[cowpony]

What is the worst piece of advice you've had from a professional trainer?

I once had a trainer advise me that I should step on the leash if I didn't have a solid down-stay and needed to keep the dog from wandering off when I needed both hands free to attend to something else.

Nope. Bad idea. When a 70 pound dog decides to leave, the leash underfoot will function like a slingshot strap and launch you straight up. Of course, the reason I had the leash under my foot was that I was busy and couldn't pay attention to the dog. I was, therefore, completely oblivious to any signs I was about to go airborne. I promptly toppled over and lay there waving my feet like an up-ended turtle. Very embarrassing!

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Hmmm. Probably the one that told me to put my puppies in the bathroom. I was struggling with two young dogs in a small urban space, and I seem to recall the bathroom thing was if one tried to take the other's bone?

She also had me put my hand on their chests. And just....hold it there. I have no idea why. She charged me $1,200.

 

[FloofyPoodle]

I lived in an area growing up where dominance theory was the majority opinion on dog training (like, legit, I went to a dog park one day, and whenever a new dog came in, everyone pulled their best impression of Cesar Millán and SHHed at their dog if it got up to say hi) so... Take your pick of those ideas as you will. I never used a pro trainer, partly because of that. Fortunately our library had books on training.

 

[cowpony]

Hmmm. Probably the one that told me to put my puppies in the bathroom. I was struggling with two young dogs in a small urban space, and I seem to recall the bathroom thing was if one tried to take the other's bone?

She also had me put my hand on their chests. And just....hold it there. I have no idea why. She charged me $1,200.

Was the bathroom instead of a crate? Years ago people often put dogs in the bathroom because it was the room with the fewest damageable surfaces. (Just remember to remove the toilet paper roll before you shut the door.) My bathroom door has gouges from the previous owner's dog, left there probably 50 years ago.

 

[Liz]

Probably the one that told me that I was wrong: there was nothing to be concerned about when the rescue dog attacked Mia -- it was normal two dog behavior that I wasn't used to, and I needed to work harder. F*ck that. Of course it was only after I rehomed the dog (where it could be an only dog to a retired school teacher, and it has worked out marvelously for them both) that trainers shared their stories of rehoming and even putting down aggressive dogs.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Was the bathroom instead of a crate? Years ago people often put dogs in the bathroom because it was the room with the fewest damageable surfaces. (Just remember to remove the toilet paper roll before you shut the door.) My bathroom door has gouges from the previous owner's dog, left there probably 50 years ago.

No, they had crates. This was intended as a punishment. She wanted them to sit in there long enough to "think about" what they'd done.

 

[Starvt]

The trainer that told me the martingale collar I was using could choke my dog, so I should use the non moveable d-ring to hook the leash on. She proceeded to supposedly prove her point by showing me that she could lift up her dog with a prong collar that was set up so it didn't tighten (this was a very thick furred dog, she just carefully lifted it's front feet up a bit).
I knew she would never listen to me if I told her that the point of the prong collar being made to tighten, is to put equal pressure around the whole neck versus just on one spot like she was doing.... If you are going to use a prong at least do it properly...

 

[Asta's Mom]

The trainer that was insistent that there was something wrong with Asta and that I needed to work on treats. My praising Asta for good work evidently, according to her, upset the class. This is the same trainer that wanted me to put Asta on a choke collar. No other options around here - so I work on my own. Love to see my boy work.