Do You Think Professional Trainers Should Offer Their Services To Rescues For Free?

[bocron]

Totally depends on the trainer and the rescue. We used to help out with a few local rescues but got frustrated with them. We kept getting snide comments about our own dogs not being neutered and had one lady tell us to not tell anyone we had ever bred one of the females we brought with us as a demo dog. (a SchH3 KkL1 female with exemplary temperament, she was bred in Belgium before we got her). They spend full time totally bashing breeders (we are not breeders, but we obviously buy from them). So in that instance I saw no reason to be magnanimous and discontinued the relationships at that point. I used to get regular calls from rescues also asking us to offer free or discounted daycare/boarding to fosters as well. I basically laughed in their face at that point.
We do free training still, but not for any rescues around here. We like to give back to our community, but not at the expense of being treated like that!

[selzer]

Free training for the community? Can you please move to Ashtabula County, Ohio?

[mycobraracr]

Originally Posted by bocron

Totally depends on the trainer and the rescue. We used to help out with a few local rescues but got frustrated with them. We kept getting snide comments about our own dogs not being neutered and had one lady tell us to not tell anyone we had ever bred one of the females we brought with us as a demo dog. (a SchH3 KkL1 female with exemplary temperament, she was bred in Belgium before we got her). They spend full time totally bashing breeders (we are not breeders, but we obviously buy from them). So in that instance I saw no reason to be magnanimous and discontinued the relationships at that point. I used to get regular calls from rescues also asking us to offer free or discounted daycare/boarding to fosters as well. I basically laughed in their face at that point.
We do free training still, but not for any rescues around here. We like to give back to our community, but not at the expense of being treated like that!

My trainer has had the same experience . She spent hours on a couple dogs. They had nice "pet" obedience and she even got them CGC's. The dogs just sat around for another five years and never got adopted. It was a complete waste of her time.

[Olivers mama]

Originally Posted by selzer

Free training for the community? Can you please move to Ashtabula County, Ohio?

How about moving to Placer County, CA?

Maybe our experience was in the minority (I don't think so) - but I DO think a Rescue should offer training at a reduced rate esPECially if they know - & admit - that the dog they're placing is a difficult.

The Rescue we went thru was the biggest pile of elephant dung I could imagine. Too bad we didn't know that at the time. They only told the truth about our dog once - & that is, that she's a GSD. Everything else was lie: She did NOT "walk well" on a leash. She was NOT housebroken. She did NOT get along with cats (This was a big one for us, because we have 4 housecats. In fact, they turned us down for a Belgian because he 'wasn't good with cats'. Yeah, right. This Belgian is now working SAR & lives w/ 2 cats...)

Problem is - after having her less than a week, they never came back to the house. Wouldn't return our calls. We came to the conclusion they'd PTS if they got her back - she was that crazy of a dog then. But she'd already stolen our hearts - skinny little scarred dog with abrasions old & new.

2 years later, we have a dog that's coming along nicely - in SPITE of our errors. From 70 to 88 lbs. BYB for sure. Thousands spent on trainers, a behaviorist (OMG - that was a joke...) & the vet (mostly ruling out any & all ailments known to affect GSD...) Not a whole lot of people would've done that - could very well have wound up at the shelter or worse...

So yes, I think the Rescue should offer something more than a handshake. (Altho the one with whom we dealt can KMA)

[Sunflowers]

Originally Posted by Olivers mama

...

So yes, I think the Rescue should offer something more than a handshake. (Altho the one with whom we dealt can KMA)

The question was, " Do You Think Professional Trainers Should Offer Their Services To Rescues For Free?"

And the rescues I dealt with were all volunteer based. They already are offering more than a handshake. Fostering, gas for transport, all these things do cost money.

[Shade]

No I don't believe it should be expected that they donate their time, but if they choose to do so either free or discounted then that's wonderful and I would hope they would be recognized

[Olivers mama]

Originally Posted by Sunflowers

The question was, " Do You Think Professional Trainers Should Offer Their Services To Rescues For Free?"

And the rescues I dealt with were all volunteer based. They already are offering more than a handshake. Fostering, gas for transport, all these things do cost money.

Professional Trainer - just because they can hang out a shingle that says they're "professional" doesn't mean they are. I know - we found 2 of them.

Not for free - but reduced rates?

Volunteer-based or not - are we the only ones who dealt with a lousy Rescue? Hardly. Volunteerism is a not a license to lie. And yes, all costs money. But they also get reduced rates at vet's. There is no way they lost any money when we adopted Ziva.

It's OK - I'm quite used to being in the minority when it comes to personal views on something!

[SukiGirl]

I said it depends because....

A dog that might be particularly hard to place due to behavior issues should be able to have a fighting chance. If a trainer with experience and a heart would spend time with those particular dogs, they might have a better chance at a happy home life with someone who is willing to continue the work after he/she gets adopted. If you can show someone that a dog has potential, despite some issues, I think it gives the dog a better chance and a potential adopter some piece of mind that a dog has been evaluated and cleared for adoption.

If we're talking about a trainer offering their services to a shelter to run classes for free - I don't know if FREE is necessarily fair to the trainer. It takes a lot of work and patience to work with dogs and their owners. They should be compensated to the best of the shelter's abilities. We paid for basic obedience classes for Suki, but we met a private trainer later on who worked with us for FREE, despite us trying to offer her money for her time. She just really loved our dog, and us, and wanted us to succeed. I couldn't thank her enough for all of her guidance and support especially during the hard times with our girl. I wish more trainers were as humble as she is.

[Olivers mama]

Originally Posted by SukiGirl

I said it depends because....

A dog that might be particularly hard to place due to behavior issues should be able to have a fighting chance. If a trainer with experience and a heart would spend time with those particular dogs, they might have a better chance at a happy home life with someone who is willing to continue the work after he/she gets adopted. If you can show someone that a dog has potential, despite some issues, I think it gives the dog a better chance and a potential adopter some piece of mind that a dog has been evaluated and cleared for adoption.

This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. I wouldn't want basic obedience training. But I'm talking about basic behavioral issues. Issues the Rescue is darn aware of, if they've had the dog more than 24 hours. Offer help to the adopter - don't give them nothing after cashing the check. This rescue organization is darn lucky my hubby fell in love with this dog. And I'm lucky he didn't divorce me when it came to spending lots of money on recc trainers & the like. Or, is it just easier & more economical for the rescue to just PTS? I don't know - we'll never know, for they wouldn't get back to us. Not all Rescue groups are Lollipop factories - some are quite devious.

[SukiGirl]

I would hope that a shelter would be more willing to pay for a behaviorist to work with the dogs before adoption rather than put them down! Unfortunately, not all shelter are 'no kill' - and most are probably hoping that a dog will get adopted and be out of their hair before they have to make that call. What I was trying to say is that experienced trainers should want to be an advocate for the pups who will be more work and harder to train and help them find a loving home. If a shelter didn't have to pay for the service of a trainer for those PARTICULAR dogs, they might be less likely to put them down or place them in homes knowing they are bound to fail.