Hi All, I know its been discussed here before and I know to ensure the trainer uses ONLY positive reinforcement etc, But im just wondering is there anything else you would look out for? I really am not in a good place with the lead pulling, he injured my mother in law the other day, and myself since,with his pulling, I have been working as much as I can But I feel I would benefit from some practical support and real life guidance. My thoughts are that I need to tackle the issues around his excitement too as that mostly why he pulls. Anyway, Its in my thought process right now, I work full time, the majority of my spare time is spend with Rolo walking, playing training but this isn't letting up. Some support from a professional would be great right about now! Im not looking for someone to do the training as I know I need to build my bond further!
I'd look for someone that you feel is someone with the same views/values as you. I got a trainer out for Stanley when he cried - he came out, lectured us for an hour on raw feeding/vaccinations then did about half an hour training us to click for quiet (which I already knew from here and then charged me £90). Possibly a waste of money.. and to be honest I felt as though he was pushing his views on me and judging the way we looked after Stanley. He had his food bag out pointing at all the problems with his food while I'm holding my little puppy practically in tears cos he won't stop crying and his food was the least of my concerns. BUT he was lovely with Stanley and he taught us to read Stanley's body language a lot more and how slowly to move forward. Which has been a big help. But I wouldn't use him again. Since then we've done puppy classes and some training classes and the ladies there are amazing. If I could go back I wish I'd found them earlier and asked their advice. I really hope you get it sorted and find someone nice Stanley weighs a lot less than Rolo and it's bad enough if he pulls, so I can imagine it's really stressful x
ThankS Jen, # Thats a shame, you arent paying to be lectured. You needed help and support. I hate that, it doesnt fill people with confidence when wanting to seek help again or elsewhere. I haven't been to our regular training classes, as I mentioned things have been very hectic my end with family. I am going back next week finally, and I am bracing myself for the worst session ever as hes much stronger and excitable than last time we went, I think going back will aid our training if I use 1-2-1. Ive come across a scheme called Lifetime support, Bark Busters? anyone ever heard of them? Ive inquired with a number of people and would only go with someone I felt comfortable with as a person. Its a shame we cant charge them £50 for an initial consultation to see if us and our dogs like them! Was the body language information useful?
I would certainly encourage you to continue group training with him, even if it is difficult with your family commitments, as tiring him out mentally will do a lot to help calm him down, ultimately. Yes, 1-1 training might well help - maybe you could ask at your regular training group whether they do individual lessons?
Group training is the best and the hardest thing we have ever done. Coco is slowly becoming calmer and easier to handle around other dogs. I would think 1-to-1 training would have given me pointers to work on, but we opted for the group class and lone training. There's not an awful lot of trainers where I live, and while our trainer is OK and does do individual lessons (and boot-camp!) and I do get on with him, he's not 100% positive, and some of the stuff he does (NOT with my dog) I find a bit unnerving.
I'm in the same boat as you are, are there outdoor group training classes you could attend that deal with impulse control and being calm in distracting environments? There was one I wanted to sign up for but now I've sprained my ankle and we're planning on moving from this area in a month I'll have to give it a miss :/ But I think this sort of training is ideal, and I'm going to look for one once we've moved.
A few of the positive reinforcement training centres around here offer leash walking specific classes - have you looked into that? It's a small group setting but only focuses on loose leash walking. I did a recall specific class, which although I knew what to do, was having trouble on my own and the tips on how to manage Quinn specifically were helpful to me. The trainers were able to get to know her (and me) and Quinn's recall vastly improved at the end. We had specific homework and games in between classes and I did learn from it. I imagine similar results if I did the loose leash class (which I have considered, maybe in the Fall).
