Dog Training Clubs you have attended...the good, the bad and the ugly!

Lets here your stories of dog training clubs.
Good ones, bad ones and downright ugly ones!

Were the instructors qualified, if so by who? Were the other handlers having fun, did the dogs look stressed?

It's an interesting topic and I'd love to hear peoples experiences.

First off, might not be wise to 'name and shame' on a public forum?

For me Good Clubs I have (and do attend) are Darcregan and Grangemouth. Yvonne and Brian are excellent trainers who use positive techniques and give their handlers lots of encouragement.

I used to be a member (and at one time a committee member) but I stopped going when I became concerned with the use of check and pinch collars by the head trainer. I since left the club when I found out a trainer used an electric shock collar on a club social walk - it seemed to upset when I asked about this. That club has a bad reputation, however I am encouraged that the new head trainer is employing clicker training.

think i know the club you are on about ,it has been going on at that club for years,lets hope it changes.I had a few words with one of the members about them thinking it was a good idea to have a 6month springer wearing a prong collar tried to tell her it was cruel and if she wanted to teach her dog to walk to heel there where a lot nicer ways to go about it!! her responce was it is the dog that hurts herself not me,i pointed out that it was her (the owner) that picked up the collar and put it on the dog.Havent seen her since

I enjoyed my puppy classes, the lady was self taught and definitely knew what she was on about.

The only problem was, I enrolled in a 'puppy beginner class', however when I turned up, Bella was the only puppy! All the other dogs were 2+. Made it quite hard as in a class of 7, there was only one other dog which was friendly there were times I didn't feel safe....especially when a 5 year Rottie got off her lead and came belting over to Bella.....crapped my pants a little bit, as this dog had snapped, lunged and gone for 2 other dogs just walking into the class!!

I would like to go to a follow on course, but after getting comments on here, I would quite like to try new things myself. Bella loves to learn. If I have any problems I just call the trainer anyway.

Been to two with two different dogs. 1st was really good though the one of the assistants managed to work the Lurcher pup into a play biting frenzy by trying to attach her lead while she was rolling around the floor with her legs in the air (the dog not the assistant)

The second was fine if you had a straight-forward dog - if that makes sense.

could well be the same club, good news is that the new head trainer is using clicker training, howsever it may take a very long time for the reputation to change, and I certainly haven't renewed membership as I don't want to be associated with the reputation iit has

I went to one many years ago where the head trainer told me my dog was great but I wasn't the brightest in my defense it was the first week and I hadn't a clue what round and finish meant! I stopped going after a while as you seemed to spend more time sitting around than actually doing any training and getting singled out to work with a pup in front of people who attended for years wasn't for me.
The last club I attended was great , only 8 pups and the trainer went through the basics, showed some clicker training and handed out notes for homework to practise for the next week.

When Ailsa was 14 weeks we took her to a well known local club. She was a nervous barker and we were excluded from the class the first week and had to sit and watch everyone else. The next week we were put in a side room and told to squirt her in the eyes with lemon juice when she barked. Another 'trainer' mentioned that having started this behavior because she was 'a gobby shepherd' she would probably be like this forever more!
Obviously I was upset about this prognosis and contacted her breeder who guffawed a lot and said not to worry just bring her over to their classes in Litchfield on a Sunday morning. True to form Ailsa started her nonsense - the trainer scruffed her and spoke to her quite firmly - minutes later she was walking between all the other dogs perfectly normally and from then on played and socialised every sunday before class with the rest of the dogs. She turned into a very sociable, friendly girl. I was tempted to go back to the original class to show them but life's too short.........

Worst class I went to was a supposedly positive reinforcement class. For the dogs it was positive I suppose, for anyone who didn't fit in with the clique however it was anything but! I was made to feel most unwelcome there. Not by the trainers but by the other dog owners! I ended up leaving as I hated it so much.

The only class I found where we were accepted and welcomed was one using choke chains and dominance. So we went there for years. The instructor was fine with me clicker training Rupert, never pushed me to use her methods and actually had me instructing at times.

Oddly enough, the dogs in the traditional class were far less stressed than the ones in the positive class. There was a lot more control, a lot more consistency and the dogs knew what was expected. However, the difference between the traditionally trained dogs and the few who trained with rewards was enormous. Our dogs were far more relaxed, were far less stressed when beginning to learn a new command and just generally seemed happier.

Puppy class I went to was great, and later she let me take Mia to the class and let me work at my own pace in the corner of the room
Unfortunalty she is full just now
She is APDT member

Agility class was great for 2 years then the trainer changed and suddenly we had correction sprays and very reactive dogs and the trainer talking down to us all and tellin us to 'take our dogs out the room and have a word with them'
I stopped going

another class the trainer was amazing when I did a day with her but the class didnt work for me
dogs comming in and out all the time, my lead being grabbed off me and Mia pulled into the middle of the room to have her bum pushed and me told 'Oh I see she is stubborn and dosent want to sit'
and the very funny moment when she tried to show me that with the correct treats Mia would be 100% focused on me
She offered two different treats to Mia in her open hands
Mia thought she was doing a 'leave it' exercise and sat and turned away from the treats - I was killing myself, the trainer not so much

Also was told of one where a freinds little puppy went to 'socalise' with another dog - by boining
The 'trainer' said he was being dominant and pinned the puppy to the floor till the pup puked all over him I would have bit that trainer!! I hope I never meet the guy who gets his kicks from pinning tiny puppies to the floor