now doing well :) then...a new trainer starts and I feel being to hard on my dog (harsh corrections, aggressive shouting and getting in his face) to the point he was cowering! Outside she told me to put him on a choke chain i refused as he heels fine without one. She asked me what he was crossed with, i replyed hes not crossed hes border collie she said he cant be as his tail is curled up and he has spots and then laughed at me saying that he wasnt a collie at all! I found lots of websites where collies have tails up and over their backs with spots! (known as ticked i now know)...Im worried she clearly knows nothing about the breed? I have already decided im NEVER going back but should i write and complain about the treatment of my puppy and the fact she knows nothing and ridiculed me!

Be a Responsible Dog Owner and Consider Using a Dog Training Collar!

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Heck yeah! Her boss needs to know...and SHE needs to know that we have moved on to a better way of training these days and that her harsh methods won't be tolerated. Even more so, to ridicule a customer is not acceptable either.

And imagine all the other owners out there who will just go with the flow assuming this is the best way to train! Poor dogs. You can get much better results and a lovely relationship with your dog if you treat them with respect and as a pack leader would - which is NOT yelling or putting a choke chain on!!

Passive and Active Dog Training Techniques

• yes i agree with you there, she sounds like she doesn't know what she's doing at all. You should get the dog to respect you, not cower in fear before you. I feel that you did the right thing by leaving those classes imediately and i recommend that you tell the other people who go there to leave as well, you don't want their dogs to develop behavior problems from improper training!


• So, who are you going to complain to? Just let it go.


• Most dogs are driven to *please* their owners. This is why positive reinforcement works better than shouting. I've had lots of "bad" dogs :) and have found, across the board, that a firm "NO" coupled with the startling sound of a single hand clap is as extreme as you need to go as long as you lavish lots of praise for good behavior.
  
  Personally, I've seen too many injuries caused by choke collars. A harness or Halti works just fine. I tried choke and prong collars with one of my dogs a few years ago - turns out he has such a high pain tolerance that the pinch didn't register. The annoyance of the Halti, did, however.
  
  There are lots and lots of unqualified dog trainers out there. There are also trainers who will use methods you disagree with. Stick to someone who tries to train with your own beliefs in mind.


• The problem is not just the trainer but the system the class is using. It is a punishment based method. I recommend quitting that school all together and finding a reward based, positive reinforcement method class. The type of training your dog is getting now is only teaching it to be fearful and insecure. R+ training will build your dog's confidence and your bond with him.
  
  Plus is sounds like that trainer is a breed snob.
  
  I'd report them to the Better Business Bureau. Also check to see if they are member of the Chamber of Commerce in your area, if so I'd report them there, too. You could also post online reviews of them places like www.dogster.com (dogster local) or various city listings.


• The trainer you're describing sounds like a real loser.
  
  Yes, please send a respectful, unemotional letter of complaint to the parent body/club.
  
  There is zero need for punishing dogs, "harsh" "corrections", choke chains, or making a dog fearful in any way. That's totally the domain of losers who don't know what they're doing.
  
  The more anyone knows about dogs the more he/she realizes he/she doesn't know. No one...and I mean no one...can definitively determine a dog's breed by appearance. We can guess. But that's all we're doing. Some of us make more educated guesses than others. All dog breeds are genetically identical (for all intents and purposes). In some places it is illegal to say any dog is a "purebred" (this or that) unless it is registered with the national kennel club. And in all my years having fun at guessing the breeds of dogs, I've come across many that are purebreds who don't look like their breed standard, and mixes that look like purebreds.
  
  Where I live, Border Collies were de-listed a few years ago precisely because there is too much variation to form an agreed-upon standard amongst local fanciers. I meet BC's that are anywhere from 15lbs to 70lbs, and every colour under the rainbow.


• DEFINITELY complain directly to the club. She doesn't sound like a very good trainer. Your poor dog too. :' ( And yup, border collies commonly have curled tails and/or spotted backs.