Are you really a trainer?

Question

People that give advice on training and behavior are they really trainers? Do they really know anything about animal behavior? It is sad to see the bad information given out to people looking for help. This is an example http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnpP0JbbIyOUhHuQLTtvdlfsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071010172602AAXtS4U&show=7#profile-info-KWEM0RILaa People came back telling this man that his GSD was being dominant, when in fact the behavior his dog is displaying is fear agression and not dominance at all. I wish that people would not even attempt to answer a question when they do not know what they are talking about. I am not talking about the best answer! LOL He got it right.

I do not give advise on another breed that I do not know much about myself. Heck at dog club the other night one of the obedience trainers took it upon herself to go over this 12 month old boxer for the owner pointing out the boys faults and such. Her breed is the Irish Setter! We all stood around and looked at each other just dumbfounded. She even told the guy to get his dog's ears cropped! Now what vet would do an ear crop on a 12 month old boxer. To me the boy was pet quality, but I do not know the breed, so I was not about to point anything out to him.

If people take bad advise from people who do not know about behavior expecially with a large breed dog, it can be a disaster. I don't call myself a trainer or behaviorist, but I do know quite a bit from working with dogs for many years.

I have a girl that was a fearful idot when I brought her home. She would come at you with her hackles up barking, it was fear not dominance. She probably would make it to a SchH3, but I will never call her a very confindent dog.

I mean idiot! LOL

Answer 1

You are so very right. I adopted a breed that is very challenging in the training department, as well as very difficult when abused, and I gathered all the different types of training info I could before I hired my trainer.
It was a difficult decision for me to admit that I was completely unqualified for this dog, as I have trained all of my own dogs and have always had great success, but I wasn't getting anywhere with the popular methods.
It was pretty scary that some of the training facilities had the same method for every dog, and even in my ignorance, I was rather suspicious of that. I finally chose a trainer who could talk to me about my breed and why they had to be trained with a certain method, and I was not disappointed.
If I had chosen one of the other facilities, I may very well have ended up getting bitten more than once, as my dog had some serious fear aggression on top of the natural attitude of her breed. (ACD)
I recently saw a poster answer a question about how to deal with an ACD snapping at him, and I couldn't help but step in when the poster encouraged hitting the dog. Poor guy may very well end up attacked by a very defensive ACD if he tries that method. Some of this stuff can be really dangerous!
I always shudder when I see things like "rub your dog's nose in the poop and put them outside" or "show your dog who's boss by rolling him on his back and pinning him down". People actually think that kind of thing helps.
When I realized I needed help with my girl, I went to trainers, not Yahoo. Even now, when I want advice about ACDs, I ask my ACD group, where everyone owns one or more, and some breed and train as well.
I do give advice about Minpin training, because I have alot of experience with them, and also abused shelter dogs, because I have had quite a few of those as well, but GSDs I leave alone. Never had one.

Answer 2

Well.. i have a very good dog trainer and what she says is "Everyone is a professional dog trainer" (sarcasm of course)
Everyone has their own way of dealing with their dogs, and unfortunately some people are really stuck up and think that they're right. There are so many people out there who think abusing dogs is the way to go as an example.
I for one are a big fan of leadership and everything boils down to that for me, but there's a HUGE difference between agression and dominance, however dominance can lead to agression in my opinion. But yes someone should never say they're a dog trainer if they're not. People love to give their advice and i guess it's just about choosing the "Best Answer"

Answer 3

Well, I went and read the thread, and I'm not sure why the responses made you so hostile. None of those people claimed to be a trainer. Each of them was simply speaking from their own experience and voicing their own opinion. What you get at Yahoo Answers is not experts, but just regular people expressing their opinions.

In some cases the responders are real jerks and being jerks on purpose. Sometimes they are just stupid and speaking from their own misinformation.

Not having seen the dog in person first-hand, it's just as possible that the dog was trying to be dominant rather than exhibiting fear aggression, and I can understand the people who felt it might be a dominance behavior. The most correct answer was selected by the dog's owner, who was the only one with 1st hand experience with the dog, and therefore the only one who could determine accurately which of those behavior problems was most likely to be her dog's problem.

I was not one of those who answered, but I don't see any reason to be so upset with the other responders. They didn't claim to be trainers.

And in your addendums I think you mentioned a trainer who gave misinformation. So I don't understand why you think we should be trainers or owners of this breed to be able to TRY to help a requester.

Answer 4

Hah, I know I'm not, that's part of the reason I'm here and on other lists, so I can glean info from others....I stay away from answering beyond the basics- pulling, jumping, housebreaking, as these are fairly standard issues that are usually not challenged by temperment issues... 90% of the people on here couldn't tell the difference between aggressive behavior and fear biting- And personally, I will work with an aggressive dog over a fearful dog anyday....that's my personal comfort zone.

Answer 5

When people take the chance of asking questions online, in such a precarious environment, they risk getting advice from people from a variety of experience levels.

I don't think most responders willfully give bad advice, but it's up to the asker to discern what is good, sound advice. Most people who frequent this section, genuinely love animals and have the best intentions.

On the other hand, I've received questionable advice from professionals and ended up seeking second, sometimes third opinions.

Answer 6

I think you know by now that here you can be what ever you put in your source box!
Now he doesn't say he's a trainer but he did give training advice and it's not for me to say if it's good or bad because I'm not a trainer. You seem to think it's not good advice and I will tend to lean in that direction too. You know this breed far better than I.
I think it's the same old thing that the asker will go with what ever they want to hear and not what is correct or right.

I hope the dog doesn't bite somone in the mean time.

Answer 7

I have been training dogs for over 30 years and diagnosing a dog's behavior with only a few hints is often frustrating and many people can not read their dogs so misinterpret a slowing wagging tail as a "well the dog must be happy, his tail was wagging". No one method works for all of even most dogs, I use the same BASIC methods on all my dogs and fosters but vary the intensity or collar with the dog's behavior and reactions.

Answer 8

Actually I try to shy away from these questions. I don't like answering these questions unless I give the advice of "seek a pet behaviorist or a professional trainer."
You don't know the dog so it is hard to give advie so I feel like it is better they seek a professional for help with their dogs.

Answer 9

Thankfully the asker picked a good "best answer" for the quesiton!

I don't consider myself to be an expert and I know where my limits are to answering training questions. I can help with the basics, tell people better ways to find good trainers (instead of settling for PetSmart), suggest methods to prevent and stop puppy biting, etc... But when it comes to aggressive or excessive fear behavior like in that question, I don't have much experience and did not answer the question for that reason.

I deal with fear in my BC, as all dogs go thru those "fear stages", but I have it easy with her. Most cases I can simply encourage her to check it out and she finds it's not as bad as she thought.

Too many people on here give bad advice and it is up to the asker to still research possible answers to verify them accurate and acceptable for their dog.

For me personally, I have 3 trainers I work with each week, so I don't need to come here to ask anything. I wish more people would hook up with good trainers. Would save a lot of problems for most in the end.

Answer 10

There are people here who have been dealing with dogs their entire lives- and while they are not professional trainers, they know what they're talking about for the most part. CNN reported recently that 70% of all doctor visits result in misdiagnosis. If doctors, who go to school for years and continue training and education throughout their careers are only 100% correct 30% of the time then what do you expect from anyone else? Everyone is human and NO ONE is right all the time. You don't come to Yahoo Answers to get told how to run your life. You come here to request insight into a problem you're experiencing and people lead you in the best direction that they can.