Many thanks, that's useful feedback.
I have seen him do a demonstration at an agricultural fair with his own dogs and people that work for his kennels- he used young dogs as well as experienced ones and the demo included working retrievers, spangles and HPR's. He also did a session where he asked 3 volunteers from the audience to have a go with his dogs. He also had a session with children (including my son who LOVED it
) in with the dogs acting as beaters and distractors and then meeting all the dogs etc.. I was very impressed, but I'm used to positive reward puppy classes, obedience and agility training and one to one with a behaviorist for some specific problems I've had with my rescue Weim. The dogs all looked very happy and worked brilliantly but I was a little concerned when he did the demo with 3 adult volunteers that in order to get the dogs focusing and respecting you as their leader... he advocated walking them to heel and changing direction giving a sharp yank etc until the dog was taking them seriously and focusing on them... It made me wonder if it becomes more physical and based on dominance/pack theories when they're not in front of an audience. I'm just trying to find out if anyone has had any one-to-one training and if so how comfortable they were with it.. I might be being too sensitive, not sure
With new clients, he does as you mentioned and meets up on a one-to-one with some of his dogs and your dog also.
