It just sounds a small chi would challenge the trainer but I would love to see him as a scary lion. We've seen him as Ming the merciless
I really do want to believe that there are decent Labrador loving agility trainers out there. I know there are some who have had good experiences but... From my experience they just have a thing against labs. Our, not any more, agility trainer once stated categorically “all lab males are dominant and should be castrated” Maybe freestyle agility for labs (and all other agility drop outs) should be a new sport. One day when I have a big house with a big garden in the country you will all be welcome to play on my agility equipment and your dog can go through the tunnel as much as they like.
We’ve just had a long hot agility session and there were so many reactive collies there it was a bit of a horrible experience. So much barking and owners shouting and the trainer shouting at her own dogs it’s been great for training the Pig not to react to other dogs and to stay calm whilst chaos is around her, but not sure it’s the right environment for us! It’s a pity because she enjoys boinging and being a pigeroo but she suddenly got scared of the seesaw and dog walk despite being fine with them before. Oh I would love a freestyle lab-agility class! Let’s start one!
Good for you! I've only just caught up with this post and was upset to hear about lovely Ripple being banned from agility. I'm pretty sure that trainer would have banned my previous dog Solstice too, as she was so full of happiness at just being a dog all the time and went absolutely headlong into everything at full tilt without a pause for thought. She also ate grass, particularly when running at full tilt, so that we couldn't catch her to make her stop. When I hear of Ripple's adventures I often find myself thinking 'I know who that reminds me of!' Little Joy is a calmer, more thinking dog and definitely more cautious. At the flyball class we attend it's on the whole the collies and the terriers that wreak the most havoc but I've never heard the trainer criticise any dog or owner, she rather tends to give breed-based explanations for behaviours, for example that the collies are hard-wired to herd which is why they sometimes start trying to round up the other dogs. It's loud, chaos, and great fun! I have also been mega defensive of all my dogs. It's like criticising somebody's child really isn't it? Hope you find somewhere else for you and Ripple to find things you enjoy doing together without negativity and criticism.
This will make you smile..a couple of years ago we took the dogs to France, to an amazing place run by an agility instructor. She is lovely, really kind, and her dogs are super. Anyway, I am awful at running Benson, so the trainer said she would show us how it's done... To try and cure Benson's incorrigible love of tunnels, we moved them right against the hedge.. So a top-flight crufts level instructor shows us how to keep focus...
Did she delete you, or did you remove yourself? Because if she removed you that is excessively petty...
That is just so rude, OK the group may not be quite so relevant, but I assume there would have been a discussion first. Some along the lines of..."well this is a group is just for members, feel free to remove yourself if you wish, or I can do that for you. I can also send you some links to some more general agility facebook groups you might find interesting"
To me it's just a sign of her inexperience. Anyone involved in small business these days is fully aware of the impact of social media. Negative feedback on social media (whether deserved or not) can be a business killer and most business owners will go out of their way to avoid it.
Absolutely. At the very least she should have waited a couple of weeks to see if you've remove yourself first, and then discretely remove you. She's got a complete lack of business sense. People talk, especially animal people. She hasn't just gone scorched earth - she's gone scorched earth and then salted it for good measure. What a twit.
Does she have a business Facebook page? Shall we all leave really bad reviews that she’s discriminatory against Labradors Yes I’m petty.. sorry
What a shame you stumbled upon this rude "trainer" and her poorly run agility class, it's left a sour taste. I've thought about trying it, but all the groups (and there's very few here ) I've seen look so serious (and over stocked with Border Collies) that I've never had the courage - probably for the best. Coco has a similar zest for life as Ripple, and while it can be frustrating, I don't want to squash it out of him - that's his big personality.
I am sorry to hear that you were banned from agility my lab and my sons lab love agility. We have open nights on Monday now that the weather is warmer. Our agility is set up in side a fenced area and only one person one dog is allowed in at a time. I hope you can afford to buy a couple of pieces of agility equipment so you and Ripple can have some fun on our own. I have a tire, a couple of jumps ( I made) and weave poles and one tunnel. Can I ask why you were banned from gun dog training? I train my guys in that too and I know I have had a few people tell me that they were not treated nice at training on nights I am not there. I am very vocal and will not let anyone say anything bad about another persons dog. each dog and person is at their own level and we have to except that and work with it. As a trainer and dog owner it is important to have that understanding. I also am the only trained in my area that will work with reactive dogs. everyone wants a good well behaved dog well not all dogs are like that and they need work if they are to become model citizens.
I asked for my money to be returned asap by bank transfer, she made the transfer and immediately deleted me from the group, all within 20 minutes. No discussion, although she did send me a link to a head collar she thought Ripple would benefit from (no he wouldn't).
Ripple ate the pheasant he was using for training . So the trainer said he couldn't go any further with him.
