Useless Training Clubs

I've now tried all the local dog training clubs in my area and I'm astonished at how utterly useless they are.
I 've stuck with the latest one for eight weeks just because it was better than the others and I was allowed to use food rewards but I haven't seen any of the dogs improve in the slightest.
There isn't any real training going on

A chap turned up with a small cross breed, we were told to tell our dogs to sit and after a few attempts he says "she doesn't know how to sit" The trainers answer was "SHE MUST KNOW HOW TO SIT"
He spent much of the next hour whenever we were instructed to put the dogs into a sit, saying; sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT, (you get the picture). never was he shown how to get the dog to perform this simple task.

If a dog doesn't stay when doing the sit/stay the owner is instructed to "tell him off and put him back" They don't reduce the time or distance, they just repeat and get the same problem

The number one solution from the trainer to a misbehaving dog seems to be to shout "NOW THEN" at the dog. If only I'd known this technique before

I've seen two different trainers at different clubs using force to get a dog to lay down. One of them was being physically held down to get him to stay down and the other was pulled down by the loose skin under the chin. The "down" has to be one of the simplest of commands to teach a dog and both of these dogs were puppies and one of the clubs is Kennel Club Registered.

I'm really frustrated at the standard of training at theses clubs. People attend with their new puppy thinking that they are doing the right thing and that they'll end up with a well trained dog, most would actually do better on there own.

These clubs have no other function than boosting the ego's of people who can get a dog to submit by force to his/her Will and are STUPID enough to think this makes them "DOG TRAINERS"

Shane, is there a GSD Club anywhere near you. I went through all you are going through, and more. Then, purely by chance, I fell upon a GSD Training Club, and my girls and I have never looked back. I have been able to build on the knowledge I already have, found out where I was going wrong, been shown how to put it right and learnt so many new things I feel like superwoman

Sadly there are some terrible "dinosaur" trainers out there, or just those with no ability to actually train a dog or how to help an owner train their dog!

When you see wonderful videos like Jean Donaldson's "Train your dog like a Pro" and then you see a really bad training club, it just makes you want to go crazy!

One of the reasons the APDT UK was set up originally was to counteract the bad and sometimes harsh training methods - since then there have been a few more organisations such as COAPE association for trainers and IMDT etc who are along similar lines.

I found I used to get upset when I went to some classes, but then I found APDT ones and the standard was hugely different. There was incentive and fun, a goal, and all sorts to enjoy plus all the dogs were better trained after a course of lessons

I am a dog trainer now and I am very careful to give owners value for money, to be kind and to be effective as well. If not, I would be unhappy with myself.

If any of these bad trainers are associated with any bodies, honestly Shane I'd contact them and say how very disappointed you are.

Wys
x

The first one I tried used to run a GSD training club and runs a rescue kennels, she was the worst, (no food allowed )

Shane, could I suggest that you go observe classes before booking your dog onto any of the courses.

Any good trainer will welcome observers with open arms and by going along without your dog, you can assess the class, assess the trainer and their methods and also be able to chat with the people attending the course to get their opinions.

If you are unhappy with any trainer that is a member of an organisation, complain to that organisation. These bodies can only assess so far and rely on the public to inform them if they are unhappy in any way.

I think the clue is in the word 'used' to Shane
Have you googled GSD clubs in your area, there is bound to be one, or even GSD training club, they are KC registered as well, although I know that doesn't always follow it will be on top of its game, but they usually train to KC Good Citizen standard, and I know (in the one I attend) at least one of the instructors are taking the KC trainers course

I had an almost identical problem to the one you are experiencing. One evening I went along there were 34 dogs all in a circle with very close proximity - my one being dog-reactive, as you can imagine, was freaking out! At one stage the trainer instructed us to put our dogs in the down position and keep them there. She then proceeded to chat to a fellow trainer in the middle of the circle. My one would go down but he was definitely not going to stay - he kept getting up (probably because he felt vulnerable with so many unknown dogs around him) she came over and started to push him down - he wasn't having any of it and just bounced back up, finally she shrugged her shoulders and walked away. That was the last time I went.

Like you, I despair at people that attend and think this is how you train them - 000s of people in my area go to this class. I witnessed one darling little patterdale wearing a choke collar being "checked" constantly - it was such a little love it kept rolling onto its back - seriously brought tears to my eyes.

Such a shame that trainers like these are allowed to teach.

I rescued the first dog I had, as an adult, and (knowing no better) I took him a dog training club. They were useless and simple interested in collies and GSD's who compete in obedience competitions. The chairs were set out in rows so you had to squeeze past dogs to get to the floor and they had no idea of how to deal with behaviour issues. I once asked how I could get my fox hound cross to come back on walks more reliably (he was ten years old when I got him and had been straying from various homes all his life) their response was to ask how long he disappeared for on walks. When I said five minutes their response was 'blindly that's good! I wouldn't worry, my labs go off for half an hour at a time!' I was gobsmacked and didn't go back.

Thankfully I found an APDT class whose main concern was teaching owners how to train their dogs so that they had a relaxed, happy and well behaved companion. The main trainer is also a behaviourist and I went on two become an accredited trainer.

I would never recommend a kennel club accredited dog training club to anyone. I don't think it is a guarantee of effective, kind training methods at all. I would always recommend APDT or APBC. Yes you pay more, but you pay for what you are getting.

What an idiot! Clearly displaying they had no knowledge of dogs oppositional reflex! Stupid people who will keep trying one thing again and again, even though a large number of dogs won't respond to it....they'll blame the dogs every time rather then their antiquated techniques.