Who has had a bad experience at a training class?
This wasn't good enough. The two continued barking at each other and then one decided that it was going to pick a fight with it's new neighbor, a German Sheppard with an aggressive nature; I noticed his owner having trouble with him before the classes started. This went on for another 15-20 minutes until they finally had to physically separate the two. At this point, we're a good 35-40 minutes into our hour class. Up to this point, I had been walking in a big circle with a dog that couldn't hear me and I and all the other owners couldn't hear the instructor. She even made the comment that it was really too loud in there. This is when we took our break.. thank God! During the break, I was speaking to several other folks and we all thought things were out of control in the other ring. The instructor was not in control and possibly in over her head. In my opinion, the two smaller dogs should have been removed and given a chance to calm down, much like a screaming child at a restaurant. While all this noise, Caitlyn was acting like she couldn't hear me. I've had her flat out ignore me and this wasn't the case. She was not walking up to her normal pace and not even getting frisky when she got bored with just walking. She was just not 'there'. I understand that dogs need to know how to deal with loud distractions, but not during the most basic of training should they be subjected to it. At this point, they aren't learning anything. I had paid for the confirmation class prior to the obedience class and was considering not sticking around for it. After taking a break between the two classes, Caitlyn seemed a lot better. We came back in the building and saw that most of the other dogs had cleared out. Caitlyn must of seen this as she was back to her normal wild woman self in minutes. During the confirmation class, Caitlyn did pretty good and was having fun again. I've made a call to the husband and wife who run the club who run the show. I had to leave a message as no one was there to answer the phone. I was polite, but poignant. I have money invested and this group is the only one in the area who have a confirmation class of any kind. So. What kind of issues have you had and what did you do about it? Vance |
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| I didn't get if there was only 1 trainer for 3 rings...or each ring had a trainer...(((If there was only 1 trainer for all three rings, and that was happening, I think I would have just walked out and did what you did, call the owner and explain that nothing was being accomplished due to unruley dogs in the other ring. )) IF each ring had a trainer, I would have expected the OTHER 2 trainers would have stopped their classes (for a couple of minutes) and address the issue with the trainer who obviously was not doing her job. I have been in classes where there were one or two dogs who were out of control with barking, lunging, snarling..I have also seen the trainer take the owners and dogs in another room, or outside to warn the offenders, if they could not get control of their dogs, immediately, they would have to leave. I have NEVER been in a class where this type of behavior was ingored and been allowed to continue in a class! YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE UPSET...YOU JUST WASTED GOOD MONEY FOR WHAT???? A HEADACHE???? AND A PUP WHO REACTED BY 'NOT BEING THERE'. We have quite a few trainers on this forum and I am very interested in how they would have handled this type of situation. And DO know it would have been dealt with !!!! Sorry that Caitlyn retreated..but I think Heart would have done the same thing!! Poor thing was trying to cope~~and in my opinion she did a good job...mentally, she just got out of there!!!!!! Poor Girl!!! I can't wait for you to tell us what the owners of the training club will say???? Hopefully, at the very least, give everyone a free class to make up for this one..AND at least ONE of the owners should be present at every class from here on out to make sure this never happens again!!!!! We all expect barking, wild pups, and lunging when we go to a class..after all, if any of the dogs were perfect, they wouldn't need the class...HOWEVER.....it IS up to the owner to "own", be responsible and not allow such behavior..and IF they don't then the trainer should step in ASAP and do it!!!!!  |
| Val, To clarify; three rings, three trainers. Ours is a, ignore the wording, a rather sheepish little woman. I mean that in a very nice way. She;s a sweetheart but not one for confrontation. The woman in the ring with the problem children was yelling over the barking instead of dealing with it; this made me madder than anything. She was acknowledging it and ignoring it at the same time. She shouldn't be an instructor regardless of how much she knows. Vance |
I have not had the experienc you have had but have had a couple of disruptive dogs in class. The owner at the start of every orientation tells the class that this is his buisness and if there are any problems to let him know and gives his home number.He also states that if he sees anyond giving innapropiate corrections or just can't get it He will not embarress us but gently take the dog from you and stay in the inside of the ring and do it properly. I did have him take guinness from me once because I was confusing the boy with my ineptness  I had my GSD in a puppy class about 6mos or so ago. There were 3 young GSD's in the class and of course we gravitated to each other. All of our dogs were.... for lack of better words being shepherds nipping and playing with each other  we seperated ourselves from one another when class started. There was one dog that kept lundging and barking at other dogs and the instructor pulled them out of line and handled them for a bit and then handed the dog back to the owner. I liked the way she handled it. I would have done just wnat you dis or (because I have trained at this center quite a bit) said something to the instructor at class Like my dog cannot work with all this going on...... |
| Oh trust me, my instructor knew that I couldn't hear her and she knew I wasn't happy about it. I think most of the folks there did the same. If I don't hear from the folks in charge by tomorrow, I'll be back on the phone until I do. Then more I think about it the madder I get. Thankfully, I can hold my anger while speaking on the phone very well. They'll hear a very upset, but intelligent and well spoken person. I'm very good at that. Vance |
| There were only a handful of dogs in our puppy class, although it was Basic Manners rather than Conformation. Only one ring and one instructor who was a drill sergeant. She would have never let anyone get away with such behavior. Sorry this had to happen to you. I'd demand a private lesson with a different instructor if possible. It's hard to believe the training center hasn't had the same complaint from others. They should give everyone a make-up night for this or refund your money.  |
Sounds like a nightmare to me! So sorry you are going through this.   I've never been in an arena with three classes going on simultaneously, but even without disruptive dogs, it sounds like a challenge just to hear and be heard. And, while I realize that - eventually - puppies have to deal with distractions and focus on you, this sounds like overload. The trainer we have with Benson would never tolerate this. If a dog is disruptive, she first tries to instruct the owner what to do, and if the owner isn't successful (and we're all there to learn, right?), she takes control of the dog to demonstrate, getting the situation under control, all while giving the owner the tools and knowledge they need to maintain that control. I'd say keep calling the owners, and (assuming you go back again), if this continues, stop what you are doing during class, go to your trainer, explain that neither you nor Caitlyn can hear a word being said, and ask them to address the problem. And the suggestion of a private lesson to make up for this fiasco sounds like a good idea as well. |
| Here's an interesting twist to all this. One of the spouses of a classmate in my puppy class agreed to take photos of both their dog and Caitlyn. When I handed him the camera Tuesday night, I explained how everything worked and told him to take what he wanted, just try to keep it an even mix of his and mine. In return, I'd give him a CD each week with what he took. Tuesday night, he took 15 or so still photos of which ten or so were keepers. He also took six or eight HD videos... In EVERY ONE you can hear what I'm complaining about. He has on video me struggling with Caitlyn; the dogs in the next ring going at it, complete with some furious growling. I'll post a couple unedited, (I wouldn't know how to like some folks can) later tonight so anyone who likes horror movies can get their fill. It made me mad to hear it again, but at the same time a bit better knowing that I wasn't blowing out of proportion. I've only looked at a couple of the half dozen or so videos, but I'll bet they're all the same. One that I did watch, you can see just how frustrated our instructor was getting. Thanks to all for letting me know I was right in my thinking. I just like to make sure that my heart isn't speaking for my mind sometimes. When we get worked up about something as near and dear to us as our pups, it's easy to have your vision clouded sometimes. Vance |
| Oh no. I'm sorry to hear about this. We go to a similar place for puppy kindergarten w. Schubert. We have Erin and Gertie with their group next to us training for Therapy dog, and a big ring on the other side doing agility. If one dog acts nuts, our trainer quietly and matter-of-factly takes the dog to the center of the room and keeps him in the sit position next to her, and like magic, the dog calms down. If 2 dogs act nuts towards each other, the owners are instructed to walk in the opposite direction. That usually does the trick.... Schubert is always a bi-stander. If you wave a treat in front of his nose, he will snap out of whatever he's doing and follow commands. He's our Piggy boy. |
| Joanna, it was so bad that even Pupperonis being waved in front of Caitlyn was having no effect on her for much of the class. It was heartbreaking and frustrating. I know she knew her commands. At home, she'll sit with hand signals and no works. Most of the time, she'll even do a down with not treats or words, just signals; not Tuesday night though. Vance |
| Sorry you had this experience and hope it was just a bad night for the facility. I also went to a "big" facility that had more than one class going on during our puppy classes and beginner obedience. In the middle of our class they even had fly ball in the ring next to us! Imagine puppies, just learning, and hearing flyball going on with dogs crazxy right nest to them...and on the other side of them was agility and the sound of the see saw hitting the ground! Yes, I understand dogs need to learn to obey with distractions. BUT, if they are distracted and scared while they are learning, they won't learn a thing! I bet your gal was distracted and not herself with all that stuff going on around her. And she won't learn if she is stressed or scared. I think you were right calling the owner. I myself stopped attending this particular facility we had trouble with and went somehwere else. If you think something is not right, go with your gut. Its usually correct! |
| I think you did the right thing contacting the owners and letting them know about the problem. The other instructor needs to take control of her class and if she has some dogs in her class that are not under control (more than occasional skirmish that can be corrected my getting the dog to focus or moving him) then that dog has to go. You can hold a class that demands concentration and focus if there's a constant ruckus. It puts everyone on edge, both dogs and humans. The instructor has to understand this and make the decision to remove the problem dogs so the class can carry on. It's just not fair to the other people who are trying to come to class and actually learn something-- not to mention paying to learn. In one of our conformation classes, we had a girl with a pitbull (I assume they can show them in UKC?). The dog seemed like a nice dog but he could not settle down and the owner had zero control of him. He'd choke himself to the point where he'd throw up-- many times. He'd snarl and jump and just go generally crazy. He peed in excitement. The more the girl tried to discipline him, the more he pushed her back and the more excited he got. Sometimes in his excitement, he'd turn towards another dog, barking and lunging. Every time it was his turn in the ring, he'd go insane, puke and the whole class would have to wait for cleanup. It was a major pain. The instructor made a valiant effort in trying to accommodate the dog without it getting in the way of other people learning. She was a tough as nails kind of woman and really offered good advice to the owner of the problem dog but the owner just couldn't exude the confidence that she needed to gain respect from this dog. Finally, after a few weeks. After the 3rd puke in to a 45 minute long class, the instructor just said, "Look this isn't working out, it's affecting the rest of the class. You have to leave." She told the owner to come see her after class and she'd try to help her but the dog couldn't be a part of the group class anymore. As soon as the girl and the dog walked out, you could hear a collective sigh of relief from the rest of us. Thankfully, Owen was always way more interested in me than anything else so he kept his focus pretty well but it still made the class a huge bummer. It was so much better after the problem dog/owner were gone! |
| As promised... I really feel as though I should be putting a parental warning on this. Watch the video and let me know what you all think. At only 8 seconds into this, the dogs in the ring on the right side of the ring the pups were in start up. It got so bad, so quick that you can see Susan, our instructor turn her attention along with her assistant. Susan in the cute blond in the center of the ring with glasses and her assistant is the taller brunette with her. Not a second after Susan turns to see the commotion, everyone in our ring, including many of the pups do also. It starts up again at the 1:18 or so mark. And again, everyone is horribly distracted. You can tell by watching Caitlyn. She is normally a VERY bouncy little girl and I usually have a very hard time keeping her at my slow-ass pace. Anyone who has seen her in person will see immediately that she's not a happy puppy. I present to you for your consideration... Vance |
| The facility doesn't appear to be acoustically appropriate for multiple classes. To be honest it reminded me of sporting events (mostly football) on television where the background noise can grate on my nerves. What did the owner say? Did you ever hear from them? |
| Judi - I have not heard bad from anyone at the current training club. To me, communication is paramount. I'm guessing that this person, (the husband, wife or both) doesn't want to talk to someone who is upset or mad. We went to another local club's, (Crossroads Canine Club, http://www.crossroadscanineclub.com/) training building where they were holding their annual conformation show. This is a UKC sanctioned club who holds their training and shows at another club's, (Gem City Dog Obedience Club, http://www.gcdoc.com/) dog training dedicated facility that is easily four times larger than the current training facility. This new facility was really nice. It had that thick black rubber matting on all the floors which instantly cut the ambient noise down to nearly none. The show itself was small by most standards I'm sure. We were able to speak to the club's show organizer. When she found out we were looking for a conformation training program, she went and found the club's main conformation trainer, Trish, for us to talk to. Trish spoke to us at length about what and how she trains. We were pretty happy with what we heard. Sadly, the next class with openings is in March. So we'll finish the current obedience class and then build on that until March rolls around. Oh and this new place is only ten miles from home, compared to 27 miles to the other... Thanks for all the input. Vance |
SheepieMommy wrote: The facility doesn't appear to be acoustically appropriate for multiple classes. To be honest it reminded me of sporting events (mostly football) on television where the background noise can grate on my nerves. What did the owner say? Did you ever hear from them? Totally. Even outside of the ruckus, there's way too much going on at once. There seems like there's a LOT of dogs crammed into that small space. I'd find that distracting, too. |
| It was a bit loud in there and some distractions. i did want to comment on how cute the Aussie was who was behind you. I hope things work out better this week. |
| She IS adorable!!! It's actully her daddy who took the photos and videos for me. |
| That would not happen where I go. out trainners are very good & would teach the owners how to put the dogs in order & the dogs as well but in a good but firm way |
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