Moved from another thread at http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32230&page=6

 Quote: Lee_Reicheld

 Quote: steve strom

 Quote: Lee_Reicheld

 Quote: steve strom

I wouldnt suggest that Lee.

Can you expand on why not Steve? I know of several people who have done this and are exceptionally happy with great dogs. I'd be interested in hearing the potential down sides of programs like that.

For me, personnaly, and with my family, its our dog, we need to raise him. It has to be me,my house, my kids, us. Teaching sit, down, come,its all basic that I think any first time dog owner can learn to do, and its a waste paying somebody else for it. The puppy needs to learn to live with my family and can only do that with my family. You get him back from someone else, you still need to spend as much time applying what he came home with to where he is now, except that he's 4 or 6wks older.

The other side of that is how many times you see people write about the terrible experience they have doing that. I don't agree that there are so many trainers you can trust to send your dog away to.

I completely agree. I'm sure with you and your family, there would be zero benefit.

With someone using an e-collar and other incorrect methods on an 8-week old puppy, I would think there would be some benefit while furthering their own education.

I blog with the people who have had their pup go to this "camp" every single day for several years now. Some have pups that are months old, some have GSD's that are years old and all of them continue to sing the praises of this particular trainer to this day.

That certainly could be an exception to the rule, as I personally know of two trainers that do this. Obviously someone interested in doing this would need to do their own extensive research, get recommendations and references.

I'm in the same boat as you are. I'd never do it with my own pup. In fact I will (hopefully) be getting him next month and all of his training will be coming from me.

Lee,

Are you getting a puppy from Julie at Alta-Tollhaus?

Does she run the "camp"?

Are you in her neck of the woods at all?

I may be up there at Julie's place in a few weeks with Fama for a meet and greet and some detection demo stuff.


Back on topic: IMHO, if you don't want to educate yourself on how to raise a puppy, you should by an adult finished dog.



Edited by David Winners (05/09/2012 07:18 PM)
Edit reason: added name of kennels

The down side to sending a puppy/dog away to be trained is the dog will then obey the trainer with no guarantee that will transfer to the owner.
Ideally the trainer will require a follow up training program for the owner but that's still going to be limited to common sense and the skills of the owner.
Some owners never "get it" and then it's blamed on the trainer for doing a crappy job.
Owning a well mannered dog is more about leadership than training technique!

 Quote: Bob Scott

Owning a well mannered dog is more about leadership than training technique!

That is bumper sticker material right there.

 Quote: David Winners

Lee,

Are you getting a puppy from Julie at Alta-Tollhaus?

Does she run the "camp"?

Are you in her neck of the woods at all?

I may be up there at Julie's place in a few weeks with Fama for a meet and greet and some detection demo stuff.


Back on topic: IMHO, if you don't want to educate yourself on how to raise a puppy, you should by an adult finished dog.

Hey David!

Yes, I'm getting a pup from Julie. Hopefully he'll be coming home in mid-June.

She doesn't run the camp... she's way too busy as it is! It is one of our fellow bloggers though and she does a phenomenal job.

I go to Schutzhund training with Julie pretty much every weekend... I live about 2 hours away but it's worth driving 4 hours every Sunday just to spend time with the dogs and see them in action.

If you will be there with Fama, please make it on a weekend! I would absolutely love to get bitten look at Fama from a few yards away and meet you. I would love to get an autographed slobber covered tennis ball from her!

Back on topic: I totally agree with you there. The people who have sent their pups to this trainer for a brief stay (that are on the blog, anyway) have all put in a ton of effort to educate themselves not only on caring for the pup when it comes home, but also on activities and events to get their dogs involved in. You can tell from the smiles in the photos as they are bragging about yet another new title that they are enjoying life with their dog.

It is definitely not a place/service that uneducated, non-caring people send their puppy to have it trained "for them" and then expect to have a perfectly mannered "pet" dog as an addition to their other possessions.

I was going to comment on the need to train the owner. I have seen it before, situations where I was struggling to get Jethro to behave evaporated when the trainer put her hands on the leash. Not because the trainer was doing anything dramatic, but because the trainer was doing so many things, on a subtle level, that all transferred to my dog as, "Don't even think about doing (that) because I don't want you to."

I suppose it would work if I, as the owner/handler, also attended a camp to train me, but I fear my camp stay would need to be much longer than my dog's!

Edited by Connie Sutherland (05/10/2012 02:09 PM)
Edit reason: fixed bracket problem

We still have a problem using the square brackets in posts. We need to us parens (or the curly brackets that are the i=upper-case part of the square bracket keys) so we don't end up with an invisible post.

It'll get fixed!

Meanwhile, if anyone encounters invisible posts during searches, etc., or if your own post shows up blank, PM me and I'll fix it asap.

Thanks!

and back to

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

I was going to comment on the need to train the owner. I have seen it before, situations where I was struggling to get Jethro to behave evaporated when the trainer put her hands on the leash. Not because the trainer was doing anything dramatic, but because the trainer was doing so many things, on a subtle level, that all transferred to my dog as, "Don't even think about doing (that) because I don't want you to."

I suppose it would work if I, as the owner/handler, also attended a camp to train me, but I fear my camp stay would need to be much longer than my dog's!

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

I was going to comment on the need to train the owner. I have seen it before, situations where I was struggling to get Jethro to behave evaporated when the trainer put her hands on the leash. Not because the trainer was doing anything dramatic, but because the trainer was doing so many things, on a subtle level, that all transferred to my dog as, "Don't even think about doing (that) because I don't want you to."

I suppose it would work if I, as the owner/handler, also attended a camp to train me, but I fear my camp stay would need to be much longer than my dog's!

As long as no one minds, there is nothing wrong with hanging out watching at a club without your dog, so you can concentrate on the trainers and handlers.

We hadn't been married long and we were going on a trip and had to board the dog . The place advertised boarding and training. I thought the training might break up the monotony of the boarding. A duck field trail place. So we sent our adolescent Chesapeake for a week. (This is like 36 yrs ago)

She came back with a perfect heel-it lasted 12 yrs! I think they used pretty strong compulsion, but it suited her nature. She seemed to like the trainer. This dog had no mental illness -- she was territorial and strong, and afraid of nothing.

We were just kids ourselves, the training helped us get a handle on our dog.