What is the Worst.....

...training method ever suggested to you for one of your dogs' issues--either by a "professional" trainer or "mainstream"(hee, heee) dog owner?

The one that took the cake for us was during a phone consult with a trainer about Sally's timidness towards strangers. He suggested that when we brought her to see him that he put an e-collar on her and have strangers come up to interact with her--if she tried to escape the situation he would correct her with the e-collar until she stopped trying to escape.

Needless to say the relationship with that trainer ended when i hung up the phone.....

I ran into someone at the park that got angry about me using treats to reward the girls for staying, heeling, and recall. This is what she said.

"You don't need to train dogs. You just talk to them and they do what you tell them to"

I guess it's magic. *shrug*

i have often been told that I shouldn't use treats...

I have been doing it all wrong.... thanks for the tip... I just had this conversation,

"Chloe when I tell you to sit, I do mean for more then 5 seconds..." She slightly tilted her head, does that mean she understands and will now comply? :lol-sign:

I have had some interesting trainer experiences:

Took Elle to Petsmart classes, the trainer says to stand above her with a treat dangling in front of her face and SAY nothing... she will understand this means sit she did NOTHING, he told the class she was just a little bit "slow"... we left the class.

Took her to another trainer... she plopped her butt on the floor and refused to move, the trainer said you just drag them until they start moving on their own, I refused... the trainer took the leash from my hand and dragged her across the floor (she never started walking on her own)... we left the class.

Poor Elle, was before we knew any better... thankfully trainer 3 was MUCH better... taught us and her A LOT. She is now knows all her commands and has apparently gotten over her poor training experiences.

Chloe & Armani I trained myself without classes, it went much better that way, maybe slower but better.

The idiot "trainer" at PetSmart. The first five minutes of our puppy class (which I only wanted to use for socialization - Auggie already knew everything they were teaching) she told us to let our dogs out to the end of their leads and greet the other dogs. FACE-TO-FACE GREETING. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.
Against my better judgement I let Auggie get up and go see the other dogs, because he really really wanted to. The dalmation mix across from us sprang free from his owner and grabbed my little dog by the face.

HUGE socialization setback. The trainer then encouraged me to let Auggie "cower" under a chair. Are you kidding me? No thank you. I ignored her completely and basically played Look At That with him (even though I hadn't read CU then and didn't know that was what we were playing. =P)

The irony of the whole thing is the dal mix's owner brought her son (7 or 8 years old maybe) with her, and her son kept looking at the pit mixes and going "that's a BAD dog, that's a BAD dog!" There was also a very beautiful, sweet pitbull, and after the training session was over the trainer told us to let our dogs off their leads so they could run amuck This is when most of LAT was played, but I digress. This lovely pitbull went around smelling all the people and went over to smell this kid and he FREAKED OUT, clambering up on his chair and yelling "GET AWAY, GET AWAY, THAT'S A BAD DOG!"
I wanted to smack the kid and his mom upside the head. How dare you teach your kid that pitties are "bad dogs" when YOUR dog is the only one who put his teeth on another dog??

Also the pitbull was the only big dog in that class that Auggie liked. She was just so sweet and basically exuded gentleness and calm. He could hang out next to her and be just fine, but the other large dogs overwhelmed him. It took a looooooong time and a lot of work to get him to be fine with big dogs. Now sometimes I think he prefers big dogs... =P

OMG, too many to think of lol. However, one thing does stand out.........Petie (as an older pup), didn't respond to my down cue in class.........One of the 'trainers' took my leash, put her foot over it and yanked up (before I could respond). I told her to let him go and she wouldn't, Petie went ape sh*t and started attacking her feet. At the same time I took the leash back and made it very clear she was to return him to me or else. (If she hadn't have given him back to me.........next step would have been knocking her off her feet)
We left the class.

She was serious too and the best part was her dog was totally ignoring her. I'm gonna stick with using treats I think.

There was also the infamous trainer at the rally club in okc that could NOT get Beau to do a darn thing. This guy was trying to train a papillon like he trained his rottweilers- ie with a choke chain and lots of corrections. I took Beau home and got treats out and had him doing it all in one session. That was the real beginning of me using clicker training.

The following have all been professionally suggested to help Oakley...and unfortunately they have all been used on him:

-physical force
- chain & prong collars (w/HARSH corrections)
- squirt bottles
- shoving a stick of deodorant in his mouth
- shock collar


....and i wonder why he has issues...

I have had nothing but wonderful trainers through my training club (thank god!) but at one of my first bench shows with my younger (and first) coonhound, I had some macho yahoo knock her off the bench because she wasn't complying and standing still for him to work with her. That made me mad. She was just a pup and it took her a while to get her back on a bench. Now she's old and a pain in the butt and doesn't care WHAT I tell her...


(PS who the heck sticks a bar of deodorant in a dog's mouth?! What's the purpose? Did Oakley talk back to that person? Because I'm pretty sure my mom used soap on my brother for that at one point... Also - are squirt bottles really that bad? That's what I use to teach my older dogs to shush in their crates... they're not wild about it, but after a couple squirts they settle down and realize it's easier to nap than get wet...)

For what reason? Never heard of this one...........

Btw, if you want to PM me the answer so someone doesn't try it that would be great too. Thanks

Alpha Rolling Izzie because she does her ears back play tap dance when she likes another dog (so with all dogs) and for her running around like a maniac at the store with Charlie... This dude was a diehard Cesar fan.

Actually i was at the park working with izzie when this dude (different than the first dude) came up to me (guess who he was a diehard fan of?) and asked if his pup could meet my dog. So i clipped on the leash and lead izzie close to the dog, but not face to face and let them just sniff and go at their own will when izzie did her tap dance i wanna play thing. Well this guy got on his knees and slammed izzie on to her back and make her yelp and then he told me that my dog was being aggressive and dominant and needed to be put in her place and this is what cesar would do. I was furious and it took izzie a little while to get over that and she's still not okay with men... She was a bloody therapy dog, thanks CM followers for potentially ruining Therapy dog #3...

Oh and the guy that told me harnesses are bad for walking and that my pugs (with their notoriously delicate trachea) should have prong collars on when i replied that pugs can slip collars very easily because prong collars don't slip off...

When I first started out in Flyball, I was 14 and Gonzo was 1 1/2. He had been through basic Obedience, but I was very inexperienced and he was a rambunctious BC puppy. When the other dogs were running, he would cry and get overly excited because he wanted to run with them. I would stand back from the group and play with him, give him treats and distract him rather than allow him to get worked up.

Well... one of the members of the team, who was also involved with BC rescue and had several show Border Collies, told me I was babying him and I needed to teach him to behave. Ok. So she gave me a thin show choke and showed me how to give him a collar correction when ever he was barking/whining/reacting to the other running dogs. He would actually yelp when I did it but the behavior wasn't getting any better, and it made me feel horrible. She was actually shocked that after weeks, it was not helping him at all... I guess she was accustomed to her low drive fluffy BCs. I was stupid for being so naive and following her condescending advice. After a few weeks of that, I noticed Gonzo was no longer just excited and bouncy - he was lunging - he was reactive because of the pain and frustration I was forcing on him. Never again!

There's also the guy at the dog park, who preaches about Cesar Millan 24/7. He has a skittish, obese BC who will just sit with a ball in her mouth and guard it the entire time they're there. I told him I had a BC, too, but the dog park isn't his cup of tea. "Why?" Well... he gets overwhelmed by large groups of strange dogs, and he has been attacked at the dog park, and some dogs don't appreciate his herding behaviors. "Oh, you just need to show him who's pack leader. Just watch the Dog Whisperer... it's on National Geographic... at 7 pm on Sunday nights... yadadada" Um, I've seen it, and I'm not a fan of physically punishing my dogs. "It's not using force! It's being alpha!" Yeah, well, grabbing, scruffing, slapping and pinning dogs on their backs actually is pretty forceful. "Dogs pin each other on their backs all the time!" It went on forever and he actually started cursing at me! A 55 year-old man in a hawaiian shirt and a fanny pack! My friend was giving me dirty looks the whole time because she wanted to get out of there... but ugh... I just can't stand people spewing ignorant crap like that, when so many people will actually believe it. D:<

Probably being told over and over that to get Buster over his DA I should just take him to aplace where there will be dogs everywhere and eventually he'll get over it... right...
Mum chanegd her mind about that after she found herself with a DA dog and found out what its like. lol

Some people make me wonder though, Mum was talking to her BF yesterday about the work she's doing with her new horse. Malibu is lovley and very quiet for her age but apparently she's having a few issues with pulling back.

Kudos to my mum, she used to have a lot to do with horses but she hasn't in quiet a few years. She's putting in a tonne of effort and reading as much as she can while she's trying to get some more education into Malibu. Anyway, she was discussing pressue and release methods yesterday. Steve comes out with "yeah, but after she stops and you release you'll want to give her a jerk so she knows"
we both looked at him like.. "Why, after she finally stops and relaxes would you punish her?"

I've actually had deodorant in my mouth (long story, and funny for everyone else, but I'm not ready to laugh about it yet) and I can tell you it's quite icky. Why the hell?

A Petsmart trainer tried to rope me into classes one afternoon and I figured hey - what's the harm in looking? At worst, this guy would just be one more person Capone would be socialized with. (and if I could get anyone interested in interacting with my big, sad looking dog - score for him and me) Anyway, he asked if he could take Capone's lead inside the little training ring and I said that would be fine, but that Capone didn't know much about a leash yet, and it was slow going. This guy actually offered to resolve this issue for free. Sure - show me what you've got. (Lesson learned - shortcuts suck as a general rule.)

The guy took two steps and starting yanking Capone's lead. Incessantly.

I used to get really steamed thinking about that, but I don't feel as entitled now that I've seen some of you guys' stories.

We did meet one trainer that I thought I really really liked over the phone. Drove half an hour to meet her to see that she was made nervous by Capone's size, despite my ht/wt/breed description given over the phone. Total waste of time.

well, i was told i needed to kill luce for her aggression. that person now says that i misunderstood, but that still takes the cake.

someone at my training club told me i should use a laser pointer as a reward for steve. i thought that was pretty bad advice as well.

i've been pretty lucky with trainers. they've all been c/t cookie wavers.

I can't say I have had people telling me how to train my dog or how I should correct her behaviors. I've never run into a bad trainer because I trained Lola myself. The opposite has happened, people have asked me for training advice and the only advice I have given them is things that I have actually done. I've never advised someone to use a shock collar because it is not something I would ever use nor have I ever needed to use one. I've thought about taking Lola to a training class before she had her CGC and therapy dog status but when she passed both of those tests I thought it would be a waste of money and her getting through those told me that she was trained enough for what I want her to do. It also told me that I must have trained her right.

It would be nice to see some training classes to see different ways instructors do things and see if it is the right way or wrong way. Back in the spring I went to a dog park seminar that taught people what types of dogs are sutiable for a dog park and the type that were not suitable by their personality. A DA dog was not suitable for obvious reasons and a few others that he mentioned. I mentioned that when I first adopted Lola how she was fearful of other dogs and how I got her over it was walking her on the outside of a the dog park a few times before actually going in a few weeks later. He said it was good that I did it that way and the right way to do it.

The seminar also spoke about body language of the dogs and what play is as compared to a dog being aggressive. When he mentioned about a dog play bowing Lola had her eye on another dog a few feet away and she started bowing to the other dog wanting to play. It was funny because he said he could not have showed a more perfect example and it was like she was on cue.

I have come across people in the dog park who sees their dog playing with another dog and thinks their fighting when they are actually playing and want to stop the dogs. Those are the people who should just let their dogs go to the dog park by themselves and they should stay home :lol-sign: but I guess it is good for them to be their because then they get a lesson on what dog play is. It seems like some people who bring their dog to a dog park just want the dog to walk around, sniff the ground and do nothing else. One person even went so far as to chase other dogs away if they went near her dog. She did not want the other dogs around hers at all. What was the sense in even going to the dog park then

I have a neighbor who tells her dog to stop sniffing another dogs butt when that is their way of getting to know the other dog and their way of saying hi. She had no idea that is what they are doing and even after telling her she sometimes will tell her dog to stop it. I think she might be a Mainstream dog owner :rofl1: one thing for sure their are a lot of people who are not to knowledgeable on dogs when they own one.

Mostly Cesar Milan mimicry from "average" dog owners.

You mean to tell me that you would not classify them as "Mainstream"?

Probably the suggestion that I harshly correct my dog on a prong for growling at other dogs - 8 years later we're *still* working on her DA due to insecurity around other dogs that was caused by the corrections.

For Keeda's DR, I was told that I should go somewhere where there are hundreds of dogs and just stand there with her. After a while, she'd get over it. The person wanted me to do this from the get go, no increasing of thresh holds, nothing, just get right in there with other dogs and wait......

and as a side note, apparently that's what they teach in petco as well. There was a HUGE(must have been over 100lbs) GSD standing inside petco right at the entrance. I walked in with the foster pap and he LUNGED at us barking like crazy, growling, you name. and he was maybe a foot away from me! I didn't see him from the outside because he was standing behind the hamster cages. It scared the SH!t out of me AND the pap who then started freaking out and almost tripped me. I was SOOOOOO pissed! If they're going to "train" like that, than I think the people walking around should have fair warning! and he certainly should be standing BEHIND something!!! What if I had been walking a foot more to the left? Would my dog have been the GSD's lunch?