My puppy is the most dominant ever according to trainer at Petsmart

Cobalt · 08-19-2007, 10:48 PM

lol Carla! I was afraid the trainer would call and try to do that with me all day!

cshellenberger · 08-19-2007, 11:05 PM

I would have a lot more respect for her if she DID call you and apologize for her actions.

poodleholic · 08-20-2007, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobalt

Could this be true?? She had a private lesson to make up for the first lesson she missed. There was another dog in the area that was barking non-stop and she was distracted.

The trainer was showing us what to do if Mia mouths and put her down on her side. I know how to do this but hadn't done it much because Mia's been doing great. Mia would not settle and the trainer said she was "the most dominant puppy she'd ever seen".

So when we got home we all tried it with Mia and we had no problems. Mia settled right away.

Tomorrow is our first group lesson, what should I say to this trainer if she says this again? Should I have her try with Mia again or just ignore it? I suppose it doesn't really matter but it feels like this trainer is a bit harsh. She said that my daughter's were spoiled because she could tell and that we needed to get Mia's crate out of our bedroom! My daughter's 19 and 21 just looked at her. She thinks they are spoiled because they had Gap sweatshirts on. Sure glad they didn't wear Banana Republic lol!

Thanks

Get rid of this so-called "trainer." She's an idiot, and probably got her "degree" watching Cesar Milan.

heavyjay · 08-20-2007, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cshellenberger

LOL, Yep, and those PITA customers are MY favorites. I enjoy taking those people and turning the experience around for them!!!!

You're one of the few.

threedognite · 08-20-2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobalt

Could this be true?? She had a private lesson to make up for the first lesson she missed. There was another dog in the area that was barking non-stop and she was distracted.

The trainer was showing us what to do if Mia mouths and put her down on her side. I know how to do this but hadn't done it much because Mia's been doing great. Mia would not settle and the trainer said she was "the most dominant puppy she'd ever seen".

So when we got home we all tried it with Mia and we had no problems. Mia settled right away.

Tomorrow is our first group lesson, what should I say to this trainer if she says this again? Should I have her try with Mia again or just ignore it? I suppose it doesn't really matter but it feels like this trainer is a bit harsh. She said that my daughter's were spoiled because she could tell and that we needed to get Mia's crate out of our bedroom! My daughter's 19 and 21 just looked at her. She thinks they are spoiled because they had Gap sweatshirts on. Sure glad they didn't wear Banana Republic lol!

Thanks

I know from past experience that you can get a refund from Petsmart and I think that's exactly what you should do. I would also send an email to the corporate office explaining your experience with that so-called 'trainer'. I shop at Petsmart frequently and have watched these training sessions in progress. It's very amusing. I don't know where these kids get their 'training' from but IMO, they aren't skilled enough to train a stuffed animal, much less a real dog.
Group classes are fine for socializing your dog AFTER it learns basic obedience from a professional and skilled dog trainer. All I have ever witnessed in these Petsmart classes is chaos, disorganization, lots of noise, dogs either growling at each other or dogs playing with each other and no dogs paying attention. These classes IMO are for human socialization.
Get your money back, send a complaint to the corporate Petsmart office and find yourself an in-home, professional dog trainer.
Good luck.

Get rid of this so-called "trainer." She's an idiot, and probably got her "degree" watching Cesar Milan.

Cesar Millan isn't a dog trainer. He rehabilitates dogs, he trains people.
If the Petsmart 'trainer' had trained with Cesar, she would know a great deal about dog psychology and she would know how to train people to be pack leaders.
I take it you don't think much of Cesar?

bluesbarby · 08-20-2007, 11:42 AM

My local Petsmart has a certified trainer and actually advertises the fact. This trainer trained their other trainer and both are exceptional. But my trainer did specifically tell me that their group classes are only set up to prepare a dog for certification classes. So I pay for private lessons with the certified trainer.

adam2525 · 08-20-2007, 02:42 PM

The First Rule of general training is Always Be Consistent. There should be no exceptions here if you want the training to go as rapidly and as easily as possible. This relates to your actions and words. From the very start you need to decide exactly what you are trying to teach or control and how you will do it. If you are going to use a certain word or phrase as part of a command or in conjunction with a certain point you are trying to make, always say the exact same thing in the same tone of voice. This is important for all the members of a household or anyone else working with the puppy. Everyone that is involved in the training should know and use the same expression. As an example, let us think in terms of the "Come" command. It obviously will not make things go faster if you use the word "Come," your spouse uses the word "Here," and one of the children uses "Yo, Boy." All of this simply confuses the dog. Remember, we are trying to train him in our language; we cannot expect the puppy to be multilingual at 8 weeks of age.

Every time you give a command or are working on a training point, consistently carry it through to completion. Do not tug on the check cord for the pup to come to you and then become distracted and forget what you are doing. If you start pulling the animal in but then stop with him halfway to you, he becomes confused. The puppy is supposed to come to you, all the way to you. If you do not ensure that happens, the puppy may think that it is okay, when given the 'Come' command, to only come in part way to you or completely ignore the command.

Try to expect the same reaction out of the puppy each time. If you use any form of praise or reward for a job well done, be consistent on how well the task in question is completed before the praise or reward is forthcoming. If the puppy is supposed to sit, do not praise him if he only bends the rear legs a little bit. People love to praise their dogs and sometimes they are so anxious to do this that the animal is hearing a string of "Good Boys," but it has not yet completed what he was supposed to. Over time this tells the puppy that he does not have to sit all the way down but rather a slight crouch will do. The puppy will believe that close is good enough.

When you start training the dog on a particular day, think of the next few minutes as classroom time. When children are in school, there is classroom time for learning and recess for playing. The same should occur with your puppy. When you start a training session, maintain a consistent training attitude for you and your puppy. Think training and not play. Work only on training issues and do them over and over. Stay in control so it does not become playtime for the puppy. When you are not in a training session, be careful of what you say and do.

In the early stages of training, never give a command unless you can control the puppy’s actions. This is a part of consistency that many owners overlook. As an example, let us say you are currently in the process of teaching your puppy the 'Come' command. She does not respond every time yet but she is learning what the word means. You are in the backyard together playing with the puppy and children. It is recess, not classroom time. The puppy is off of her lead and suddenly takes off after a wild rabbit. Do not, we repeat, do not even think about saying "Come!" You know the puppy is not going to respond because her mind is on the rabbit and only the rabbit. If you do scream "Come," hopefully the dog will be so distracted that she will not hear you. Because if she does recognize the command but continues after the rabbit, the puppy has just learned that when you are not in control, she can get away with ignoring what you say. During the training phase, when the pup is doing something, and you are in a position that you are unable to control or restrain her, do not say anything. Rather move to the animal and stop or prevent her from what it is she is doing. In the above example, you have two correct choices. You can either let her continue the chase or run and catch the puppy. Do not scream "Come."

Along the way, you may make modifications in your training method but from that point on be consistent. You may find that certain styles of training work better on your pup. That is okay, but do not start switching back and forth. Just because one command is going slow, you should not change from method to method, hoping you find the magic formula that speeds up the process. This rarely happens and in the interim, the puppy may become hopelessly confused. We have found that any individual pup, regardless of the method used, may have trouble with a certain command but not the others. This probably relates back to some experience in the animal’s past.

Cobalt · 08-20-2007, 06:36 PM

Thanks for all of the great information!!

adam2525 · 08-20-2007, 07:17 PM

Your very welcome. Good luck with it all!

Adam
***No Redirects Please***

tipper · 08-20-2007, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobalt

Could this be true?? She had a private lesson to make up for the first lesson she missed. There was another dog in the area that was barking non-stop and she was distracted.

The trainer was showing us what to do if Mia mouths and put her down on her side. I know how to do this but hadn't done it much because Mia's been doing great. Mia would not settle and the trainer said she was "the most dominant puppy she'd ever seen".

So when we got home we all tried it with Mia and we had no problems. Mia settled right away.

Tomorrow is our first group lesson, what should I say to this trainer if she says this again? Should I have her try with Mia again or just ignore it? I suppose it doesn't really matter but it feels like this trainer is a bit harsh. She said that my daughter's were spoiled because she could tell and that we needed to get Mia's crate out of our bedroom! My daughter's 19 and 21 just looked at her. She thinks they are spoiled because they had Gap sweatshirts on. Sure glad they didn't wear Banana Republic lol!

Thanks

Change trainer change group. Till find new group many things start on like basic stuff one command at time take slowly with plenty reward and praise. Nothing special at first. sit walk ect basic let the puppy walk around with lead loose so get use to it on neck. If trainer judged puppy so young. Puppies grow so fast, Def change the whole lot.Maybe the trainer has well needs a new career

poodleholic · 08-21-2007, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Cesar Millan isn't a dog trainer. He rehabilitates dogs, he trains people.
If the Petsmart 'trainer' had trained with Cesar, she would know a great deal about dog psychology and she would know how to train people to be pack leaders.
I take it you don't think much of Cesar?

MOST dog trainers train the owners, not the actual dog!

As far as Cesar, he's about 30 years behind the times (flooding, alpha rolls, and other unnecessary aversives). I will concede that he has a raw, natural talent in communicating with dogs, which makes it especially sad that he reverts to force and flooding, both of which can cause much psychological damage. Our dogs are a direct reflection of us. Cesar gets that part. Show me a neurotic dog, and I'll show you an owner who is as well! LOL

Mcpie · 08-22-2007, 08:12 AM

Quote:

PetSmart employees go through very little training before becoming an instructor. More then likely you would be better off training on your own then listening to what they have to say.

Find someone who doesn't work for a chain organization. I'd say that’s your best bet.

I just wanted to reemphasize this point and add my own anecdotal story. I was in Petsmart getting a toy for my puppy about a month ago, and asked them if they had any clickers (I find some clickers better than others and had never seen the ones sold at PM so I wanted to check them out).

So this lady with a shirt that said trainer on the back runs off for a bit, and comes back with the clicker in hand. She then walks right in front of me, with my puppy and clicks it once. My dog instantly sat and looked at her waiting for a treat. The idiot then clicked, AGAIN, and looked at my dog. I had no treats on me as I had left them in the car and had to restrain myself before calling her on her utter stupidity.

So there you have it, a Petsmart "trainer", who doesn't realize the f'ing basics of clicker training. Beware.

cshellenberger · 08-22-2007, 09:55 AM

I we're lucky here in San D then, one of our trainers is APDT certified. She's the only one I'd allow to touch my dogs there however. I'll put the locator links up for APDT and IAABC which are the foremost certifications for a Postive Reenforcement trainer.

http://www.iaabc.org/

http://www.apdt.com/

Barhund Canine · 08-28-2007, 09:08 PM

Petsmart trainers get 90 hrs of training. I would recommend finding a different trainer. I won't bash them here. The best thing that I can say is that if you can't say anything nice don't say anything. I'm not saying a word

Portiparent · 08-29-2007, 07:46 PM

I would definitely complain. Management needs to know about what the trainer is doing. I had a very positive experience at a Petsmart. My trainer was amazing and was very knowledgeable in the field. She would have never told us to put a puppy on its side and she should learn not to throw the "dominance" term around so freely because there is so much more involved in that behavior than people assume. No, don't let this one trainer spoil the whole pot, but switch to another puppy class. You need to get your pup in for socialization and obedience training. So, wherever you go, make sure they use positive reinforcement training.

raythomas · 09-05-2007, 08:05 PM

I'm sorry that you had that experience - My family and I had the best training experience at Petsmart - My daughters new puppy did so well, I enrolled my 4 yr old lab - It has been a great experience - But the trainers are hit or miss - the first trainer was Nathan and I was less than impressed with him - but then I got Jeremy - he was great. Maybe he sould be training all the rest of the petsmart trainers!! If you live anywhere close to Lubbock Texas - send you dogs to Jeremy Bradbury!
Let PetSmart know of your bad experience - I let them know of my good experience. It's good for the upper management to know what's going on. And employees of a main pet store should know how pets are more like family and when you re making comments about them - we take it to heart!

Cobalt · 09-05-2007, 11:37 PM

I live in Wisconsin which is a bit of a drive but Jeremy is worth it!

Started Mia in puppy class tonight at the local kennel club. Much better and so many other pups to socialize with.

My only problem is that they want us to do it all right handed and I am so left handed. I wonder is any leftys switch and do it on the opposite side??

Thanks!

squirt1968 · 09-06-2007, 02:37 AM

I am a total lefty and I switch everything

Cobalt · 09-06-2007, 08:02 AM

I just started a new thread on this Squirt, didn't see your response, thanks. It might not be something that I can't control, it's natural to switch in this right handed world!

Niccali · 09-06-2007, 10:15 AM

I used to work at Petsmart, not as a trainer but in the PetsHotel running dog day care and dog camp.

They never gave me any training at all. They just put me in a room with 15-20 dogs and said make sure they don't fight. Luckily I have had a lot of experience with dogs and never had a problem. I can't imagine everyone who goes in had much experience with 20 dogs running around, wrestling, playing, etc and knowing the difference between aggression, rough play, fear, etc. And trust me, most of the people who worked with me didn't.

A lot of the trainers at our store were just people who had been working in the dog camp for a long time and knew a little bit about how to train puppies (emphasis on "a little"... hehe). Some of the trainers did really good though.

I'm not a professional trainer but it sounds to me like your dog is just being a normal puppy. I would wonder if there is something wrong with a puppy if it wasn't interested at all in seeing other dogs... PetSmart is a distracting place to be with all the smells, dogs, people, toys, food, etc. Just my opinion though.