Not happy with Puppy Trainer and his class

Kayla and I go to training class every Wednesday - £50 for a 6 week course.

The woman is incredible, she knows the breed and works on some really useful stuff like teaching Kayla to take and drop a toy on command. She gets the dogs so calm and really understand each of them.

The man though is terrible. He is obsessed with footwork, he wants the dogs to sit on your left hand side (nowhere else) if you walk off on the left foot they must start on their left, when you stop and put your feet together the dog must stop and sit. He dosent use treats as he thinks puppys shouldnt need them only older dogs, last night he pinned a Dachsaund down because it wouldnt let him grab its collar.

Im really not happy these dogs are puppys trying to stop them wanting to play with one another is hard enough let alone footwork. I was ready to walk out last night but stayed till the end. Myself and the group were talking afterwards and we all agreed he was rubbish, my only problem is I really wanted to get Kayla into agility to keep her focused.

Should I say something to him or not bother. My thoughts are I would rather somebody said it to my face rather than behind my back. The others have said their going to bite their tounge come for the last week next week just for socialisation more than anything then its over.

What do you guys think?

If I am disatisfied with a service I will always let the company know. I would say to try to do it respectfully and let the trainer know what areas of training you feel are important.

I wonder why on the left side though? I was under the impression most people prefer their dogs to walk on their dominant side and most people are right handed.

How come you had the bloke last time?? It is abit like a vet.. you need to feel comfortable with them. Can you enquire with the company and just find out when the lady would be doing it?? Sounds like not many people like the bloke.. and no wonder.. as you say they are only puppies for heavens sakes..not robots!! You are paying alot of money and should be happy with the service you are ( or in this case aren't !! ) getting. Maybe there are other places where you could do agility.. or is that the only place in your area.

jstaff wrote:If I am disatisfied with a service I will always let the company know. I would say to try to do it respectfully and let the trainer know what areas of training you feel are important.

I wonder why on the left side though? I was under the impression most people prefer their dogs to walk on their dominant side and most people are right handed.

Not sure why they say the left side, but this is what i've always been told also........my last dog always walked on my left but Roxy is still to learn this.

If there is only one week left for your training class, I would attend and bite my toungue while there, and phone after (or have a quiet word with the nice lady) to speak with somebody about the way this man behaved/dealt with the dogs and owners. This way you'd still be able to give them your opinion as I'm sure they would like feedback.

I always walk harvey on my right side as for some reason he walks a lot nicer that side.

I would definitely tell the company of any complaints or worries that you might have.

I wouldn't train any dog for a trainer I didn't agree with. You'll feel frustrated and your dog will know. Are there any other options in your area? If it's just the one lesson left and it'll help you towards agility training you might just try to ignore him, though. A good argument - tell him you plan to do agility, and an agility dog needs to follow its owner equally well on both sides

About the left thing - my dogs always walk on my left. That way, when we walk along roads and meet a car I'll be between the car and the dog (plus it's the interesting side for the dogs, the one with the most scents). It's also the correct side for obedience competitions, but since I also plan to do agility I teach him to follow me on both sides off leash.

I heard the reason being that the left is away from the road, but the way I go its usually the right side - anyways very odd!?!

The frustration is the most annoying thing, I know Kayla is a good dog and I dont care if she steps in line with me, I tend to just hang at the back of the class and do what I want like a naughty school boy.

The man and the woman swop, one week on one week off.

I think I will bite my tounge next week and have fun with the others in the class. Afterwards I will ask the lady if there's any courses she does alone and come to those. If she does agility I will stick with it - if its him I will look for somewhere else

im sorry but he PINNED a puppy down just because he wouldnt let him grab his collar!? .. that is disgusting!! the pup will associate his collar been touched with that if it carrys on and be scared stiff of people touching his collar!
what an idiot!

i would blow up if that was my dog lol ..he'd be pinned to the ground unable to get up for a while!

Personally, I would go for the last week if its not going to be him as you have paid, and its still socialisation, but I would put it in writting about the aspects you are not happy with. It will benefit him (maybe) but also others who will attend the course in the future. How disapointing for you.

As for sides, I will always walk with me between the road and her, whatever side that is! She's off any other time.

Yeah he said to make the dog sit and not jump up you need to hold it down byt its collar. He showed us this on the Dauchsand and as he grabbed the collar it started shuffeling and squealling. He then held it in the sit position which wound it up more, as it started to pull he got the dog onto its side on the floor and pinned it down till it stopped squealling - I was shocked in all honesty.

It just feels like hes read a book on how to train and is sticking to the letter - he dosent look at the individual dog

woah!!! surely nice friendly approach and firm voice works so much better and doesn't scare the living daylights out of the poor pup!

Skimsa wrote:It just feels like hes read a book on how to train and is sticking to the letter - he dosent look at the individual dog

I'm sure he's got good intentions, but I find it rather sad that a dog trainer (anywhere) doesn't keep up to date on how training methods has improved over the years (well, the theory is getting pretty old, actually, but dog trainers first started catching up to it in the 80s and now we also know why and how it works, not just that it works). Using punishments always have side effects and you never know for sure what they will be until after you try.. It can be minor or major, but why risk it..

Hes old-school and sounds like he focuses on the competition obedience side of things. However thats for people who are interested in competing and definately has little place in a puppy class, I think you could maybe say something to him about slightly outdated training methods and using more positive reinforcement. He will probably get funny if hes been 'in dogs' for a while but I'm sure he will think about it and when he tries different methods he will see the difference.

Or maybe bring it up with the lady trainer if you dont feel you can explain thoroughly to him personally. He isnt deliberately being mean to the dogs, its how we were all taught years ago, he just hasn't change with the times!

We had trouble with a trainer when we took Sophie to training classes.

Everything had to be done her way and when we told her our vet had advised against giving Sophie a raw bone she got realy snotty so we never went again.

Luckily we found a trainer who would come to us and he was great, an ex policedog trainer who believes in making the dog think and work out what you want it to do.

All the training was on a reward basis, cheese or sausage being the main treats, he really worked wonders with Sophie.

there must be more training centres in your area. where do you live.
if i was the owner of the dog that was pinned down i know what i would have done but that kind of language is not allowed on here LOL

jaleeson wrote:
if i was the owner of the dog that was pinned down i know what i would have done but that kind of language is not allowed on here LOL

Me too!, old training way or not, i dont think pinning any dog ESPECIALLY a pup down in a way of training is the right way but thats my opinion! lol