Stresses Dog

[Herr Rottweiler]

I was about to come in kicking and screaming at some of the "opinions" however Haven has acted as the voice of reason allready.

How about looking at all situations with a balanced perspective. Too many people on this list tend to play the 5 minute expert, even in topics they no nothing or very little about.

Examine the pros and cons, such as, who will be training the dog, how many sessions etc. Training dogs do not just sit in a kennel all day, in fact many of them would have more stimulation than what they would get from many owners at home who admire them through the window, (not to say all owners are like that).

I ran my own training company for five years and trained thousands of dogs in B&T situations with brilliant results which works on the proviser that the owner then applies the technique at home. All training methods, class, private lessons & Boarding and Train have their merrits.

HR

[jaybeece]

Wasnt like that at all haven I spend plenty of money on my dogs and I wouldnt of begrudged $500 but it wasnt worth it for me to join the gold plan. Having said that there was lots of families there with two or three kids and a new puppy and they were being told to join the gold plan to, Im single own a house and nearly all my wages is disposable income if I want it to be but a family with kids might find $500 a lot of money.

I didnt like the way we were all pressured to join the gold plan,I was real interested in the bronze and I was told that oh yeah bronze is a good plan but once you reach bronze standard you wont be able to go any farther and youll have to pay heaps more to join the next plan (I think it was silver) so your far better off paying out for the gold now coz itll be cheaper in the long run and if you cant afford it up front weve got a payment plan. The guy there really gave us the hard sell and made me think they were more interested in raking the money in than helping people with their dogs and getting them joined up in a suitable plan that suits them. This was the way I felt so I didnt join I wouldnt of made use of the gold coz I knew I wouldnt get that far and bronze would of been perfect for me but the guy running the session put me right off.

So Im not having a go just telling my impressions and if your gonna run 1 day intros first impressions are important arent they even if you dont agree with them. This is going ot so I wont be making anymore posts about this but wanted to let the lady know what I thought when I went to ADT. As I said no offence meant and nothing personal.

Since this is reasonably on topic, I'll add in my 2 cents and they largely agree with this post.

I found them to be very pushy about joining up under a pricey payment plan too and wasn't entirely comfortable. I joined up to get some assistance with a dog aggressive dog and to be honest, I was extremely dissapointed in the level of knowledge that the "behaviouralist" displayed and found it was difficult to get a great deal of time with them when everyone else wanted to ask their own questions. There was another issue as well that I won't go into here, but it wasn't a positive expereince and although I'm sure there are indeed some very good people working there, I think when a company employes that many trainers you're bound to get some bad eggs, of which I seemed to get at least a couple

I ended up persuing a refund after a few weeks and only had a partial one granted along with a rather hefty amount of unpleasantness.

This is just my opinion/experience on this particular school, other training schools have been critiqued before and I don't think that just because some people have worked/currently work there that ADT should be beyond criticism on this forum when it's appropriate.

If anyone wants to argue with this, then PM is probably best, but I'm just giving my own experience with them in the most factual and unbiased way I can. I'd personally advise the OP to look elsewhere based on what I observed and would also be extremely iffy on the idea of sending a dog away to be trained. Afterall it's not just the dog that needs training, a huge part of it is teaching the owner appropriate techniques and responses to the behaviour as well as encouraging the dog to trust in their owner.

[haven]

I think I had enough input from you guys.

Feel bad for the tension between paganman & haven, sorry.

Don't feel bad LA-OC, there's no tension from me and I don't believe there is any from Paganman either from the way his posts read to me. Don't mistake passion for animosity, there are plenty of hotly debated topics on DOL but differences of opinion and disagreements are just that and not something to be taken personally.

Sorry if my posts on this topic have been somewhat of an emotional rant One of my dogs had surgery today to remove a Cancerous mass and I've been a little distracted and stressed, so may not have been as tactful or concise as I might otherwise have been. It certainly hasn't been my intention to be rude to anyone.

Jaybeece, you will get no argument from me either here or via PM, you have only shared your experiences and you are entitled to your opinion. I'm just sorry that you and your dog didn't find the services offered by ADT as helpful as so many others have.

I'm also sorry to hear that Paganman and others have been put off from becoming members because they felt they got the "hard sell" when they attended their free information session. It's unfortunate that the entire organisation can be painted negatively because of that one experience with one trainer, but as PGM mentioned first impressions certainly do count for a lot!

[poodlefan]

I also balked at the price of ADT when I first enquired, but when I sat down and worked it out, it is actually very fair in comparison. You think about your normal obedience club, most are approx $45 a year, and some charge a class fee of about $3 a week. Work that out on the average life span of a dog and its a whole lot more than the cost of joining ADT, which is a lifetime membership.

Yeah but for how long does the average family dog get trained? I'd say it's usually less than 6 months. People get what they want for their dog and stop coming.

Edited May 7, 2008 by poodlefan

[haven]

I also balked at the price of ADT when I first enquired, but when I sat down and worked it out, it is actually very fair in comparison. You think about your normal obedience club, most are approx $45 a year, and some charge a class fee of about $3 a week. Work that out on the average life span of a dog and its a whole lot more than the cost of joining ADT, which is a lifetime membership.

Yeah but for how long does the average family dog get trained? I'd say it's usually less than 6 months. People get what they want for their dog and stop coming.

Some people get bitten by the bug and turn up rain, hail or shine a few times a week every week for years on end and go on to become part of the demo team or even become trainers themselves (like me lol).

Plenty of people only attend regularly until their dog reaches the standard they have chosen, which can take anywhere from a few months to twelve or so based on a number of factors. They then have the option to return at any time to maintain that standard because, as you know, training deteriorates over time. Some people come back once a month or once every few months or not at all for a year or so and then every week for a few months at a time.

Lifetime membership also means that if they run into problems down the track, say their dog is attacked and develops an aggression issue, they can return and get help without paying any additional fees.

[Paganman]

No tension here haven and Im so sorry to hear about your dog and I understand how stressed and upset you must be. I really hope hes ok

[poodlefan]

Some people get bitten by the bug and turn up rain, hail or shine a few times a week every week for years on end and go on to become part of the demo team or even become trainers themselves (like me lol).

Yes, like me too Haven but we are a very small minority. Most people who come through our front door want Rover to sit, walk on a loose lead, come when he's called and not jump on people. That's about it.

There are others who think their puppy learned everything it will need for life at puppy school.

[Lablover]

Dogs learn nothing in a kennel? Certainly some kennels and trainers are better than others but seriously, what a rediculous and fundamentally incorrect statement

Haven,

I think you did not understand my intent. My response was obviously misunderstood. Dogs learn nothing in their run.

The main concern I have, is consistency. A good educated trainer.........who concentrates on the dog and offers training opportunities MANY times per day. Afer all, as we all know, dogs learn best with short frequent sessions.

[Diva]

I want to have that experience together with my lovely dog and feel the process (even it will takes a very long time).

I hope my final decision will be a perfect one for both of us.

Your dog is lucky to have a committed and thoughtful owner. An advantage of doing the training yourself is that you will learn along with her, enjoy the journey!