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I have a friend who took her dog to a "behaviorist" (the trainer is adamant that she is not a trainer, she is a behaviorist) to deal with excessive whining and anxiety. She has tried many different things with this dog and finally decided to seek professional help. The woman she took her dog to is very highly rated in our area and seems to have a good reputation.
However, my friend came home with instructions that seem to be potentially harmful for her dog, and certainly not positive reinforcement. She has told that her dog is always "on" and therefore needs to learn to install her own "off" button. She is supposed to do this in a few different ways. First, the dog is not to freely roam the house anymore, and should be tethered to a piece of furniture with a chew toy. Second, she is to stay in her crate while my friend is at work (no dog walkers, visitors, or day care anymore) which is 9+ hours a day, and her crate is to be covered so it is dark. Third, she is not allowed to enter situations anymore where she may get too excited and whine, which means she no longer comes over to play, or goes to the dog park, and really only exercises with my friend by herself. Finally, she is to practice an exercise multiple times a day where my friend should step on the dog's leash, a couple inches away from the collar, to force her dog to lay down. This in particular upsets me, as I have seen her dog violently thrash to try and free herself from being tethered, 3-4 ins from the ground, by her neck.
My friend has wholeheartedly embraced these new training techniques, despite the fact that I expressed my misgivings. She actually seemed very angry and hurt that I believed these methods would potentially be harmful for her dog. I haven't seen the dog for awhile, although she used to come over to play almost every day. My friend is isolating the dog, and the couple of times I have seen her, she seems more anxious and actually whines more.
Am I overly sensitive and gentle in the way I view training, or is this trainer seriously bad news?
However, my friend came home with instructions that seem to be potentially harmful for her dog, and certainly not positive reinforcement. She has told that her dog is always "on" and therefore needs to learn to install her own "off" button. She is supposed to do this in a few different ways. First, the dog is not to freely roam the house anymore, and should be tethered to a piece of furniture with a chew toy. Second, she is to stay in her crate while my friend is at work (no dog walkers, visitors, or day care anymore) which is 9+ hours a day, and her crate is to be covered so it is dark. Third, she is not allowed to enter situations anymore where she may get too excited and whine, which means she no longer comes over to play, or goes to the dog park, and really only exercises with my friend by herself. Finally, she is to practice an exercise multiple times a day where my friend should step on the dog's leash, a couple inches away from the collar, to force her dog to lay down. This in particular upsets me, as I have seen her dog violently thrash to try and free herself from being tethered, 3-4 ins from the ground, by her neck.
My friend has wholeheartedly embraced these new training techniques, despite the fact that I expressed my misgivings. She actually seemed very angry and hurt that I believed these methods would potentially be harmful for her dog. I haven't seen the dog for awhile, although she used to come over to play almost every day. My friend is isolating the dog, and the couple of times I have seen her, she seems more anxious and actually whines more.
Am I overly sensitive and gentle in the way I view training, or is this trainer seriously bad news?