I'm Not satisfied with this dog trainer. what should i do??

Question

a dog trainer came over yesterday, and spend 3 1/2 hours here. shes with the nationwide dog training company called barkbusters, she charges $500, and when she came over yesterday, thats all she was worried about first was the money. she wouldnt say anything about the training until we had the money situation figured out first. then we talked for like 2 hours and 45 minutes. and everything that she was saying I ALREADY KNEW! then the last 45 minutes she told me how to train the dog, by if he scratches the door, throw a chain at the door and growl "bah" at him, and then tell him to sit, we did the same thing for when he would bark when someone came in, and when he steals food off of the table we would do it too, throwing chain at floor say bah. well then she said then next time she comes will be december 13. so i was sitting down looking over the papers and the training chart that i have to do til next time she comes, and ididnt see the aggression issue on there at all, then i relized

that she never even said anything about how to solve the aggression issue with my dog. which is my main problem here that needs fixing asap! (he gets into fights with my other dog, and i called bark busters to have this problem fixed, because my sis is having a babyin 3 months). so i relized that she wont be physically helping me train my dog, she just tells me what to do, and i pretty much do it all on my own. besides that i am pretty much paying for her knowlegde, WHICH I ALREADY HAVE! i knew everything she said, i even told her that i know alot from researching on the internet! well anyways so my dad wrote her a check for the $500, but she cant cash it till tomorrow (wednesday), so my dad told the trainer that we want the check back, but we would still like to pay her for her time talking to us, dad told her he would give her $150, (i said only $100) and she sas that she wants $200-$250 for her time, and that if we dont give her that amount, then she pretty much said that she will

that she will turn the check over to police! my dad just put a stop thng (a hold) on the check today so she cant cash it. now i dont know what to do, for one, i think she should have done a consultaion first, to see if we were interested, but no we had to pay first. now what should i do, do u agree that i shouldnt have to pay for her knowledge because i aready have it, etc? what should we do about the check, can we get in troulbe for puting a hold on it? please help me out here!

(I CANT CONTACT HER MANAGER, BECAUSE SHE OWNS HER OWN FRANCHISE. BARK BUSTERS IS A FRANCHISE, ANYONE CAN BUY INTO IT I GUESS, , ITS A NATIONWIDE DOG TRAINING COMPANY)

THE WEBSITE IS: barkbusters.com

tom l- they are BEHAVIORISTS!! thats why when i called her i asked her "do you train dogs that are aggressive", she said yes. and yes i did sign a contract, and in the contract it said its non-refundable. but she cant cahs the check yet, so we put a hold or whatever on the check so she cant cash it. (atleast shes getting some money, we are still paying her for her time, most people probably wouldnt be as nice as we are).

if she turns the check over to police can they do anything about it?

another edit: yes there is a lifetime warranty, BUT shes not going to be helping me train him, she wont be here to tell me if im doing it wrong or right, she comes maybe once a month to see how im doing, im pretty much training him my self, and besides all of the above, what if i need her for something, she NEVER answers her phone, im always leaving messages. i would think a good trainer, will be there for me!!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ANSWERS...IM SORRY BUT IM GOING TO HAVE TO PUT THIS ONE IN VOTING!

Answer 1

I am so sorry. She sounds awful. Maybe check with other reputable dog trainers and call the Better Business Bureau. See if she has done this to others and try to get your money back. Good luck

Answer 2

Contact the company, not her but the national one, talk to customer relations, the office of the President, whomever but lodge a formal complaint.

Explain that you talked to her about a specific problem you needed addressed immediately. Note that she said she would address this for you but that she did not either in her visit or her plan for future training. Say that you are thoroughly dissatisfied and feel that you have been misled.

State that you will pay a reasonable fee for her time but you do not want her service in the future as she has not delivered what she promised. You are the customer and she should not be threatening you but negotiating a reasonable solution. A business person who does not deliver what she promised and threatens you with a criminal complaint is not anyone you ever want inside your home....ever.

What she said was beyond the pale and completely unprofessional and unacceptable.

The BBB is useless. The State Attorney General is much more useful and I would go on the web and check out consumer complaint services on your State's website and see what they say about the check, about delivery of services, etc.

I would also look at your state's laws regarding sales in the home. There may be a cooling off period where you can decide not to buy the service you signed up for as some salespeople resort to high pressure tactics and intimidate customers.

Hopefully, a call to the national company will have your local franchisee doing a better job of customer service and you can get rid of the contract, pay a fee for her time and be done with this company.

Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a trainer or behaviorists and some of them can actually damage your dog both physically and psychologically. If you cannot find someone who is well recommended by multiple, independent sources, I would stick to books by world class behaviorists and trainers. They are available everywhere and they include proven techniques.

Answer 3

Definately NOT one of my favorite "styles" of training. I find it generally ineffective at best. However, the average dog probably can be managed with such methods.... trouble is, by the time someone's willing to spend that amount of money on training a dog "average" is not usually the correct description for the dog.

All that aside... Payment is expected up front by most trainers and consultants. Most trainers do not train your dog for you, but simply teach you how to train your dog... you're paying for their expertise and knowledge. As a trainer, there are very few dogs who don't listen to me... I can get them to do things their owners have only dreamed of... that doesn't mean that the owner has enough authority over the dog to convince it to even sit... the issue is NOT the dog, but is the owner.

Training a dog is also about making small steps... forming building blocks for the next larger step. I do not know why she did not address the aggression issue, but it would make more sense to ask her than it would to simply be upset. I have had training situations where I needed to develop a rapport between the owner and the dog BEFORE I could assist in working on what the biggest issue was... frankly, to do so otherwise would have been a good lead in to getting someone bit.

FWIW.. My initial consultation is $200 for a 2 hour consultation plus written plan. Each additional half hour of training is $75. (I do negotiate some package deals) My average total fee is $750 and includes a consultation and 8 visits. (which may sound like a lot of money but when you consider time lost traveling, gas, problem solving etc... it averages out to be quite a bit less on an hourly basis). If I feel an owner is not following through with the training... I'm pretty blunt about it.

Edit: I require weekly visits at minimum when I'm working with someone. A month between visits is too long.

Answer 4

I detest Bark Busters.

It's a franchise ANYONE can purchase. The owners attend a 3 week training sessions and then call themselves "trainers" or "behavorists".

The entire "method" they use is growling at the dogs. There was an article in our local paper a couple years ago about them. We were furious that a franchise got free press with some guy who'd been a traininer for all of 5 months and he was calling himself an expert. Our non-profit organization does training and have been training for YEARS and we didn't get that kind of press....

Anyway, look at the contract. It should state that there is a lifetime quarantee. This means they will keep coming back for as long as you own the dog or for a year to work on the issue you have.

I'd do 2 things. Quickly call an attorney for help and see if you can stop payment legally. That consultation may cost you more than the $500.00.

Work with these dopes for EVER. Keep making them come back until your dog is fixed. I'd pester the daylights out of them until they refunded your money. You paid for a service, USE it. It's a small business with that woman for an owner..... She needs to keep coming over to help you, that's what their contract states. Make her help you... and help you and help you and help you...

Make sure you get your $500. worth of training. It says on their website they can help with aggression. Make them help. If not, call the home office. Complain to the Better Business Bureau, Angies List, Craig's list Etc.

The thing is, you have only 1 consultation right now to go on and that's not enough to say the method isn't working.

If it were me, I'd ask the attorney about the money. Then I'd probably just chalk up losing the $500. You can try using them. But growling at dogs and noises don't train dogs.

Post a question about those methods here and see what Tom l, Greekman and Animal Artwork have to say about them. They'll all say this is garbage.

It's more important to get your dog on the right track.

I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 5

I would say that you are lucky that this person did not address the aggression issue with you because the chances are that what she'd recommend you do would not only not work, it would make the situation worse. I'm sorry about the time you wasted and the information that she did share you. Throwing chains and shouting 'bah' to get a dog to learn a new behavior is not the best way to go.

Don't give up though. Next time ask the trainer if they use positive reinforcement techniques to train dogs. This way you will learn the skills you need and can use them to teach your dog to do anything.

As far as the aggression issues you could check out the AGBEH group on yahoo. They deal with lots of dog/dog aggression. It's not an easy behavior to work on and you shouldn't expect a quick fix from ANY training techniques.

You'll find info about good training books, some specifically for reactive dogs (Feisty Fido, Click To Calm) at this site

www.fearfuldogs.com/books.html

Letting this person know that you are not only unwilling to pay but that you will publicly make it known that you were dissatisfied with her services may make her realize that she should come to some amicable resolution with you. Personally I think that she should be out of the dog training business, chain tossing....geeeshh.

Answer 6

Of course she should get her money up front. With people now a days, you can't trust them to pay you afterwards. If she had done the training and then you said you had no money ... then what?? She can't take back what she taught you. They have probably found just like everyone else out there that people cannot be trusted to pay the money they owe once they already have something.

If you aren't pleased with the training and the information you got, then you should contact Barkbusters and tell them you aren't happy. I would think they should have some sort of guarantee that you should be happy with what you are getting.. Did you not sign a contract, or get any information at all before you started this?
If you don't like how it's going, and you don't feel that they are doing what you want, then find a new trainer. If you agreed to the $500, for the session, then you are obligated to pay that $500. You can't stop payment on your cheque. You got your training. They'll just take you to court if you try to refuse payment for the training. Call and discuss it with Barkbuster and find out what they are saying about it all.. Find out if they even train aggressive dogs.. Maybe you weren't clear in what you wanted your dog to learn?

Answer 7

Hi, I understand that you are looking for some advice or resources to help fully train your dog or fix behavior problems. If a professional dog trainer is not an option at this time, or if you want to trt training your dog on your own (a great way to bond), I'd suggest you https://bitly.im/aMVOb

A friend recommened it to me a few years ago, and I was amazed how quickly it worked, which is why I recommend it to others. The dog training academy also has as an excellent home training course.

Answer 8

I would have done what your Dad did, put a stop on the check. Let her sue you, read your contract, it probably states that she'll help you train your dog, instead you have to listen to her talking about things you already know. I had a dog trainer come to my house and we "worked" with my pup, he was amazing and had her obeying commands within 1/2 hour and we talked at the end of each session on what I should be working on and techniques. Don't give up on dog trainers, there are good ones out there. By the way, I paid him after each session not up front. Good luck.

Answer 9

Hi there,
As a dog trainer myself all I can say is WOW, $500 bucks for a visit.
I really don`t know what you can do about your present situation, owing her a fee.
Did you sign any sort of contract with her? If so be careful what you do.
Anyway the first time you would see me in that type of situation would be to first evaluate the dog and it`s handlers. Then sit you down and tell you about my observations to be sure we were on the same page.
Then I would ask about your concerns and what you would like the dog to do.
All this info would give me a starting point for a plan that we would start the next visit.
$500 bucks, WOW, I still can`t get over that!!!
I would deffinately charge for the evaluation and milage if you lived outside of my area, but it sure wouldn`t be that hefty.
Following that I would charge you a flat rate for all visits following, and I charge $35 per hour plus milage if your outside the area for private lessons.
Big difference is that I`m a "hands on trainer", simply put, I would not leave your residence till you understood and could preform that weeks exercises.
Bottom line, before getting involved with any trainer, attend one or 2 of his/her classes to evaluate the trainer and see if it is what you want.
If they tell you that you can not come see them in action, drop that one and continue searching.
Perhaps look under obedience clubs, they normally set a lower rate, and have dedicated trainers.
Even I attend other trainers classes, sure I can train my own dogs but I always need the distractions to make sure my dog is trained the way I want it.
Hopefully this has helped you out. If you have any questions that I can help you with don`t hesitate to contact me at dogtrainer7@yahoo.
Good Luck

Answer 10

Call the company and tell them all this.
However, it would seem that you were partly at fault in not stating at the outset to the trainer that aggression was the problem rather than letting her go on and on for hours about other things.

Seems that there was extreme lack of communication between what you needed for your dog and what she was doing.

Stopping the check doesn't solve anything, if you have a contract or agreement with these people, it will just leave you open for small claims court or worse. You need to talk to the head of the company (or office) and reach a settlement.

Answer 11

Call BarkBusters and complain ( I doubt you'll get anywhere). Then call a new dog trainer and this time you'll know what questions to ask up front. Most reputable dog training companies will work with both you and your dog for an hour or two at a time and it's a regularly scheduled (weekly) training time. Most do want the money up front but others are pay as you learn. Good luck!