When you don't necessarily "agree" with the trainer?

[chelle]

We've just begun classes. Our first class wasn't a good fit. Too advanced for us. Long story, just wasn't right at this time.

Now the class we're going to (we've attended two classes), is better, and more in line with what I am comfortable with, (positive/reward based training) but I still don't feel like I'm in the right place. Better, yes, but not yet "it."

The things I don't "like" are stupid, probably. (I'm trusting you people won't be shy about telling me if I'm being overly picky here. )

Small examples. One thing we just started working on is "place." As in, go to your "place." I don't care if my dog ever learns this. I tell him "back" (as in back up) or "out" (as in out of a room, area) and it works fine. I don't care if he ever goes to a "place." Sure, we'll work on it in class because that's the subject matter, but I could care less.

Other dumb example - sit. I tell Bailey "sit," he sits. If I want him to continue to sit, I say "stay" afterwards along with a hand signal. (I love hand signals. I try to teach the verbal along with a hand signal so later, as we work farther apart, I won't have to scream.) The trainer does not want me to say stay or bother with the hand signal. Her opinion is when you say "sit" then it means they remain until you free them. That does make sense, I won't deny that, but I've been doing it this way since he came home. How can I change the rules for him now? I mean, it's working for us.

What I'm asking is how do you deal with the smallish differences that surely rise up? Do you change your whole way of working with your dog based on what the class wants you to do? Do you just keep trying to find different classes? (I mean, surely these smaller issues crop up no matter what class you go to.)

I don't want to disrespect the trainer. I don't want to confuse my dog. I concede she knows far more about training than I, so please don't think I'm being arrogant. I don't think I'm being arrogant, but maybe I am.???

[Jax08]

I also used to say Stay after sit or down and am now changing that. It's not confusing to them if you are consistent, clear and proof your sit and down. I now only use Stay when we are outside and a car is coming. She'll sit or down wherever she is. After I got used to it, I liked it.

I never taught Jax place and many times I wish I had. Give it a chance and look at it as a new thing to teach your boy. There will be other things that you just don't care about but if you are in a group class, you kind of have to play along for the sake of the others.

[Emoore]

"Go to your place" is a freakin' awesome command. At our house, it's "get on the couch, but still. . ." If I'm having a snack and he won't stop staring at it, "go get on your couch." If somebody comes to the door and I want to talk to them without two GSDs looming behind me, "go get on your couch." If I have a friend over who's scared of big dogs, "go get on your couch." If you're scared of dogs, it's a lot easier to be in the same room with two GSDs who are lying on the couch than two GSDs who are walking around and panting. If somebody's visiting with a small child and the dogs start to get too rambunctious, "go get on the couch." There are about a bazillion applications for a "place" command.


There's no use whatsoever for "shake" or "dead dog" or jumping through tires and running through tunnels, but my dogs do those things too.

That said, it's my dog. I train my dog the way I want. I'm paying the instructor for her expertise and experience, but if there's something I want to do differently, I'll do it. If she brings it up I'll explain it, but at the end of the way I'm not very negotiable with stuff like that.



That said, if I'm learning something new that I know very little about (like our current agility class) I'll do it however the instructor tells me, because I know literally nothing about teaching agility.

[msvette2u]

A "place" may be useful at some point.
As could a "sit" until you release them.

What you're looking at is the difference between "do it yourself" obedience and a training class

[jocoyn]

Place is a great command. You can take a rug anywhere and just tell the dog "place" and it stays there but it is not as intense mentally as having to stay in position.

[Caledon]

I just started with a new trainer too, and sit means sit and stay vs the two commands I was giving. I agree with both ways. Both makes sense. We are doing down / sit in motion. I'm not saying stay (hard for me) but my dogs gets it. I'm starting to drop stay and she gets it.

As far as place goes I think it is a great exercise, especially if you are taking more advanced classes later on and maybe competing.

[GatorDog]

What type of class are you attending? I work in Schutzhund and when my trainer tells me to teach my dog to do something, I do it regardless of whether or not I believe I am ever actually going to use it. I look at it as another mentally stimulating exercise that when accomplished, will reinforce our relationship as a training team. Its the same reason a lot of people teach other "tricks" such as paw, play dead, etc.
As far as training your sit/stay..I believe that is just a personal style of training. I do agree with your trainer, however. Dogs who compete in Schutzhund, for instance, when doing an out of motion-sit exercise, are given a "sit" command while heeling the handler, without another "stay" command. After all, isn't it really easier for yourself to teach your dog to sit/stay or down/stay with one word rather than two? Hand signals have also seemed pretty redundant to me..if you don't think your dog will be able to hear you from a distance, then chances are he won't be able to see you either!
And as far as "confusing" your dog...keep in mind that your dog is smart and does have the capacity to learn more than you think he can

[JKlatsky]

Okay. I like place too. I think that sometimes that teaching a dog something is not really about the utility of the command, but rather about learning to learn. Heck, I taught my dog to put 2 feet up on a bucket and twirl around. Now, that's actually a useful tool for us in other things we do, but really helpful in and of itself? no.

I also don't use stay. Can't in our performance venue. Consider that trainers offer a series of classes. The idea is you go to puppy, maybe Basic, maybe Advanced, and maybe onwards to competitive obedience. They don't want to start you out using something that you can't use later on. And it's can be easier to add in a stay command than to take one away. And I know maybe you're not interested in competitive obedience, but I'm sure plenty of people have gone in just wanting a well mannered dog and then ended up getting hooked. It's in the trainer's best interest to start you with the commands and methods they have found most useful for their program. That's what you're paying for.

In the end though, you're dog will only do what you work on. There are plenty of things I've just ignored from my OB trainers. I've been to classes that hate prong collars. I still use them at home, even if I just bring my flat to class. I've been to classes where they show heel as more of a loose leash walk. I teach a very formal heel command, so I don't really do any of what they show me there. In the end, the instructor gets paid whether or not you listen and I've always found most to be respectful of what I want to do with my dog as long as it doesn't create a safety problem.

[onyx'girl]

Place is a great exercise and will help your dog if put in situations where s/he may load up due to excitement or stress. Place should be a comfort zone.
And if you carry a crate pad in your vehicle you can use this anytime, anywhere.
Sit/stay is whatever you make it....I never use hand signals because we can't in ScH. I give the command to do the position and never say stay.
If the dog doesn't do it or won't hold the position until I free him/her, then I will repeat the exercise or correct if the dog is clear on what I want. I do use a bridge word of good sit or good platz when training the position it is a hold type word until I mark it. Does your trainer use clickers?

[Jack's Dad]

Originally Posted by Emoore

There's no use whatsoever for "shake" or "dead dog" or jumping through tires and running through tunnels, but my dogs do those things too.

Guess what Emoore your going to be doing a lot of jumping through tires and running through tunnels in agility. But you already knew that didn't you