Hopefully... [UPDATE]

UPDATE:
Meeting the trainer on monday and we'll see how that lesson goes and go from there.
It's quite cheap considering he has to drive all the way to me and all the way back, which is still a bit of a drive.

This will be a good chance for Dragon to meet a few dogs on a controlled environment and with someone who knows what they're doing. He's bring some dogs with him that are trained as well I think, well worth a try I had some money saved up for some lessons anyway and this is my view is better than going into a training class for dogs with loads of dogs who are as naughty as Dragon.

First things first, find out how much it is going to cost, and also find some recommendations of the trainer, does he/she have a website? Xx

I got recommended him by a very good trainer from the U.S.A.
He said the prices were rather cheap and that we'd work something out and asked me for some details about Dragon and what he's like.

I'm going to ask him if instead he could come see me instead of me letting my dog go to his house, although I'd think that would be more expensive since he lives close but not that that close, so I'd probably have to pay for his petrol but at least I know what's happening, I see what he does and I still get to see my dog 24/7

Oh I think he was planning on coming to me everyday anyway. He asked me what days and what times would be nice to meet up, so I think he's going to come around see Dragon, maybe take him for a walk with his dogs and see how it goes. But I don't know.. Just hope this is all affordable because I would love to have my boy being able to do all the basic commands and being able to be around dogs and play, would be a dream coming true and then I could even maybe get a rescued staffy or a puppy. Let's not get my hopes up again though

No, don't even consider it! If he's been trained in the USA he'll almost certainly use prong and/or shock collars!

Does he have any UK qualifications? Can he supply references? How does he train?

Why does he need to take Dragon away from you to do it? I'll tell you why - because most people won't like his methods.

He wasn't trained in the U.S.A, but he's friends with a trainer that is from the U.S.A which recommended me to talk to him, I saw the trainer teaching the puppies (the one from the U.S.A) and decided to give her an email and see if she had any suggestions on what to do. She then said if I lived in the U.S.A I said no I live in the UK so she said she'll send my email to a friend of hers that would mail me, which he did and we're now talking about things and planning on meeting up.

I thought he had to go to his house (because the other trainer from the U.S.A did that so I thought he'd do the same but no) he's actually going to drive all the way to me and teach Dragon while I'm there so there will be no shock collars involved or anything like that as I'll be there to watch everything. Mostly he's going to help Dragon with his commands first and then once he knows the basic commands he's going to use them to socialize Dragon with his dogs etc.

You can teach him basic commands! You don't need a trainer, and do you know how much it is going to cost yet?

Not yet, we're talking over email and he's not replied yet I think were going to discuss the prices when we meet, I said to him I was worried about the costs of all this, he said it doesn't really cost much and it's quite affordable and that we'd talk about prices later and asked me about how Dragon is and what has happened etc. He then asked me for what days and times would be good to meet up, which I replied any day and any time

I know I can teach him the commands myself but that's not what I'm worried about it's then after the commands being learn, me being unable to socialize him, the most I could do would be make him avoid other dogs. Now since he has a lot of dogs which are well trained and he knows what he's doing would make it much easier after he learns the commands.

Most Trainers will tell you straight away that its actually you they are going to train and then you train the dog. Please don't even consider trusting anyone else to train your dog without being there with him.

Yes, I'll be there to watch what he's doing and see how Dragon reacts to all of it etc.

But you said he'd have to take Dragon away. No good trainer trains your dog - they train you to train your dog.

Please, please don't go down this route. At least ask for the trainer's qualifications & then check to make sure they are good, reward based methods. Personally I wouldn't touch this trainer with a bargepole.

Joe give me your money and i will take Dragon for 2 weeks, you can see him everyday and i will tell you i have been working on the basic commands that you have taught him anyway, at least everyday twice a day, it's not my fault if his aggression problems don't go away, it has nothing to do with me using barbaric methods or if i bother at all. But i will charge you daily for food and shelter plus lessons. Please mate think carefully it sounds dodgy to me but i have been wrong before

Honestly, Joe, think very carefully about this.

I am thinking carefully at the moment I don't even have the money to pay him, so the lessons can't start yet. I'll gladly meet with him and his dogs to arrange things and to see what he thinks about Dragon, but until I have the money there's no lessons, right? In the meantime, I'm still training Dragon myself, just been out in the garden training the ''Come'' ''Sit/Stay'' Commands which are going amazing! He came back to me nearly every single time, the only times he didn't come back was because my neighbors made a loud noise and he was looking to see what it was, eventually he came back, but them times I didn't give him a treat as he didn't come back I asked him to, I said good boy but no treats, when he came back as soon as I called him I'd give him 2-3 treats and if he came back at the second time I called him he'd get 1 treat (only because he still learning the command we only started today, so coming back at the second time when called isn't that bad although I'm going to only give him treats in a day or two only when he comes back the first time I call him). Also the stay/sit command he does very very well, only problem is if he can't see me he'll move and try to find me

Forgot to mention after all that he got some play time, well deserved play time. From now on this will be my routine until he learns his commands.
Lessons in the morning after play time and feed time.
Lessons around 4 in the afternoon play time and feed time.
Lessons at about 8 and then some more play time.

Within a week he should know his command very well and be able to command whenever called I think.

no way in hell would i leave my dog with a trainer for any amount of time without me there, i don't care if they are the best ever.

I'd go somewhere else you have no idea what training he will do while your not there no matter what he tells you

True, that was one of my concerns but he said he'd come to us (if we decide to take the lessons).

DragonTheStaffie wrote:True, that was one of my concerns but he said he'd come to us (if we decide to take the lessons).

if you can do normal training with you and dragon which is how it should be, theres no point training dragon if you don't know what he's done. Then go for that the idea is you and dragon get 'trained'

Agree with ella. Theres no point training dragon if you won't know the commands.

I was going to say it sounds like a bad idea if Dragon was staying with the man. Trainers want the owner to be around so the owner learns what to do, and also how they can improve how they train their dog. But you cleared that up, so no harm in it if you'll be there to see what he's doing, hope it works out

DragonTheStaffie wrote:But on the positive side, he'll be a totally different dog if we do this, he'll come back being ok with other dogs and doing all the basic commands, which is very good.

Sorry, Joe, but how do you know he'll be totally different with other dogs? If he isn't, you won't get your money back! You have to understand that some staffords are just not good with other dogs. They may be ok with some, but not others, it's part of their breed genetics, & the only thing that will change this is aversive training - ie punishment; shock collars, prong collars etc. This man won't be able to do anything that you can't do yourself. The only short cuts are through punishment & often pain/fear.

DragonTheStaffie wrote:Also before he works with him, Dragon has to be neutered, so another thing that I have to pay for, this will not be cheap but at the end it'll be worth it. Now that I found the right person, I need to get the money...

Why must he be castrated? Castration is not guaranteed to change a dog's character or make them more friendly. In fact some neutered dogs get 'picked on' by others and therefore get into more fights.

I know it sounds like we're all ganging up here, but this guy sounds like a complete charlatan to be honest. What are his qualifications for training?

i missed the neutering part, did he give you a reason for him to be neutered?

Neutering is very unlikely to change his behaviour to other dogs and it COULD potentially make it worse.

Stay well clear

hope it goes well

Meeting the trainer on monday and we'll see how that lesson goes and go from there.
It's quite cheap considering he has to drive all the way to me and all the way back, which is still a bit of a drive.

This will be a good chance for Dragon to meet a few dogs on a controlled environment and with someone who knows what they're doing. He's bring some dogs with him that are trained as well I think, well worth a try I had some money saved up for some lessons anyway and this is my view is better than going into a training class for dogs with loads of dogs who are as naughty as Dragon.

Hi Joe, have you 'shopped' around? Before i do anything i shop around look what is going to be best for me or my family which i would recommend for you. make a few phone calls, they do not have to be generally in your area but you can call for advice. i would personally carry on working on your commands with dragon, he trusts you as this is showing in how much he is learning, just take baby steps as i said before Rome wasn't built in a day, i would give your self weeks to learn his commands so you do not feel disheartened etc me personally I am for castration but that's my preference.

Keep what doing what your doing joe and all will be well

rebeccaleanne wrote:Hi Joe, have you 'shopped' around? Before i do anything i shop around look what is going to be best for me or my family which i would recommend for you. make a few phone calls, they do not have to be generally in your area but you can call for advice. i would personally carry on working on your commands with dragon, he trusts you as this is showing in how much he is learning, just take baby steps as i said before Rome wasn't built in a day, i would give your self weeks to learn his commands so you do not feel disheartened etc me personally I am for castration but that's my preference.

Keep what doing what your doing joe and all will be well

yes but castration shouldn't be forced just because the trainer says so, it shouldn't be relied on as fixing problems

This trainer doesn't ask for castration. We taking 1 lesson to see how it goes, there's nothing to lose but there might be something o gain from it so we decided to take at least 1 lesson just to see how it goes.

From your update that sounds pretty good actually Joe. One lesson won't hurt and you will know where you stand.

try before you buy is always good.

Mani thing is I've had Dragon for a while now and I been trying getting him to at least ignore other dogs etc which has not worked and he has became more aggressive since I've got him, so I most be doing something wrong to get him even more aggressive, so getting a lesson from someone who knows what they're doing is better.. I'm sure I'll learn a few things and if the lesson is basically rubbish I don't have to get another lesson etc.

He sounds like a nice man and he has done some training with aggressive dogs worse than Dragon, so hopefully this will go well and with time and effort Dragon might became more friendly if not at least be able to ignore other dogs which is always better than having to keep him on the lead.

Do you know any other dog owners in your area? You could ask them to take walkies w/ you and Dragon. Mani growled like a dog from hell at my dad's old chow (13 years old!) but then after being in the same flat together for 15 minutes he went over to her and nestled on her fur for a nap.

We don't know many trustworthy people to walk Dragon with, we've met up with a few people but then they were unable to meet us again and we had to wait another like 2 weeks to meet the same dog and it wasn't helping, although the problem with Dragon is not that, he doesn't like any dogs at all and he doesn't trust them, if a dog comes from behind him he gets scared and has to watch the dog to see what the dog is doing, and when another dog tries to sniff him he doesn't like it and bites the other dog. He also doesn't seem to want to sniff other dogs, he just doesn't really know how to socialize mostly because his old owner never socialized him with any other dogs.

But I'm going to try get a friend of mine to meet me every so now and often while this training lessons are going on so we can walk the dogs together etc and hopefully with some lessons + him walking with another dog he'll start to understand dogs aren't bad and he can trust them.

Hi, I've been reading your post s for a while and 1)you're doing great job with him, in such short time he learn a lot and all thanks to you. You did it. 2) your dog looks amazing! But I've got the feeling you try to rush things. Look how far you both got working together? Maybe you don't need a trainer? Like someone said that your dog might behave perfect around the trainer's perfect behaving dogs,but what if it's only then? There is so many not well behaving dogs. Just my thoughts. Good luck

Yes I might try to rush my dog a little bit , it's probably because he learns so quick and I try to teach to many things at once, and yes he's came a long way in doing some commands but the aggression has got way worse and is getting worse and I don't know how to deal with it, and if I just leave it for me to try make him better there's always a chance I do it wrong and end up making him worse, therefor the reason I thought of a trainer. Where I live there's a massive ''dog'' park, it's really a dog park but that's where everyone takes their dog and there's always dog running around etc. Once he's behaving good with the trainers dog of the lead and knows his commands, me and the trainer will take him over to that park with an extendable lead (just in case something happens) and let him run around and see how reacts towards other dogs.

Hopefully things will work out well, but 1 lesson wont hurt there's only something to gain from that lesson, plus it's very cheap.. i mentioned about my mum being on benefits and he then said he'll do a special price for us since we're on benefits, so that's good. He'll hardly make any money from this because most of the money will go for his petrol as he has to drive to me and he still lives a bit far-ish.

The problem I have with Debo is over exited around dogs when he's on the lead. He used to pull like mad to get to other dog. So we had to teach to be relaxs around them and that is ok not say hello to every one of them. I tought him watch command. So when we're about walk next to other dog, I asked Debo to sit and watch me, with a treat ofcourse. And give him the treat when he stay on that possition. I know you want the best for your dog just be careful with the trainer. Well I guess see how it goes on Mon and play it by ears.