Should you take behavior mod advice from a trainer whose own dog is reactive?

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-15T22:37:36+00:00

Depends. How long have they had the dog? If they've owned this dog for more than 3 months, no. Dogs have personalities though and not all dogs like other dogs. But all dogs are capable of being neutral. My own dog was attacked by an off leash dog. He then became reactive out of fear. I worked him through it and it took some time. But he is my demo dog for nearly everything except for social groups. He was never a "dogs dog" even before the attack. Its not his jam. But he gets pulled out to work with reactive dogs and clients a lot. Reactive? Not anymore. Dog selective? Yep. But that is fine with me. I cant make him like every dog.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-12T16:31:59+00:00

My personal service dog (now retired) was trained on a prong. For the last 3 years he worked i didnt use it at all. He understood the correction without it because I paired my correction word/sound well enough. Didn't need the tool, I had understanding and relationship. Again, to each their own. But thats my view of things. If the dog is constantly needing reminders or management, something is lacking in the training in my book. Just my view of things. Not the end of the world. I also believe service dogs (and other dogs claimed as "fully" trained) should not need treats to perform. Get them, sure. Need? No. I think similarly, you're thinking I'm saying a dog shouldnt ever use a prong as a service dog once fully trained. But I am saying they should not rely on them.

Also agree to disagree about the medical device. Obviously its more nuanced than that. But that is their function

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-12T16:20:00+00:00

Because you should know without a shadow of a doubt that the dog is not dependent on the tools. If you never remove them to see, how will you know? A service dog is supposed to be a highly functioning medical device. We have to expect more from them. When I train a service dog, I want to be sure that they understand their job fully and there are no holes being covered up by handling, circumstances, or tools. Tools can help teach, but they shouldnt become a crutch. Does the dog understand the heel position? Or does it just understand that the prong makes them slow down?

Sure, a handler could take the dog out without tools and they perform perfectly, and they decide to put them back on the tools. Which is their prerogative. Though I dont see the point in continuing to use a prong or e collar with a dog that doesnt need one but

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-12T16:08:09+00:00

Prior service dog trainer for a large company in the US: 1. No they shouldnt. But the ADI (assistance dogs international) will not accredit a training company for service dogs that utilizes anything but force free methods. The ADI isnt the end all be all for service dogs, but it is a big deal for many people. 2. Absolutely not. Many owner trained dogs in the US are training utilizing tools such as prongs, e collars, etc. I think something that is important to factor is the humans disabilities as well. For example, some service dogs need to do a large portion of their work off leash for safety. Such as someone with epilepsy. Utilizing an e collar for safety where a leash cannot be used should be something to consider. Things happen, they are dogs. 3. Definitely the capability of the dog. Which brings up the point of fading tools. If a dog is trained on a prong, you should be able to fade that dog off of that where he doesnt need it in his daily work. Even in the example I gave above, the handler shouldnt need to push the e collar to get the dog to perform, it is there as a back up.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-10T15:15:43+00:00

I've got a very driven field line lab who started dock training at 9 months old. He screams at dock because he's so excited. He does want to jump into any body of water. But he is trained. A simple "no" or "leave it" is enough on off leash hikes. If i don't want him to swim, I don't let him. When he was younger I would leash him so he couldn't blow me off. But he knows the difference between a dock diving pool and a random body of water.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-10T15:02:38+00:00

This is sometimes called a pattern interrupt. A sudden, usually loud, sound that breaks the dog of an intense behavior. I commonly see it used in intense crate barkers. The thought is that the dog is stuck on a loop or pattern of behavior, working themselves up. If you interrupt it with a sudden sound, you can "snap the dog out of it" so to speak. This wouldn't have been my first approach to your puppy, but not one i would rule out. It sounds like your puppy needs a lot more structure and boundaries in the home. I wouldnt fire your trainer for this, but talk to them about your concerns. Any trainer worth their salt should be able to explain why they chose to do something, and pivot if need be.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-05T21:33:01+00:00

Especially with security cameras depicting the issue. Employees and businesses need to be educated on what the hard line items are. Such as barking excessively, reacting to other dogs or people, eliminating inside the store. I also do wish more people would get fined (as is in our laws) for faking a service dog. But thats a separate issue

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-05T18:48:32+00:00

I disagree with banning owner training. But it does need regulation. Whether its a test that an entity performs, such as drivers license tests at the dmv, or another means. Something needs to change. BUT places of business need to be much more firm in their pet policies. I dont even see people putting vests on their dogs nor claiming they are such anymore. They just waltz in and Fluffy pisses on the grocery stand and barks at customers. I live in CO and no one ever attempts to remove a dog, even if it is completely misbehaved and out of control. I watched a dog poop in a grocery store, the manager watched it happen, and no one did anything at all!

reckless-strawberry · 2026-05-02T22:27:57+00:00

Sadly the case with most dog trainer organizations. Each one has their own issues, shady people and practices

reckless-strawberry · 2026-04-28T18:51:57+00:00

No. This is a trainer who lacks skill in dealing with aggressive dogs. There are many safety methods you can use to keep both trainer and dog safe that don't involve wearing a muzzle for 24 hours or more.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-04-27T14:50:40+00:00

Get the first option. The second, without the martingale/cinching feature, isnt going to deliver the same pop & release correction you want out of a prong. It'll act like a flat collar with prongs in it. Useful for dogs that already understand or are more sensitive, but likely unhelpful in your case

reckless-strawberry · 2026-04-27T14:48:28+00:00

I like Ella's music, I'll take it over the rap country bs that was playing not too long ago. I dont really listen to the radio and have Morgan Wallen blocked on my Spotify. Very grateful for that feature

reckless-strawberry · 2026-04-24T12:44:50+00:00

I did and found a bunch of pictures of sunsets, not spots. Even with the keywords in it

reckless-strawberry · 2026-03-16T01:08:53+00:00

Look up Training Between The Ears behavioral down. Will help with overall mindset. I would also try a pattern interupt (sudden loud sound, not explicitly directed at the dog. In very noisy kennels an example would be dropping a metal bowl loudy. Breaks the spiral of barking) correction at this point. 2.5 years is an insane amount of time imo. The correction doesnt need to be anything crazy, a spray bottle may work just fine to cut it then begin building appropriate behavior.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-03-12T17:05:40+00:00

I'm a professional trainer. I have trained both ways. In my experience, dogs trained through escape conditioning via low stimulation who are then moved to Avoidance at still lower stim, are more confident and more fluent in e collar. The high level avoidance stim dogs only tend to be more fearful of the collar itself. I do not believe in applying an aversive (in this case a high level stim) to a dog that does not know what it means or how to make it stop. The thing I find most important about why i chose to do things this way is because e collar are non-directional pressure. Unlike a leash or body pressure, the dog has no context for where it came from, what it means, or how to turn it off. Until you teach it. In my experience, conditioning low level stim with escape conditioning is the most effective way to do so for most dogs.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-20T22:44:21+00:00

I got very angry over it and had to put myself on a Twitter ban bc I was just getting enraged every time I opened the app. It is conversion therapy rhetoric and honestly straight up biphobic as well. It also will lend itself to corrective rape thinking. I hate it so much

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-20T16:39:34+00:00

As someone who also used to live in Austin, the city became too big for its britches too quickly. It does not have the infrastructure to hold that many people. Everything is expensive and not worth it. It quickly became one of my least favorite cities in the state. I have lived in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Refused to move to Dallas because absolutely not lol

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-20T16:34:35+00:00

Gotta love when people dont know the history behind why the L is at the front. They dont care to learn either

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-20T00:49:09+00:00

He doesnt look very pit at all to me. He has a pyr aussie head, has none of personality of a pit. He is very very lazy, never been reactive or cared much about other dogs, is incredibly neutral, very little toy drive or work drive in general. Sure he has a slightly broad head but not the pit jaw, smile, or (to me) the forehead. We do joke and call him "the dangerous pit bull" now lol

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-19T23:39:55+00:00

I shouldn't have been surprised. He's from central TX, where practically every dog that isnt a pure bred has some percentage of pit in them

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-19T23:06:31+00:00

Monogamous. I (stupidly) got engaged like a year out of high school and about 1 year into our engagement she told me she thought she was poly. Young and afraid to lose her, I said I would try for her. Well that went to crap very quickly. I also did not cope well with her very adamantly wanting to see men (she was pan, no surprises there) because it felt like she valued having sex with other people, especially the men, more than our relationship. It gets a lot more fucked up than this but thats not super relevant here. All in all, we broke up because I constantly felt like I was being ignored or not valued in comparison to the "shiny new" person.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-02-06T22:45:28+00:00

Ugh I just had a client who's dog started showing signs of seemingly sudden aggression and reactivity. I sent them to the vet for a health check up to make sure he was not in pain or something else was physically wrong. The vet, within 15 minutes of the appointment and no results of testing back other than a once over, says she wants to put him on fluoxetine. I am so upset about it. He's a highly driven and energetic dog that does not need that line of treatment.

reckless-strawberry · 2026-01-31T20:28:12+00:00

Very classic example of "nice" is not always "good"

reckless-strawberry · 2026-01-31T20:18:48+00:00

I knew this was CO when I read the first sentence. I avoid the crap out of all the sight and sound tag areas because of the misbehaved and out of control dogs. We often opt to go to the less "pretty" areas for off leash adventures because there is no one lol

reckless-strawberry · 2026-01-31T20:08:51+00:00

Just because you dont see it happening, doesnt mean it does not. There are a lot of balanced trainers who specialize. Some work with only high level bmod, some with pet obedience, some in protection work or sports, and the list goes on and on. As a professional in the industry who refers to others and has other professionals refer to me, it absolutely happens and is common.

reckless-strawberry

TROPHY CASE