Was this wrong for her to do?

[Catrina]

I wrote a thread many months ago about how I had to hire this private trainer for Princess but decided it wasn't for me because her training techniques were a little too "extreme" for me...

but the more I think about this the more I think it was wrong for the trainer to do.. please tell me what you think so I can get this off my mind...

Princess is aggressive toward strangers coming to our house and so the trainer wanted her to get used to her... she did not want to use Princess's harness, so she clipped this long thick leather leash to her COLLAR and dragged her to the end of my long drive way and back... she was totally chocking her and Princess looked so scared trying to get away.. I was like "YOU ARE CHOKING HER!!!!" And she kept saying "I know what I am doing.. I don't want to risk getting bit!!!..etc etc" and walked off... You could hear Princess coughing and stuff as she was pretty much dragging her away, and I was SOOO ANGRY but felt really helpless because I thought she knew what she was doing and I really wanted Princess trained...

I pretty much "fired" her after that.. not for that, but I just didn't like her overall training techiques.. but anyway... was that WRONG for her to do?? What would be different about walking Princess using a harness vs. a collar!?!? I don't get why she didn't just use the harness... arrrrghh

[bornnygurl]

Wow, I am glad you fired her. I agree that is a big no-no. I've dealt with aggression before and the worse way to to deal with it is by making them fear you. There are such things as fear aggression and it is the hardest type of aggression to overcome. Not to mention using a collar on her and dragging her by it . There are training collars out there (no, not choke collars) that can be used for correction but her technique was unnecessary and a bit much for a first encounter. I could see using a collar on a larger dog (if necessary) but not a Yorkie. It is way too dangerous.

[Catrina]

Thank you! Now I feel better about firing her knowing what she did was wrong even though the trainer kept insisting she knew what she was doing...

[xxmxaxrxyxx]

you did the right thing by firing her...way to go!

[camly]

Good thing you fired her!


B/c if YOU felt uncomfortable about it, there was a reason for it. and imagine about your poor baby! You should be just as comfortable with the trainer as much as your puppy i think ...

[Chelsey]

Why did she put a COLLAR on the little one in the first place! You did right! If it were me, i would have dragged her around with a collar around her neck! Some people do my head in
You know your baby better then anyone else

[Vinnie's Mom]

OH yes, you totally did the right thing! Did this woman have any credentials? at all? That would have been awful to watch, and it's not just being an overprotective mommy. When you get that feeling that it's wrong trust your instinct, it's right more often than not, we just ignore it too frequently! Good Job!

[TammyJM]

!!!! Yes, you did the right thing! A trainer should educate themselves about different breeds...she should have known that a collar can be dangerous to a Yorkie's trachea (especially tugging at Princess like that!!!). Ugh! Anyone can call themselves a trainer and it sounds like that is what she is doing. What in the world was she trying to accomplish by doing this...making her more untrusting of strangers?! I am glad you fired her.

Tammy

[spoiledrottenpo]

Hi Catrina, It looks like all your replies agree with you but havent helped you with your problem so i HOPE i CAN. I have 4 Yorkies "The Kids" and one loves me soooo much that No One could come near me. As soon as friends or family would walk in the house she would bark like crazy, run over to them, give them a quick bite and run to my side. Boy did that have to stop. I remembered that when children were growing up I used "time out" but if they did something REALLY BAD that had to stop right away with no exceptions I spanked them ONCE on the bottom to get there undivided attention, held them, looked them in the eye and gave them a real mean look and said NO! and then put them in time out, And it worked because the spank and the ugly look was something they only saw from me maybe once a year, So I tryed this with my Yorkie. My son walked in, she bit him & ran to me. I spanked her firmly (Not hard cause she's only 3lbs) she looked me right in the eye , I gave her the ugly look , said NO! and put her in the playpin. She never bit him again but she does still bark. I did have to do this 2 more times though for the other 2 people that she would bite but only once for each. I'm so glad it worked even though I hated to spank her cause I live her so much. I don't know if it's something you would want to do and I know alot of people will put me down for spanking her but I'd rather try something that had worked for people years ago than have someone sue me and the pound take her away cause I LOVE my little rag mop .

[Catrina]

Thank you everyone.. it was just hard because this woman did have a good reputation and I even ask for references and called them.. I guess she didn't have much experience with little dogs..

but thanks once again~ i had a feeling what she did was wrong but didnt want to say much to her because she was a "professional".. now i wish i just fired her on the SPOT..

[Punkin&Piper]

She is crazy I'm glad you got rid of her

[mojo]

Oh you definately did the right thing. You can hurt their trachea or even break their necks (they are so small) by dragging them around. Not good.

[SJK1113]

You absolutely did the right thing!

[izzy816]

Why on earth would you drag a small dog by the collar like that? You should have dragged her by a collar...glad you fired her!

[chachi]

I think that trainer is used to big dogs. I would have fired her too