Bad training

RubysGold

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I wont say any names but I have been working with a dog recently that has a behaviour issue.
The owner showed me an invoice type thing from someone they had had out years ago.

The dog at the time was under a year old, and this was just for puppy training in general.
This particular person charged over £200 for an hour. They gave them a chain, which they were to throw on the floor and say "bah" :S On the invoice it says several times to say "bah" to reprimand :S
My face was pretty :eek: at the choice of method, and the amount of money :confused:
 
As said, 'A fool and their money'

Wish I could be more of a con woman.
A couple of years ago I watched a young woman pulled across the road by a young Great Dane who had wanted to go see another dog across the road. He was on a flat collar and she probably weighed less than he did!
As he charged past me it was automatic that I grabbed the silly thinnish nylon lead and gave it a good jerk. I do not weigh less than the dog and he was forced to stop. The poor woman was in tears and said he had to go to another home.
I told her that she needed to go to training classes to which she informed me that had - since he was a puppy.
She was having private lessons from the trainer and nothing seemed to work and he pulled the trainer. He ignored the clicker unless he was indoors.
I offered to help her and her husband with training him and she gratefully accepted. Lesson one began there and then I returned to my car and got a prong collar I had never used, it was a gift from the USA. I also put a long halter rope on him and when the other dog walked back down the road I had the rope over my hip and across the opposite shoulder so, when the dog lunged forward I just stopped - told him "Heel" and he felt the prongs and stopped dead. He never pulled again.
We had about six follow up lessons including when the were in their home. Husband was in the army bit was far to soft on the dog!
Once he realised that dogs were better for discipline, rules and boundaries he was willing to accept that if he said, 'Jump" the dog answered "How high?"

They had been paying £40 per hour and achieved nothing, only extra long arms.

Stupidly I felt that as he was about to go off to the Middle East, I owed him and his wife a debt and only charged for my petrol the twice I went to them, they would come to me as a general rule.

Last time I saw them he was in town carrying a shopping bag walking to heel ignoring everything about him.

Am I a fool?
Second thoughts, please don't answer that!
 
ohhhhhhhhhhhh thats really interesting. Friend of mine got a mastiff cross from Battersea (why they let he have a dog of that size in a one bed flat, with no garden, when both parties work long hours is beyond me.)

She had a behaviourist and now spends alot of time throwing chains on the floor whilst saying BAH- and trying to make the dog walk behind her. Have not seen the dog for a while but another friend said it is like the dog no longer has a personality :(

I was quoted over £300 for a 1-2-1 with someone!!!!!
 
Its ridiculous isnt it :S

Dont jump on me for saying this, but the whole 'dominance' idea sucks, the dogs always appear so depressed after having the owner "establish leadership" through dominating it :(

I am currently charging £10 for each time I see a dog, its the career path I want, and I know I CAN do the job, but my confidence in myself wavers sometimes, so Im charging very little until I a) feel confident that Im worth more money for my time and b) I have a reputation and people want to come to me :)
But even when I do feel ready to charge more, it certainly won't be in the hundreds of pounds :( Thats just saying to people "you may as well have it put down, its cheaper" Id rather be an affordable way to get more dogs to have a nice life with no stressed owners.
 
Thowing a chain on the floor and saying 'bah' isn't even 'dominating' a dog, it's just...throwing a chain on the floor and saying 'bah'.
If it is an idea as daft and unlikely to work to me as a human, I can't imagine what the dog thinks!!!
You might as well throw money on the floor and say 'ha ha!'.

I do agree that certain dogs need leadership though.
Not through 'dominating' but through the message 'no, it's OK, you back, off, I'll handle this' - dogs that are forced into 'leadership' by weak/ineffectual handling (mum is scared, I'd better step up and take care of this! Hey, why am I being scolded?) are the most stressed, unhappy and likely to 'misbehave' - they're not misbehaving, they're under too much pressure.
 
Thowing a chain on the floor and saying 'bah' isn't even 'dominating' a dog, it's just...throwing a chain on the floor and saying 'bah'.
If it is an idea as daft and unlikely to work to me as a human, I can't imagine what the dog thinks!!!
You might as well throw money on the floor and say 'ha ha!'.

I do agree that certain dogs need leadership though.
Not through 'dominating' but through the message 'no, it's OK, you back, off, I'll handle this' - dogs that are forced into 'leadership' by weak/ineffectual handling (mum is scared, I'd better step up and take care of this! Hey, why am I being scolded?) are the most stressed, unhappy and likely to 'misbehave' - they're not misbehaving, they're under too much pressure.

Totally agree with this CC - people always get this the wrong way round and assume that the dog wants to be dominant when actually it feels it has no alternative. So many naturally submissive and timid dogs will try and step up to the mark when their "leader" fails to meet the grade and, consequently, become totally stressed and start exhibiting behavioural problems when all they really want is to know that someone is in charge so that they can relax and feel safe!
 
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