So I'm getting ready to enroll Snuffy (who we have permanently named Tucker, since I adopted him) in an OB class now that he's past puppy kindergarten age. I looked for a lot of classes/trainers around me, and none of them were exactly what I was looking for.
But there was one that I've sent adopters to in the past that I have been considering enrolling him with . . . former adopters have really liked her and helped them solve problems they couldn't figure out on their own.
It's a woman who trains and loves bull breeds and works to motivate them using their natural drives--play, prey, defense, etc. She has 3 goals in her class, which are to build the dog's confidence, build the relationship between dog and handler, and teach the dog by motivating it to want to work for you even when in the presence of distractions.
Sounds good, as far as philosophy goes.
But it's not as focused on positive training techniques as I'd like. She says that the first half of the 9-week course is behavior-molding without corrections, then depending on how the dog progresses and how long it takes for the dog to learn what's expected of it when a command is given, corrections and proofing are introduced. If a particular dog is really slow and just doesn't pick up on things, the owner can hold off on corrections and just work on molding, then go through the course again for free.
Every dog is assessed individually as far as what kind of collar is used and what kind of correction should be delivered, but she says she does want the people in class to use a light chain choke for corrections. Some of the older dogs may use prong collars.
Choke collars are not my favorite thing . . . but I like the class philosophy, I liked the info she sent me via email about how each dog is an individual and each breed has different things that motivate it, thus each dog's training needs to be shaped to the breed/individual . . . Plus I like that she has worked with so many pit bulls and bulldogs.
Tucker will be nearly 6 months old when we start classes, if we take them with her.
How do you all think that sounds? Think I should put aside my choke-chain hatred and give this a shot?
FYI, my choke chain hatred comes from my experiences training poor Reba, who I adopted during a pretty unenlightened period of my life. I enrolled her in classes with a trainer who I now think of as being particularly brutal, using the choke to intimidate the dog and get it to submit. I still have the image in my head of poor dopey Reba trying to come to me across a room, but getting yanked off her feet by this woman repeatedly . . . I shudder just remembering that. I thought we were getting training, but when I look back on it, it seemed more like we were getting brutalized.