Monday night, I attended an obedience class with a new, potential trainer, at our training center. She has 6 UDX dogs to her credit, & had did ok in the "lessons" that she gave our head trainer. Our head trainer was aware that she was more "hands on" and correction oriented than our other trainers, but we do have people who like to train that way, so she decided to give her a try. I was asked to take Cher through the class to see, first hand without our head trainer present, what the class would be like, & to see how she communicated with people in the class. The class was filled with Cher & I, along with 5 other dog/human pairs. (Everyone there was an experienced "regular";)
I was was not expecting much when I was told that choke chains were required for her class, but I went along with it. Cher is trained on a dead ringed, choke chain normally, so it really wasn't that big of a deal, but I am not a fan of forcing people to use that method.
Anyway, the entire class was a train wreck.
Highlights included....
* Her showing up 20 minutes late for class, & then taking another 15 minutes to find the paperwork that she needed. It was supposed to be a 7-8 class, & it turned into a 7:35 start time.
* She gave no explanation of where heel position is or any suggestions of how to get your dog there other than to jerk it around by the collar, & collar pop it until it got there. It was a beginner's obedience class, so I asked where heel position was, & was answered "Aren't you paying attention? Just look at what my dog is doing." I was relatively nice about telling her that an explanation, along with using her demo dog would be most helpful. I got an eye roll & huge sigh out of the deal, but no explanation.
* She showed us how to force our dogs into a sit by lifting them by the choke chain until they sat, & how to step on the leash & choke them into a down. (Which did not work, btw.)
*She showed us what "proper" heeling looked like with one of her dogs. Unfortunately, every time that her right arm swung by her side, the dog flinched & ducked it's head. When I asked why the dog was head shy, & looked fearful, I was told to "Shut the !**! up, pay attention & mind my own business."
* Because of the late start, Cher was already tiring. I had got her out of her kennel at 6:50 & started playing focus games with her, so that she would be ready to go at 7. By the time that we started at 7:35, she was done. I don't expect her to work for that long. When I was asked "Why are you dealing with her ***? You need to snap her back to reality." I told her that Cher is a 7 month old puppy, that she had been working since 6:50, & that she was now tired even though class was finally just beginning. I was told to "Smack her on the butt & sides with your leash some. That'll wake her up."
* When I used Cher's tug toy to reward her for proper position, she walked over & slapped my hand like I was a two year old child. She told me, under no circumstances was I to "bribe the dog with toys or food." I told her that I don't expect my dogs to work for free any more than I expect myself to work for free, & that I like to use rewards to keep them motivated, & enjoying training. I was told that "Dogs are not to be rewarded. They are to work because I said that they were going to." At this point, Cher was getting antsy, & decided to bark at the woman. She responded by announcing that "This little bitch needs to learn who's boss. Give me that leash." while trying to take the leash from me. At this point, I was DONE with the crap. I made it very clear that if she touched my dog or her leash, I was going fix it so that she would be eating her meals for the next 6-8 weeks from a straw.
Finally, our head trainer came down from her office upstairs, where she had been watching the class, to break us up. Because she was in the office, in an attempt not to be noticed, she did not get to hear the exchange, but she saw that things were getting heated, & came down to diffuse the situation. After hearing how the "trainer" was talking to me, our head trainer made her aware that I was the person who taught the puppy classes at our center, & that she would not be teaching at our facility.
I am still in shock that someone would actually rely of fear & intimdation to train dogs, & to teach humans. In the past year or so, I have changed my stance on corrections. I am ok with using some corrections, if they are warranted & handled fairly. I do believe that correcting a dog should only occur when the dog fully knows & understands the command that you are giving. I think that correcting or using force to get a behavior is counterproductive. I just can't see how you can develop a confident, happy worker, when you are forcing it to do things.
Anyway, I've heard other people's "trainer" horror stories, & I've always wondered to myself "How does that happen?". Now, I know.