Luna's first puppy class

[MandyPug]

Originally Posted by NicoleLJ

I have seen too many who you give advice to, they ignore it and don't work with their dogs and then blame the trainer and not themselves.

Kind of like you're doing to this trainer?

[Danefied]

Originally Posted by NicoleLJ

Yes I am a trainer. No I do not teach classes. Why? Because I have no desire to teach the people. I have seen too many who you give advice to, they ignore it and don't work with their dogs and then blame the trainer and not themselves.

Sorry, but this sounds an awful lot like what you are doing with this current trainer - the not listening to advice part

Originally Posted by NicoleLJ

All I wanted to do was post about her class and how she did and her progression. If all my posts about Luna and her training are all going to turn into debates then I just won't post about it any more because I have no interest in debating my style of training or how I choose to train my dogs.

Then why even mention the issue with corrections and the fact that she is an all positive trainer. Why not just talk about LUNA and not the trainer, the methods or having to explain things to Doug? If you don't want to debate methods, don't mention them, don't ya think?

LOL - just saw the above post - great minds huh?

[NicoleLJ]

Originally Posted by MandyPug

Kind of like you're doing to this trainer?

Not in the least. They come to me with issues they want solved. I am not going to her for issues and I told her that. We are going there for socialization only. So we already know our method of training we are doing and already know it works and she is doing well with it. Her issue is socialization and that is why we are going and she was informed of that right from the beginning.

[Danefied]

If she's snapping at other dogs, she has more issues than "just" socialization, JMO

[NicoleLJ]

Originally Posted by Danefied

Then why even mention the issue with corrections and the fact that she is an all positive trainer. Why not just talk about LUNA and not the trainer, the methods or having to explain things to Doug? If you don't want to debate methods, don't mention them, don't ya think?

LOL - just saw the above post - great minds huh?

Because part of her experience was that part of class. But hey good advice. I just won't post about her classes or training anymore. I will keep it to picture updates. I just want to be like others who post how their dogs are doing and get to talk about it and such without debates happening all the time. I am tired of all the debates. I am not going to change how I train because I know my methods are sound and work and have changed so many dogs lives in the many years I worked in foster working with abused dogs. With all the drama in my life working with dogs is the one thing I can count on to keep me sane because it is where I am the most confident. It is where I find the least amount of stress.

[NicoleLJ]

Originally Posted by Danefied

If she's snapping at other dogs, she has more issues than "just" socialization, JMO

She snapped at 2 dogs both larger then her. It has to do with very little confidence because of lack of socalization for her first 3 months. She was on a farm where there was only 2 women and 2 young children and never left the farm. She was also the runt of a litter of nine and was beat up a lot by her litter mates. Her nose still carries the scares along with a few other places. We couldn;t have her to the dog park or so on till she had her shots(since she had none when we picked her up) so considering she has only once been to the dog park and then to one puppy class and has only reacted three times(once at a very rude boxer who would not stop harassing her) and then to the bigger dogs at class we see the issue and are working on it. She had no issue with almost all the dogs at the dog park. So for us it is not a serious issue. She has to learn confidence and manners and she is doing just that. For what she has been through, having worked with dogs with MUCH bigger issues, she is doing exceptionally well.

[Dekka]

Why are you on a discussion forum if you don't like discussions? Why do you want to tell us about what you are doing if you don't want people to discuss what you are doing.

Are you simply looking for an audience, one that can't provide any input?

I make threads and people go off topic at times, so what? Its what normal conversations do. You mentioned she snapped at another dog. Which I would take as a young dog feeling insecure. So it because in part a discussion about how ignoring the problem and correcting the symptom can back fire.

If you are as confident as you keep claiming, why does it bother you when other discuss their experiences?

[Dekka]

Originally Posted by NicoleLJ

She snapped at 2 dogs both larger then her. It has to do with very little confidence because of lack of socalization for her first 3 months. She was on a farm where there was only 2 women and 2 young children and never left the farm. She was also the runt of a litter of nine and was beat up a lot by her litter mates. Her nose still carries the scares along with a few other places. We couldn;t have her to the dog park or so on till she had her shots(since she had none when we picked her up) so considering she has only once been to the dog park and then to one puppy class and has only reacted three times(once at a very rude boxer who would not stop harassing her) and then to the bigger dogs at class we see the issue and are working on it. She had no issue with almost all the dogs at the dog park. So for us it is not a serious issue. She has to learn confidence and manners and she is doing just that. For what she has been through, having worked with dogs with MUCH bigger issues, she is doing exceptionally well.

Umm socialization is about confidence. Dog reactivity is almost always due to lack of confidence/fear. So instead of telling her to shut up and take it, why not teach her to be calm and relaxed around other dogs? IME correcting a dog who is telling you they are scared only teaches them that you won't help them and they need to look after it themselves. (ie escalate)

[Fran101]

Maybe a blog format or something would kind of be more what you want to accomplish with these threads?
I get the feeling you don't really want people to comment and a blog would be a great way to keep up with Lunas progress and have it all documented and stuff

Or maybe just having one single thread with ALL lunas updates. The many many update threads bring on the same kind of debates/comments/questions, if they were all in one spot I think it would be easier..

[Brattina88]

Originally Posted by Dekka

I am not saying there is no place for corrections, but agility is NOT one of them. Nor is correcting a dog who snaps at another one EVER a good idea. Its a good way to train them to be reactive. Or at the least distrust other dogs and their handler.

This!


Give this trainer a chance, I bet if you do, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
You need to teach her WHAT do do, instead of WHAT NOT to do...