so, we had a bad puppy class experience with a trainer who simply grabbed orion's leash and tried to pull him away from me to "demonstrate" loose leash walking (say what?)... he refused to walk away from his mama, and simply lay down and wouldn't move. she handed the leash back to me and said, "i don't know why he's shutting down like this, but i can't do anything with that!" and walked off.... later in the class, she offered him multiple treats, which he refused, looking so sad... he was frightened of her, and i pointed this out. she said, "it's SCARY that he won't accept treats from me..." and i said... "scary???" she said, "yes, it means he's more likely to snap at other dogs or at people or their hands if they try to pet him. that's very alarming." and then she walked off. so she scared ME! am i right to think that's total and utter bunk and to dismiss her out of hand??? we haven't been back to puppy class since... but orion LOVES meeting new people and has happily accepted treats from everyone else on the planet, it seems.....
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input Don't worry about it Paula. She had to come up with a reason why Orion didn't want to walk with her or take treats from her. She couldnt loose face after all she's the trainer. : I had a similar experience with a1 to 1 gundog trainer. My dogs were 8 months. They barked at her when she came through the gate so she threw leads at them then ten minutes later told me they were nervous !!! Her training methods did not really make sense with nervous dogs but I'm not sure she knew how else to train !!! If they are going to call themselves a trainer I think they need to be able to adapt to all scenarios. If I'd known then what I know now about training and dealing with nervous dogs I'd probably have asked her to leave. I don't think Orion is more likely to snap at other dogs or people just because he refused treats off a woman who'd tried to drag him away from you.
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input I would expect Charlie to walk with anyone - a vet nurse, a new dog walker, the physio, a trainer I trusted, the people caring for him in kennels, and so on, and indeed have handed his lead to all of these people and expected him to walk at heel exactly like he does with me. So I think it's a little unusual that Orion refused to walk away from you. But maybe he just didn't like her, well, I don't like everyone I meet either, I suppose. Did she do something unusual that Orion found alarming?
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input Riley won't walk with anyone, there are some people that make him anxious and if they don't encourage him and make him feel more relaxed all he wants to do is get away from them. I've seen that numerous times when trainers try and demo with clients dogs. They usually take a dog that comes to their kennels so they know he'll respond to them.
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input Just Charlie then - I'm afraid he'll trot happily off with anyone who looks remotely like they might have a treat about their person....or a dummy....or even if they look like fun. ;D ;D ;D
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input well, that's a good point. this was a replacement trainer (orion LOVED the first woman - he would happily sniff about her for the goodies he knew she had in her pocket, and would mind every command she gave him)... and this replacement woman was very peeved at being pulled in at the last minute to fill in for the other woman (who was ill) and kept telling us how peeved she was. perhaps she was radiating this and orion picked up on it?
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input [quote author=Suthuncat link=topic=7836.msg109833#msg109833 date=1410797721] this replacement woman was very peeved at being pulled in at the last minute to fill in for the other woman (who was ill) and kept telling us how peeved she was. [/quote] These people live amongst us,take your money and purport to be Trainers?beggars belief ,some of the Trainer stories I read make me wonder if some of these 'Trainers ' even like dogs! :
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input Penny wouldn't walk anywhere with our puppy trainer and she loved him because he was the roast chicken man! So I definitely wouldn't expect her to go anywhere with someone she was unfamiliar with!
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input ok, i feel VASTLY better. orion was just NOT a fan of this woman (and neither was i!!!!). i asked when the other lady would be returning, and was told, "we don't know, she will be out for the near future," so... no more puppy classes!!!
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input Sounds like she was a real grump, then! Charlie went to daycare from when he was small, had several different puppy minders, there are 3 dog walkers in the company that I use, he's spent several nights with new vets, vet nurses, 6 weeks in kennels with new staff at each weekend - and he's pretty happy with just about anyone. He adores his gundog trainer that he has now, and would go anywhere with her I reckon. Particularly if she had dummies.
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input [quote author=Dexter link=topic=7836.msg109834#msg109834 date=1410797925] [quote author=Suthuncat link=topic=7836.msg109833#msg109833 date=1410797721] this replacement woman was very peeved at being pulled in at the last minute to fill in for the other woman (who was ill) and kept telling us how peeved she was. [/quote] These people live amongst us,take your money and purport to be Trainers?beggars belief ,some of the Trainer stories I read make me wonder if some of these 'Trainers ' even like dogs! : [/quote] Exactly! Makes me so mad That so-called trainer was talking a load of rubbish.
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input How glad I am to have this site! I feel ever so much better. Whew. I hope a dog bites her rear!!
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input [quote author=Suthuncat link=topic=7836.msg109948#msg109948 date=1410832306] How glad I am to have this site! I feel ever so much better. Whew. I hope a dog bites her rear!! [/quote] Either that, or a dog owner probably will! ;D
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input I actually train mine not to take treats from anyone but me and my husband, far too many times I have had terrible problems with past dogs who were on special diets when they were given something they couldn't have I decided easier to just make it a rule.
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input [quote author=Karen link=topic=7836.msg109990#msg109990 date=1410855134] [quote author=Suthuncat link=topic=7836.msg109948#msg109948 date=1410832306] How glad I am to have this site! I feel ever so much better. Whew. I hope a dog bites her rear!! [/quote] Either that, or a dog owner probably will! ;D [/quote] ;D ;D ;D ;D i want to watch!
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input To be honest sounds like she shouldn't be a trainer. I'd be furious if she did that to meg. Where's the patience? Definitely better off without her.
Re: Treat Refusal & Confusing Input [quote author=lablover link=topic=7836.msg110392#msg110392 date=1410978040] To be honest sounds like she shouldn't be a trainer. I'd be furious if she did that to meg. Where's the patience? Definitely better off without her. [/quote] thanks, jen - it just put me into a tizzy because, although i've had a lab before, i honestly remember almost NOTHING about his first year or two because we got him two months before my daughter was born.... so i had a 3-year-old, a newborn, and a lab puppy. i'm quite afraid he had no socialization, no training, and certainly very little one-on-one attention ;D despite all that, he turned out to be a dear, dear dog whom we all adored.... so we lucked out. but i want to be sure to do it properly this time 'round!
