Hello everyone.

I'm not sure if this belongs more in the general forum or the E-collar forum, so to be safe I'm putting it here.

I had a little incident about 5 days ago that still has me pretty worked up. As a little background to set the stage for this, I and my GSD are in a beginner class with the local agility club. So far it's been wonderful. I've learned a lot about praising and positively motivating my dog, which I know is a vital part in any dog training. Things have been going well until last class when my instructor asked "what's that other collar on him"? I said it was his E-collar, I had forgotten to take it off him before class. That's when she launched into a huge lecture about how it's torture, electrocution, and "only macho men who want to look like they have a tough dog use it" and generally embarassing me in front of our class (even as small as it is). Since I'm not really the confrontational type, I was so stunned I couldn't even come up with any response to all this.

So, with that little incident I'm now at a point where I have to make a decision to either stick with this club/class, or drop it and do something else (Perhaps Schutzhund?). Do you think something like this is an issue worth leaving over, or would I just be overreacting if I left?

I think it was DEFINATELY wrong of the trainer to chastise you in front of everyone else. If she had a problem with the collar, she should have waited to voice her opinions until after class.

If, however, you are enjoying the class otherwise and getting good results, I'd stick with it until it's through if it's the kind where you pay for a 6 week class or something. I would talk to the trainer privately and nicely tell her that you did not appreciate being fussed at in front of the class just because she has a bad opinion about the e-collars. Explain to her that when used correctly, they are not torturous, they are not abusive, and most definately not electrocution! That statement, as well as the one where she said that only macho men put those on their dogs to make them look tough, is completely ignorant.

If you do not think you can continue the class, or you think she will continue to treat you differently as a result of this incident, tell her you want a refund and you're taking your business elsewhere. Make it a point that you are going to give bad recommendations about her when people ask you about trainers. She may apologize, but then again, she may not. If not, then you're better off going somewhere else. People like her, that are completely ignorant about things, but yet they spout off like they know what they're talking about, really get under my skin.

Read my post under Training with the PRONG Collar called "And she calls herself a trainer" to really see what I mean.

The instructor of that class has no business calling herself a dog trainer. It's painfully obvious that she has no idea of the potential for using the tool. I'd get as far away from her as possible.

Tell her to come to this board and learn something about training dogs. Such a comment just shows that she's living in the past and hasn't investigated modern methods of training dogs.

Thanks for the great feedback guys, that really helped me sort things out. I'm pretty sure I'll be moving on now, I just hate to do it because up until this last class, It's been a lot of fun and she's a great agility teacher. But when it comes to obedience training, clickers and halties may work on her dogs, but my dog eats clickers and halties.

On a side note, does anyone know of any Shutzund trainers in the North County area of San Diego? I'd like to see if someone could evaluate my dog and see if he could do it (for fun, not serious competition).

Every tool has its place in training. The e-coller has its place in training. The other thing that she must remember about beinging a trainer is the image that she gave to the other students. singling someone out in class is not a good why to talk to a student for any teacher. The only person that looked bad was your instructor. She has a lot to learn about teaching and bisness. Depending on your confidence level is weather you could handle going back to that class. if you think that you could keep learning from her then go back. if you can find someone better that you would fell more confortable with go there.

Dave