Trainer nearly Killed my dog - Page 7

Cheers to Ulli and Makgas! You both had great comments.

Hello all, I want to start by thanking every one for your warm regards to my ZUES. I know I got screwed. I know it was a HARD lesson. I will not use a trainer again. I am Located in Rockingham NC. I would however like to find a club that is close so I can learn all I can. I am NEW I have no experience in this at all. I would like to start with a good core of obedience and work up to BH then SCH. So if any of you guys are near me and know of a good club please email me at DtownDually@aol.com. I also want to thank all of you who told me your stories with about this same person. I just like you sure wish I would have known sooner. But its gone and I cant take it back. I can only move forward. My intent on ever comming here was to simply do what I could to protect other dogs. I do want to add something. This board has went off on a totally differant path than what was intended. So maybe this will help clear it up...again. I AM NEW AND HAVE NO experience. I thought (Being new) that having a (what I thought to be) very good trainer train my dog the dog would do much better. I have always planed to learn all I can prior to getting Zues back. It did not work out that way though. I was in the middle of a move....I needed the dog trained and he came recommended. Zues is much better and still has a high Ball drive. I will try to find a club that will help me to learn as well as help me to teach him. Thanks again for all the kind words and help.

Good luck Dtown!!

Hi dtwon, I would suggest Dennis Johnson (johnsonhaus.com). He is a national level competitor and the experience I had with him was excellent. He worked a dog of mine when I used to attend a club with a bitch I was training several years ago. At that time, I believe he had a club in Raleigh or Angier (still has a club there I do believe) but he was too far for me to go to his club. He would come down to the club I went to and I felt he did an excellent job helping me with my girl. He really knows how to read a dog. It has recently come to my attention that he is now doing some training in Fayetteville and I plan to look him up. In addition to knowing his stuff, he is just a nice person. best regards Officer Keller

mfm: Drop the *&%# dead. SS

SS what is with you the WW2 is over

Part 1. There is nothing wrong with sending a dog (especially one who has received an excellent foundation training with his owner) away for training/titling in a fairly expeditious fashion without midnight trials--especially considering the fact that personality issues may pervade many nearby schutzhund clubs (not always friendly to show lines) that often form splinter clubs or actually totally disband their memberships. I know of dogs who have died with trainers and have seen some trainers use enough physical compulsion and incorrect use of electricity to make one's stomach turn. Unfortaunately, in the United States, without proper documentation (videos, police reports, veterinary records, etc.), formally filed BOI complaints (accompanied by many sworn, notarized statements from witnesses) with USCA and the WDA tend to be swept under the rug. These same SOB "trainers" have even become "certifed" training and club helpers. The bottom line is that many trainers simply take on more training dogs than they have time to train. Let me give you a couple of scenarios. I found that one of my females had been worked too much in defense (she would readily come off the sleeve and bite its wearer) when she was sent to a trainer in Germany, remained there for 20 months, and returned with only a BH and a SchH1--no breed survey. Before the female's return to me, I arranged to send a male to this same very highly recommended trainer (and a genuinely NICE guy with a great love of the breed and a fine trainer). To be continued.

Part 2. However, (after being titled to SchH1, SchH2, and an excellent KKl 1"a") as winter months begain to curtail training and titling venues Bavaria, I was surprised to receive a telephone call from Gradlyn (a dog shipping business) that they were flying my dog home (with no advance notice from the trainer, BTW) immediately. Furthermore, the trainer has never refunded the monetary advance I had sent him to complete the dog's SchH3 for which he was never trained or titled. The bottom line is that, unknown to me, this good-natured trainer had become more ambitious to the extent that his training facility had reportedly expanded to something like FORTY dogs. I assume that my dog had become less of a training priority than than those dogs owned by kennels which have a well established history of sending multiple dogs to this individual for training and titling. So, weighing 60 pounds or less, my male came home with a nasty bilateral yeast infection of the ears, a heavy giardia infestation, and widespread staph pyoderma (not to mention brown teeth and toenails like talons). His spirits were not dim--initially, he was just a bit handler-sensitive whe he felt collar pressure in the show ring. After the above male eventually regained his health, I found that local club "dynamics" and politics dictated that I send him to a reputable American trainer (who, with her own dogs to title, rarely took on more than a couple of "training dogs"). She usually has had a policy of taking on all new training dogs or a 30-day "trial" period. Fortunately, mine was an easy dog for her to train and completed his SchH3 (twice) and IPO3 in very short order. To be continued.

Part 3. In conclusion, I was so impressed with this new trainer (and her frequent emails, updates, and communication with me) that I sent my younger male to her for his advanced training and titling--completed within a relatively few months to BH, SchH1, SchH2, SchH3, IPO3, and KKl 1"a". I found that it especially refreshing to find a trainer who valued MY opinion about my dog's specific training needs. After all, I had raised and trained him from an 8-week-old puppy. Other than myself, who would have greater knowledge of the working of this particular dog's psyche, his foundation training experiences with me, and able to offer COMPLEMENTARY suggestions to enhance his training progress. I suspect that the reaponse of many other trainers would have been: "my way or the highway". You may find that, while successful professional training and titling may appear to be pricey, you truly get what you've paid for when your dog returns home healthy, happy, and ready for the always necessary fine-tuning, training work with his owner.

Oh my, it's been a while since I've posted in these boards. I remember Brittany from the old germanshepherds.com boards some five years ago, I see she hasn't changed a bit. Produce a high quality litter from a bitch you have titled yourself, and maybe, just maybe your opinion will be worth slightly more than the bandwidth you spew it on. First of all, those of you who frequent these boards know full well people bring personal grudges here allllll the time and it must be taken with a grain of salt. I sure won't take a side here or make an assumption, I don't know these people from Adam. Second, shame on all of you chastising this man for sending his dog for training. Are you so absorbed in your schutzhund world that you forget how the average pet lives, tied up in the backyard, and put in the basement while its owners are gone? This man was trying to give his dog something he felt it needed. He was trying to do the right thing for his dog. Should you not send your children to school even though you do not have the education to teach them yourself? Utterly ridiculous. And yes, I breed, and yes, I title them myself, I wouldn't have it any other way, and I commend other breeders who do the same. But that doesnt mean I lack respect for KNOWLEDGEABLE breeders who send their dogs to HONEST trainers and get REAL titles. Of course there are breeders who buy "titled" dogs and breed them indescriminately with no real knowledge of the breed, and without being active in the breed at all. These kind of breeders get no respect from me. If you lump both kinds of breeders in the same category you are ignorant, plain and simple. As far as the *original topic goes, I hope the dog is happy and healthy and that is all.