Trainers keep turning me down.

After some consideration I decided that Tilly and myself could do with a little outside help. Over the past couple weeks I have contacted over a dozen trainers and been ‘turned down’ (ignored) by all. I don’t understand because yes, while Tilly is a nightmare, she’s not aggressive. In my emails I explained that it would be best to have the initial meet/session outside of the home because Tilly is not fond of people coming to the house but would be more happy/calm to interact without. If further sessions would be needed she would then most likely be more comfortable with the trainer then coming into the home. Once I explained all of this in the email and went into depth of the things we need help with I received no further answer.

There’s only one class within walking distance of us, (she gets car sick), and I don’t think a class would cover the things we need help with. I don’t know what to do?

Where are you based? It seems extremely rude to not even answer your email! I certainly wouldn't bother with people that don't reply, they are probably not up to the job!!!!

Wow, prejudiced or what?

She's a Stafford, you need help.... she must be a demon!

Basically they don't have a clue HOW to help & so personally I think you're better off without them.

What's your main concern? Try to prioretise (sp?) your problems & we'll try to help, one by one!

I thought it was very rude too! Could’ve just said ‘oh, don’t think we can help with that’ instead of completely ignoring me. It’s things I’ve posted about on here before some months back. Pulling and diverting on lead, the new ruffwear harness helps but it’s still bad, she managed to floor me a few days ago by rushing forward and then swinging herself to the right randomly on a busy street.

Scavenging, she’ll let me clip the muzzle now but then almost instantly still freaks out and runs away, thought if a trainer could help me stop the problem altogether that might be better.

Since she’s not very people friendly thought they could also help with that. She’s fine with people she knows/has time to get used to. Fine with kids, usually fine with women but some men on their own she doesn’t like.

Some she will just ignore or shy away from, some for example if one is coming towards us on the street you can see the tension in her. She stares at them and doesn’t move or she sometimes diverts towards them, never touches. Never even gets close enough to touch, more like a ‘back off’ warning which is strange since the people I got her from were two men. They were a little strange but seemed nice enough.

Now that I’ve been looking more closely at our problems it all seems to come down to general nervousness. Certain situations make some of the behaviours worse.

I don’t know how to not make her feel nervous though. Not like I can sit her down and explain that she doesn’t need to eat everything in sight because she’s scared or that man isn’t going to do anything.

I wouldn’t even know where to begin which is why I was willing to try a trainer.

This is terrible! Some trainers are so unprofessional and don't actually know how to deal with issues and just like to deal with easy puppy classes.

I must admit when I first got Misty a lot of places didn't even contact me back and a couple that did said they were full but would let me know when they had spaces. However that was years ago and I never heard from them again! I was lucky to find an amazing training school and we still go every week. Where are you based?

That’s horrible. I am in Sheffield. I’ve tried trainers from around here, two in Rotherham and Leeds dog school which on their site says they cover all South Yorkshire and train a variety of stubborn breeds but hey ho, no answer when I messaged. A lady I met on our walk yesterday told me there was someone in my area that used to train police dogs. She couldn’t remember his name but said she would find out for me so I may have one upcoming option.

She's nervous (unsure) as simple as that.

Try building up her confidence in YOU. Distract & reward.

As said work on distract and reward if she is food orientated. When walking her i would walk in two leads, the normal harness when she is walking well but also hold a lead attached to a clip on the front of the harness? You may need a new harness. In my view a harness gives them too much to pull with which is maybe why she is able to pull you off your feet..with the chest attachment she will still be able to pull but physics dictate it won't be with the same force.

As for the trainers...they probably only train fluffy lap dogs!

Easier said than done. She often doesn’t want what I have or will take it and then carry on as she was doing. I have tried the turning thing a lot of websites suggest for pulling, to make her watch me but doesn’t work. The ruffwear has a front clip and I use both the front and back, still pulls. She hops like a galloping horse. Yesterday she ate dog poop, never done that before

Just a thought, and you may have already answered this, but what food do you give her?

Arden Grange, mix of wet and dry twice a day + usually a mid afternoon snack between meals. Fruit/veg/meat or a recreational bone every now and again. This is the second brand she’s ‘gone off’ won’t eat the dry unless it’s thoroughly mixed with wet or the wet is underneath. Even then she sometimes spits it out. I rotate the flavours every month but...‍�
And she always checks the bin/sides afterwards, sometimes before to see if there’s anything better on offer.
I’ve been looking into raw though and plan on trying her on that when this bag runs out following BARF U.K. guidelines. Don’t know if it will help, probably won’t, but maybe she’ll be a bit more satisfied.

I wonder if she needs a simpler food than kibble? I would always recommend a good, balanced raw complete - there are a few available. They appear expensive, but you feed a fraction of the amount needed with kibble. You usually feed about 2% of your dog's 'ideal' weight. So a 20 kilo 'ideal weight' would mean you feed 400gms of raw. However, it can be adjusted to your dog's lifestyle & can still be quite reasonably priced.

Have a look at Nutriment, Benyfit, Country Hunter & compare the prices.

MANY behavioural problems are linked to diet, so it's always worth looking at different foods.

Thanks, I’ll have a look at those brands. I downloaded an app called raw pet and that totals up how much meat, offal and bone she’d want per meal at 2.5% of her body weight. All that’s left is to buy a second freezer and get stuck in. If diet really is the issue here I’ll be happy but also really peed off lol. I was going to switch her to raw last year and changed my mind because of our vet.

Hi Shan11.
How is the training going. Any progress?
Is your dog still pulling on the lead?

Hi, you know what I have seen a bit of improvement with her since the switch to raw. She's still pulling on the lead most of the time and picking up bits of crap she manages to scramble to (hard to avoid in this area) but she hasn't eaten any poop since the switch so I'm happier lol!

I've still been unable to find a local trainer that would take her and despite my best efforts I can't find a video or blog training guide that tells me something I haven't already tried or one that works for her.

Atm I'm just trying to make sure she gets at least one good walk with plenty of enrichment. Walking a different way or taking her to the school to get my niece, a chance to burn off some energy, playtime and some kind of brain game.

She seems mostly content with that. Still having the zoomies every so often, general naughty behaviour ect. All she ever wants to do is go out. I feel terrible sometimes when my hands/muscles just can't take anymore.

I did get her some travel eeze pills as well which have stopped the car puking but brought on the screaming! Hoping we can build her on this so in the summer we might be able to take some drives and get out to new places. Suppose we'll see.

Thanks for the update, hope you continue to make progress.

I was watching a new TV program last night which puts misunderstood pets and owners in contact with trainers, behaviorists, vets etc.

One lady and her child had a big/extreme pulling problem with a 10 month old border collie cross.
Trainer swapped juliusz-type harness for leather collar. He then proceeded to explain that pulling dog ends up in front so becomes the leader. Human needs to take the leading role back.

The exercise was that each time the dog overtook the “human”, human then immediately changes direction. At first, human crouches a little to dog’s level and resists to dog pulling in order to get attention and indicate change of direction. When dog walks to heel even a couple of paces, reward with stroke or treat. This was done in a large open space first (rather than in town) and dog on TV paid much more attention to humans to the extent that it was walking to heel with “washing line” lead.

I can only wish this success to you and you may have already tried, but maybe Tilly just needs much much more repetition than most other individuals ...

What was the show called? I wouldn't mind having a look. I have tried this method in the past and honestly she was dragging her neck that bad her eyes were popping out/bloodshot. I thought she was going to kill herself which was why I switched to a harness at 1yo. I previously used leather collars also. Might have put this above already but she would turn eventually and just shoot forward full speed, run back behind me and do the same over and over again. I haven't tried this since but maybe now she's older it might be worth revisiting. I wouldn't go back to a collar though, not at first.

+ I must say in 'clean' areas her pulling is almost nonexistent. She still tugs the odd time or jumps when she's scared but it's the mess that catches her out 9/10 times. We went to stay with family during the holidays and there's no rubbish strewn around up there. It was lovely walking her! Felt like I could breathe and enjoy the walk, not having to stare at the ground for every crumb or the apple in the road she might lunge for! Think I mentioned this before as well in original post. I've watched videos on scavenging dogs and none of their methods work for us. Once we're out of the door there's a buffet and she's in her own world.

I’m not in the UK so you probably can’t access the program, but I’ve more-or-less described the principle.
I understand about choking goggle-eyed with collar but I think you can achieve the same with a second lead on the front of your harness.

I can’t remember if you stated how long you’ve had her. From puppy weaning or maybe she’s a rescue ?

Ah, shame. I've had her from 9 weeks old.

If it’s any help, the trainer is called Leandro Da Silva but I’m sure there are others.

The 'stop & turn the other way' method should work just as well with a harness (especially a front or side clip one, as with a collar.

I don't think you need to get down to the dog's level, as if it's already pulling, you're likely to lose your balance!

As soon as your dog goes ahead, immediately do an about turn, with whatever word you want to use ("heal", "close" etc). When they catch up, do exactly the same. This time, as soon as your dog reaches your side praise and/or treat.

The idea is that your dog will get confused about where they're going & will begin to look for your guidance!

gillybrent wrote:The 'stop & turn the other way' method should work just as well with a harness (especially a front or side clip one, as with a collar.

I don't think you need to get down to the dog's level, as if it's already pulling, you're likely to lose your balance!

As soon as your dog goes ahead, immediately do an about turn, with whatever word you want to use ("heal", "close" etc). When they catch up, do exactly the same. This time, as soon as your dog reaches your side praise and/or treat.

The idea is that your dog will get confused about where they're going & will begin to look for your guidance!

Thanks for the interpretation gilly , spot on !