Another Dog Trainer Cautionary Tale: "North Reading dog dies at Connecticut training facility, trainer accused of scam."

[joshuawithmartin]

Earlier this year I saw this news story making the rounds: "Missing-dog mystery sparks police investigation"

The TL;DR is that a trainer had a client's GSD for board and train, and when it came time to return the dog, she returned a different GSD (with the correct GSD's apple air tag collar on). Then the trainer claimed that she had left their dog with a sitter, and the dog broke out through a window screen in the night and was likely dead. The trainer disappeared from the area not long after that. Here is the missing dog post.

It turns out that trainer had moved cross country to Connecticut where she has just killed another dog: "North Reading dog dies at Connecticut training facility, trainer accused of scam."

Both clients had found the trainer on Thumbtack where she had good reviews. I just really want to caution folks that good reviews alone unfortunately do not mean much when it comes to dog trainers. The number of trainers and businesses that have rave reviews but provide poor care and service is very very high.

If you are seeking a dog training, please take care to vet carefully, ask questions, and take a look at this guide on how to find a qualified professional. Here is also a thread in our wiki here about Red Flags when Seeking A Trainer.

Additionally, it can go a long way to familiarize yourself with dog body language and stress signals and take a look at the trainers posted content. Here are parts one and two of a video series on body language from CDBC Kris Crestejo if you're looking for somewhere to get started. This is something worth doing anyways if you haven't already, but I remember when the news of the missing dog earlier this year first was making the rounds, the trainers original Thumbtack was still up with photos of the dogs she had worked with - they looked very concerning.

 

[refei]

@joshuawithmartin Never use board and train. You need training as well.

 

[mitsudang]

@refei a hundred times this

it's not about correcting your dog, it's about creating trust and how to communicate

 

[monk58]

@mitsudang We need to definitely "preach" that!

I couldn't agree more

Effective communication and trust.. helping your dog with its emotions and self regulation not "corrections"

This sounds absolutely terrible and the poor owners who no doubt were thinking they had someone professional and paying for the welfare of their pet

Horrible

 

[mx83]

@joshuawithmartin Yikes this is just half an hour from where my parents live and they're the entire reason I lurk on this sub. I'll be sure to let them know

 

[davecb]

@joshuawithmartin I wish people would understand what a board and train is all about, and who they are marketed to.

People who are first time dog owners, as adults, often think that a board and train is The Answer to all their dog problems. They don't know that the puppy who is biting them, who won't walk nicely on a leash, who growls at someone's shoes, who runs around like a crazy thing every night, is a 100% normal, typical puppy. Doing puppy things.

They can't look at a puppy and say yes this one has some problems and this one is perfectly normal.

And they don't have access to the dog world to know that they can find a trainer, running group puppy classes for puppies 8 weeks and older, who will help them figure out how to get thru their puppy's tough time of life.

Every single well run puppy class I have been in or know about, hands people homework, print outs, goes over basic things, and tells people, "you will get thru this".

And those are not expensive classes: they do require that you show up once a week with the puppy and that you do homework between classes.

But you're not shipping your dog off to some black box boot camp. You're doing things with the puppy and bonding with your dog.

The people who speak well of the board and train that they sent Fluffy to? They have nothing to compare it to. Fluffy was their first dog and as long as Fluffy (or someone who looks like Fluffy) comes back in one piece and more or less mentally sound, they think it's ok.

I am so tired of seeing tiny little dogs who will never be off a leash, on a mini educator. I have no issue with E collars, in some situations, but a tiny dog doesn't need an E collar. Someone's 8 pound doodle with a four pound E collar is just silly. But an e collar will get fast results, and that's really all that you are paying for with a board and train.

People who do hardcore dog things, like run field trials, DO send their dogs to bird camp or whatever, but that's different. The person running that sort of board and train has actual experience, and has access to land to train bird dogs, and is being paid for their expertise and land access.

I have seen videos of board and train, "facilities" that were literally a poorly lit garage or basement. The dogs are crated for most of the day and are otherwise taught to lie on a bed, while leashed to the bed, not moving. That's not dog training.

 

[zonderzug]

@joshuawithmartin Shit. We'd sent our dog to a board and training place once, and realised that many dogs won't listen to people who aren't their family so after that all our dog trainers have come home. Now I'm never leaving my dog in one of these places.

I cannot imagine the pain the family must be going through, not knowing what happened to their dog! This is unnecessarily cruel. I hope the dog comes back or at least that the family gets justice.

 

[dr650adv]

@zonderzug You can truly never be cautious enough. I was familiar with a board and train trainer for years. I knew that she used aversives, but she seemed otherwise reasonable and conscientious. It turned out that she was stacking dogs in crates in her living room. They were left in their own urine and feces in those crates for 23 hours a day, becoming neurotic, then she’d “train” then with shock collars. Her house was (is?) a torture chamber for dogs.