For a little background, I'm considering starting a dog walking business.

Today I saw a dog walker pull up with a car full of dogs. He struggled to get a barrel of an english bulldog out of the car, and when he got the dog out he gave it the most inept prong collar correction I have ever seen. The timing made no sense at all, it was completely a "take that!" kind of correction.

Next dog out of the car was my neighbor's boxer puppy. I have discussed training stuff with the owner many times and I know for sure she is doing clicker training. The puppy was wearing a prong, too!

Either way, I'm going to tell the puppy's owner what I saw. I had a dog walker screw up my obedience training by letting my dog off leash and nobody told me because they felt bad for him. If I were her, I would want to know. Plus, this pup is awesome and he's going to make a mess out of him with his lack of knowledge .

Would it be so wrong if I stole his business while I'm at it?

The dog walker recognized me because he's seen me walking Tasha. When he realized that I saw him correct the bulldog he had a little "oh s#*t!" Look on his face.

I would want someone to tell me if it was my dog.

Go for the account!

I absolutely would want to know if someone saw my dog being mishandled or anything along those lines. I'd only recommend being careful how you lay it out so that it does not come across as giving negative feedback in HOPES of getting the account. (I know you would already have been sensative to this...) This might just be your foot in the door - good luck!

By the way, client referrals / word of mouth advertising is the BEST form of advertising you can get, so work hard to make that gal happy if she comes your way. On the other hand, most people are far more likely to tell someone else they are UNHAPPY with a contractor than they are to call someone and say how thrilled they are, so keep that in mind as well once you get going. It is also much cheaper to keep existing clients happy than it is to attract new ones... Okay, enough of my "small business advisory" news.

Absolutely, Lauren. Absolutely.

If I entrusted my dogs to someone I felt also had their best interest at heart and someone discovered that they had no idea of what they were doing - and compromising my dog along the way - you bet I'd want to know! I'm willing to bet that dog walker probably talked a good line to get your neighbor's business and then thought he could do whatever he wanted when no-one was looking. I would never handle anyone's dog in an manner that I wasn't willing to do in front of them. Period.

Its crazy! I just couldn't believe I saw the pup on a prong when the owner spends all her time walking around with a bait bag full of hotdogs.

I'm going to tell her. No doubt about that.

From another perspective- I spend a good majority of my time with a bait bag and hot dogs, but my dog still wears a prong. . . It's not that they can't ever go hand in hand.

 Quote: Lauren Jeffery

Its crazy! I just couldn't believe I saw the pup on a prong when the owner spends all her time walking around with a bait bag full of hotdogs.

I'm going to tell her. No doubt about that.

While I definitely agree with talking to the neighbor in light of the unfair corrections and possible misrepresentation, I often utilize the prong/clicker combination with Kenzi, aka, husky in a border collie body. Doesn't seem to bother her a bit.

Golly gee I don't know,
but it seems to me that seeing as how the ONLY thing that any two trainers (read handlers) can agree on is that the third one is doing it wrong, it's all a moot point.

One can explain untill you're blue in the face on how you want the dog handled. And it'll still not be or workout right.

If someone is willing to put their dog in the hands of someone other, then they gotta be willing to take what comes back.

If my dog isn't learning, then I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Lots of people must put their dogs in the hands of others, whether it be the vet or the dog-walker who relieves the dog during the workday. I want all the feedback on those other hands that I can get, even after I've done my own exhaustive research (and observation).


As far as the prong on the Boxer goes, I'm with Michael. "When did you guys get Fluffy a prong?"

A prong and a bag o' marker rewards are not mutually exclusive, as Mara pointed out.