I visited the website you mentioned, that has the program you said you'd signed up for.
I can't say I'm impressed, however. They don't really tell you anything about their style of training. They make a lot of big claims and spend quite a bit of time putting down other training methods without really saying what they do. They guarantee a quick "fix" which tells me that they probably use some pretty intense (probably harsh) training methods while trying to say that they are kind trainers.
You say they're going to use a vibrating collar .. is it vibration only and not shock? In all honesty, people who use shock collars often call themselves "kind and force-free" trainers .. they don't acknowledge that the reason shock works is that it's uncomfortable and/or painful to the dog, and the dog learns through a desire to avoid consequences instead of learning through a desire to repeat behaviors. I'm not saying that there's not a place for corrections of some kind, but a training method BASED on corrections is not a good method in my eyes.
Clicker training is a wonderful method, whether you use a click to mark the behavior or your voice. It's based on understanding and observing your dog, seeing the behaviors you like and reinforcing those behaviors. It builds a very strong and trusting relationship between you and your dog - a better relationship than you will get if you train using corrective methods.
Oh - something else I noticed as I browsed through that site. They say that they will work with you until your dog is behaving, but then they also say that "you can expect to pay between $800 and $1700" for a good dog training program. That's a lot of money! A beginning class here goes for about $60. I guess if you're getting paid over $1000 for training a dog, you can offer some guarantees, especially if you're willing to use shock collars to get the effect you want quickly.
Good luck to you and your dog on this program. It isn't one I would use. ANY place that says you will have a dog working off-leash consistently in 2-3 lessons is either lying or they're using some pretty extreme and harsh methods. I could teach a dog to listen in that amount of time if I was willing to use pain to train. Personally I've taught training classes that, in just 3 weeks (meeting twice a week) all the students could run their dogs through an obstacle course off-leash, with all the other dogs and people in the room with them - and this was done using positive reinforcement (which the trainers on your site say can't be used to get reliable behaviors).
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
