dog trainers in sussex and what they can do

I will put my question first and you read why I put this question if you like.

So do dog trainers only train good dogs as I have tried three and Cookie is still aggressive on the lead and doesn't know how to greet other dogs, she loves people and will try to scare off their dogs so she can get the love.

Cookie is a staff x and is now 4yrs old she is easy to train AT HOME! but just like most dogs is a different dog out side.
When I first got her at 6mths from the RSPCA she was trained by me, then because she had lead aggression I thought I would take her training with other dogs to get her used to being near other dogs, we went for 12 weeks and wasn't aloud near the other dogs and at the end was only aloud to play on her own except when a gun dog was at training as he was as big as Cookie and just as playful. I asked the trainer what I could do with Cookie and was told "go to a park tie her to a bench and sit there till she got used to dogs passing her".
I didn't do that but we carried on training her at home and when we are out she has friends but she is always in their faces and can't meet other dogs properly so I saw a dog walking training coarse every Sunday groups of dogs learning with other owners and a trainer, it meant driving from Brighton to Worthing but if it worked it would be worth it. I had to go to a one to one and she said the walk would be good for her so I started going. Cookie was very excited when she got near the other dogs but calmed down enough to do the training but as it was in an open field if another dog went past she was off again so after about 4 or 5 sessions she stop inviting us a long. I called the doggy day care that was on the tv and asked if that could help Cookie they emailed back and asked couple of questions when I answered they never got back to me. I also think the training we have had could of made it worse not better because she has been stopped from meeting dogs not trained to meet dogs, which isn't something you can do in the park with of dogs as it isn't fair
on other dogs and owners.
so is my question fair?
thank you for reading

I'm glad you didn't go down the tying her to a park bench route! What a stupid suggestion!

It might be that Cookie needs you to work with her on a one to one basis away from classes first. Classes are intense for sensitive dogs and staffies are very sensitive! Especially with indoor classes, there's a heck of a lot of pressure and nowhere to go. Even joining in an outdoor class or walk sounds too much for her, too close and too many dogs.

There are some great methods out there if you're up for giving it a go on your own. I love the BAT method

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t64420-bat-training-for-dog-on-dog-aggression-and-other-things

and clicker training. There another method called Control Unleashed that uses clicker that's great too.

They require a bit of reading and getting your head round, and then setting things up for the dog to succeed, but they are good and if you get it right they can really help. Let me know if you would like links or anything.

Tying a dog to a bench and wait I've never heard of such a stupid suggestion. If anything it would cause more anxiety as Cookie wouldn't be able to control her own environment!! I think you'd be better off away from this so called trainer.

Interactions with other dogs is key to making Cookie feel comfortable but the issue is how to achieve this. I'm not a trainer but have had success with my girl so can only offer what worked for us.

My Flo was a rescue so you don't know what they've experienced before and kinda have to work out what works in any given situation. Now my Flo is fine with dogs she knows but is nervous around those that she doesn't know which makes dogs bounding up to her in the park quiet stressful especially if there is more than one at a time.

She will quiet happily walk passed them without taking much more than a sideways glance and I've even seen her protect a friends small dog from unwanted attention even though they don't really play together much. What we have found is that not all that appears to be aggression actually is, most times its heightened excitement so that's something I would work on, figuring out Cookies body language.

To control my Flo whilst off lead and when she is unsure we use a distraction. My Flo loves her Stix and we started off by distracting her with that when we could see potential conflict. Over a period of time she now looks to us for her Stix whenever she is unsure and this works 99.9% of the time.

The advice that Liz has offered is always very good, do let us know how you get on.