How important are past or current client relationships(or confidentiality) to you?

AdrianneIsabel

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#1
When looking into a breeder or a trainer or, well, anything?

This week alone I have seen a breeder trash a puppy buyer publicly by calling them a liar and an idiot, a trainer call their clients "asshats", and a groomer call their clients "stupid and annoying".

I have a hard time imagining myself choosing to go to and pay money to someone who'll openly bash their clients, especially when doing so by name. It would make me hesitant to engage with them. There are exceptions , of course, but for the most part, IMO, it is extremely unprofessional and impeding of my trust.

Am I alone in this?
 

Airn

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#3
Venting is one thing. Of course you're going to have bad/annoying/rude customers. And sometimes, you might let it slip that this dog is realllllly badly trained, but I don't think it's appropriate to voice that with other clients or really with people who you don't know every well.

I would want people that are realistic, but not rude. If you have a problem with that client, address it. Don't just bad mouth them.

I agree with you. I wouldn't deal with someone who is so open about their opinions. There are many ways to say "You're an ass and an idiot".

Not to mention, a lot of people take what they know for granted. Something like positive training methods might be common (dog) knowledge to you, but to someone who isn't a 'dog' person, that's a whole 'nother world of dog owning!

I am very hesitant to get a trainer since I am a newbie. I want to train my dog, but I want to do it in a 'good' way and I feel like I might get pushed around because of my lack of knowledge. (Especially in the herding world.)

Anyway, no you're not alone! :p
 

LauraLeigh

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#4
Yeah... No....

I'd not be comfortable unless it was the odd, totally anonymous vent.... Dealing with a professional who slammed clients/ customers
 

~Jessie~

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#5
I NEVER bash any clients, especially not in front of other people! I don't care if they frustrate me, annoy me, etc. I think it's very unprofessional. If you, the professional, has an issue with a client that is making you miserable enough to air complaints about them, then FIRE THEM.
 
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#6
I immediately dislike people who are negative and disrespectful to others. My dislike would be even more exaggerated if this was a professional relationship. I consider it completely inappropriate for a, say, a trainer to tell me how stupid or mean another client is. Um, wow. No way would I want to work that trainer anymore. I shouldn't have to worry that any problems they have with me will be aired with a stranger whose business it certainly isn't.
 

~Tucker&Me~

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#8
I try very hard to avoid drama. Not only does it make someone look very unprofessional, but it also doesn't come across as very intelligent.

If I am frustrated with someone in a professional setting, I would probably vent to a select few close family and friends that I can trust and that I know very well. In general though, blabbing about that kind of stuff is a very, very bad idea.
 

milos_mommy

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#9
It depends.

In the case of a BREEDER saying their puppy buyer is an idiot if they...idk...let the dog roam loose and get hit by a car, or signed a spay neuter contract and didn't honor it, or gave the dog away on craigslist without notifying the breeder...calling them an idiot is pretty justified.

A trainer telling another trainer that the people were difficult to work with because they left the puppy alone for 12 hours and wondered why he wouldn't become housebroken...or notifying another person in dog care that they haven't paid their bill in months and months, is understandable.

Calling you clients asshats because of who they vote for or because they are difficult to schedule or kind of jerks...not really justified.

I can't imagine talking about a client or customer unless someone else in dog care, either a coworker or someone who would be working with them at the same time asked about them, though.
 
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#10
You'd be in small company if you only hung out with people that didn't talk about another person training their dog in the dog world :)"

I can handle some, but not much. Getting to the point of degrading and stomping all over someone is childish. And really, I have met and had the displeasure of training with people that probably deserved to be berated for all sorts of reasons, but what good does it do?

most people that have half a brain can figure it out quickly.

I wouldn't think a professional should be airing any dirt to me, unless of course I was a good friend and I didn't like person they were talking about :)
 
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#11
I am very hesitant to get a trainer since I am a newbie. I want to train my dog, but I want to do it in a 'good' way and I feel like I might get pushed around because of my lack of knowledge. (Especially in the herding world.)

Anyway, no you're not alone! :p

A couple words of advice, LEAVE YOUR DOG AT HOME! :) go to training, meet trainers, watch people train, watch their dogs work, talk dogs, talk training, eat and talk training, go watch more people train, go to a seminar, watch the pro give instruction and work on other people's dogs, then after you see what you like and don't like, then let some one put their hands on you and your dog.

Dog training is about relationships and not just the one between you and your dog, especially starting out. some of us get lucky, some start out very unlucky, but if you put in your time, without your dog, you're much less likely to be taken for a ride.
 

Dizzy

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#12
Well.... I'm a social worker. You should hear what is said about our "clients". Especially the males who like to exploit young girls.

I've even heard social workers discussing a social care black ops squad for those nice fellows ;)


You have to vent. Sometimes if you don't laugh you'll cry, and you NEED to be able to rant about stuff. I don't know a single colleague who doesn't discuss work outside of work. We'd go insane if we didn't.


As for confidentiality. Well, use your head. Seriously. A bit of common sense doesn't go astray. I don't discuss work online. I don't tell people names, places. But yes, I do vent, and I have shared stories about some of the absurd things I've come across. Which is a lot.


As for dog trainers... Really, is training dogs really that stressful?! Try working with peadophiles lol
 

GoingNowhere

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#13
I think it really depends upon the who, where, why, and how much of the venting. I honestly don't see a problem with venting about a client to a significant other. Possibly even another coworker if the complaint is justified and the coworker is in a similar boat (assuming you're in private).

Venting to one client about another client is unprofessional. Openly bashing a client to anyone except maybe a significant other is unprofessional. Really, I'd just use common sense.


If I were a client, I wouldn't want to hire someone whom I was aware regularly bashed his clients. That being said, I get that it's going to happen, and I've certainly done some venting myself in my time. If the potential individual to be employed has any sense, it wouldn't have reached my ears to begin with.
 

LauraLeigh

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#14
Well.... I'm a social worker. You should hear what is said about our "clients". Especially the males who like to exploit young girls.

I've even heard social workers discussing a social care black ops squad for those nice fellows ;)


You have to vent. Sometimes if you don't laugh you'll cry, and you NEED to be able to rant about stuff. I don't know a single colleague who doesn't discuss work outside of work. We'd go insane if we didn't.


As for confidentiality. Well, use your head. Seriously. A bit of common sense doesn't go astray. I don't discuss work online. I don't tell people names, places. But yes, I do vent, and I have shared stories about some of the absurd things I've come across. Which is a lot.


As for dog trainers... Really, is training dogs really that stressful?! Try working with peadophiles lol
I should clarify, I don't mean they shouldn't vent, ESP in jobs such as yours, vent away to family, close friends, co workers, I think we all need that.... But to do it on a public forum such as Facebook and name names? Not cool in my opinion... As I said, other than the odd anonymous rant..
 

stardogs

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#16
I do vent on fb about some of the situations I run into as a trainer, but I NEVER put names with those vents and I try to be as neutral as possible with other clients, though I might use an example of something that's happened with a past client to illustrate something for another, again with no rude language or names associated.

Outright calling people names or attaching personal details to vents? Yea, no. Not professional.

I recently had someone unknown to me sharing info on a client I have with a friend of hers (she is a neighbor of my client) and the info was of a sensitive, though technically public, nature and I heard about it from our mutual friend asking if I'd heard about it. Not cool.
 

~Jessie~

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#17
It's entirely different to vent in a private setting, for instance, to spouses or significant others. I think that's almost necessary in order to keep sanity!

I think it's tacky when business owners, trainers, doctors, etc., complain to their clients or customers about other customers. One of the dog bakeries I used to go to did that (read: USED to go to). They would complain about the costs from venders, other customers (AS they were walking out the door), certain client dogs, etc.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#18
Thanks all, I was starting to feel like I was the only one who remembered how to keep a good face.

I would never buy from said breeder, utilize said trainer, or ask said groomer to touch my dogs. I don't trust people who so freely (Facebook & public blogs) throw around client names and insults.

Stardogs, btw your version that I have seen has been harmless. :)

Venting here and there is expected, general and anonymous is normal. However, I think a lot I people have forgotten plain old respect, not to mention they work in the public service industry.
 

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