UNBELIEVABLE!! This is crazy!!! The poor dog!!! I am so against this "drop your dog off" for training method. I hear something similar is also big in the Western US -- where you get a puppy, drop it off to a trainers for a few weeks/months OVERNIGHT, and get it back trained (including house trained) -- of course, you have NO IDEA what your baby is put through!!! Seems to me you'll get back a dog that may or may not only listen to the trainer ... Where were YOU in the education?? How on earth can you know what your dog knows ... To ME, the main purpose of taking a dog to training is to BOND -- to establish a RELATIONSHIP -- on common grounds.
SHOCK COLLAR!!!??? SHOCK COLLAR!!!??? SHOCK COLLAR!!!??? SHOCK COLLAR!!!??? I thought that was an OPTION for dogs that wouldn't listen ... What happened to getting a dog to do things because they were REWARDED!!!!!???? <sigh> Barb, It's too bad you couldn't get him .. I think you're right, I think he's going to end up biting someone, then put down, without anyone really evaluating the situation. I'll keep hoping that something else will happen, and they'll call you, and Chance-clone gets a new chance. Where's the breeder in this?? We've been talking about contracts, etc ... Of course, that's assuming he came from a good breeder (i.e. pet store puppy). --Tracey --- Original message follows. Dear Pat, Hmmmm..... I was going to foster this dog and called the people last night to go and pick him up. He sounded alot like Chance. So much so, in fact, that I thought it was just a reprint from when Chance was available. To make a very, very long story short.....they are keeping the dog. The kids pressured the women into keeping "their" dog. Turns out there is some "aggression" with the Golden, but from talking to her it seems to be a jealousy issue. The dog has had "professional" training..... where you drop the dog off in the morning and pick it up at night, and the trainer uses the shock collar method. Per the owner, the dog yelps and cries every time it sees the shock collar. The husband wants to send the dog back to the trainer because the "training obviously did not work." There are alot of issues going on with this dog, and personally, I am amazed that the dog has not biten yet! I did try to offer some ideas, but the woman was not very receptive. She had spoken to someone named Debbie in the morning, and was told (owners version) that extended walks twice a day would calm him down. I really think this dog needs the same as Chance does, lots of love and attention, some training to give him a fun job/purpose, someone who can be there to keep an eye on him and housebreak him properly, and a whole lot of attention/praise for good things and ignoing or preventing misguided behaviors. This dog seems to need some hands on attention. He's a teenager with lots of mischief hidden in there. Now, you have a dog who is thinking and creative, wanting attention and add a shock collar. h.... :( At anyrate....... the owner is keeping him. I can only hope for the best at this point. I talked extensively about training methods with Berners and the differences in temperament between them and their Golden, and pretty much begged her not to return to the same trainer/methods. I have told Margaret that I am available to pick him, or any other Berner up at a moments notice, should the need arise. Let's keep this little guy in our thoughts. Barb
