As some of you may know, I work at a hunting/outdoors supply store. I've posted a couple of times about the people and the mindsets I encounter at my job, regarding dog training. The employees had a mandatory dog training seminar last year, and I was just sick sitting through it. I went in with an open mind, and came out furious and quite frankly wanting to rescue the "TRAINER'S" poor dog who was perched on a chair, cowering and panting heavily with an e-collar strapped around her neck. Anyway...
Well, since then I've talked to many of my coworkers who actually agreed that they thought this guy's methods were horrid. (So I'm not alone!) Yesterday, one of the managers had a customer asking about e-collars. He asked for my help, so I gladly rushed over to get my "gush-about-dog-training-to-a-live-person-in-front-of-me" fix. (LOL.) The guy had a female Lab who he said worked wonderfully, but he'd never hunted with her. He said for the most part she was very reliable on retrieving dummies and coming when called, and doing directionals. But he was concerned with being able to "control her in the field." He really didn't like the idea of an e-collar, and his family had never used them. But, "everyone says they work," so he thought he'd come in and ask. Fortunately, my favorite manager called me to save this guy's dog.
:doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::msnparty::msnparty::msnparty:
(By the way, is it sad that I get this excited handling dog customers at my job? :dogblush
Anyway, I explained to him that I thought shock collars were completely unneccessary, and quite frankly, cruel. I explained some of the ways that trainers use them, for instance--if your dog does not come, shock them. I explained that if the dog wasn't coming the first time, they didn't have a full understanding of the word and/or you weren't making it worthwhile to them. I also explained that the end result is a dog who comes to you because they are afraid to anything else--their only other option is to get shocked. I told him each of my dogs could perform any task a dog trained with a shock collar could, and that I used nothing but positive reinforcement. I ended my spill with telling him about a GREAT book out there for gundogs called Positive Gun Dogs, and that it was available on Amazon.com. I then answered his questions patiently, and he left reassured that he did not need an expensive shock collar to mold his dog into a good hunting partner.
So, YIPPEE!
Well, since then I've talked to many of my coworkers who actually agreed that they thought this guy's methods were horrid. (So I'm not alone!) Yesterday, one of the managers had a customer asking about e-collars. He asked for my help, so I gladly rushed over to get my "gush-about-dog-training-to-a-live-person-in-front-of-me" fix. (LOL.) The guy had a female Lab who he said worked wonderfully, but he'd never hunted with her. He said for the most part she was very reliable on retrieving dummies and coming when called, and doing directionals. But he was concerned with being able to "control her in the field." He really didn't like the idea of an e-collar, and his family had never used them. But, "everyone says they work," so he thought he'd come in and ask. Fortunately, my favorite manager called me to save this guy's dog.
:doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::doglaugh::msnparty::msnparty::msnparty:
(By the way, is it sad that I get this excited handling dog customers at my job? :dogblush
Anyway, I explained to him that I thought shock collars were completely unneccessary, and quite frankly, cruel. I explained some of the ways that trainers use them, for instance--if your dog does not come, shock them. I explained that if the dog wasn't coming the first time, they didn't have a full understanding of the word and/or you weren't making it worthwhile to them. I also explained that the end result is a dog who comes to you because they are afraid to anything else--their only other option is to get shocked. I told him each of my dogs could perform any task a dog trained with a shock collar could, and that I used nothing but positive reinforcement. I ended my spill with telling him about a GREAT book out there for gundogs called Positive Gun Dogs, and that it was available on Amazon.com. I then answered his questions patiently, and he left reassured that he did not need an expensive shock collar to mold his dog into a good hunting partner.
So, YIPPEE!
