[gemy]

Centering out people in a "negative" way is not a real great teaching tool. What that trainer did was wrong, wrong, wrong, on many fronts. And particularly on first day of class.

In terms of the collar, nada nada no way, once your dog learns to heel and walks easily with no pull on the lead then and only then, and in my judgement only when I am in a competitive obedience class will I put a collar on my dog. In competitive obedience all dogs must wear collars.

So glad you have decided to stick to your guns; but she should know that her behaviour the first night of class was uncalled for, unappreciated by you, hurt you, and unnecessarily centered you out in front of a group of strangers. This is NOT an environment that is conducive to learning.