[BluHeronHorses]

Hi. I'm new. And new to the online forum thing as well. I'm looking for some advice ... Just fyi I suppose, I am a horse trainer and a big fan of dogs but I'm not a dog trainer. A surgical tech at my dog vet's hospital teaches doggy obedience and I've taken classes with her so I can learn the basics. It's a really nice, kind class, similar really to the way I train my horses - repetition and positive reinforcement -and we've had great success with it.

Anyway, down to the question at hand. My parents recently bought a rottweiler puppy, their third. They decided to take her to obedience class - they are NOT animal people - the first formally trained dog they will have had. They use my vet and he made several recommendations to them regarding raising puppy, etc.

They had a consultation with a trainer who will go to their house. They liked her, told me they liked her, and then said she'll only train the dog using a shock collar. The pup is now 3 months old. I advised them against - because she's only 3 months old and hasn't had any real training, she's super bright and very sweet, willing, all that. They mentioned it to the vet who said abseloutely do not use this trainer, go to traditional obedience first. Vet said he'd never use one on his own dog and said it was cruel to use one on a puppy.

I try to not rule out anyone's ideas but I think you should take the easiest, kindest route first and if that's not working, step up the way you ask. And obviously if you have a dog with behavioural problems, that's an entirely different basket.

My problem is this - they've been shocking this puppy for 5 weeks now. She just passed 3 months old. They're under a contract with their breeder regarding care and whatnot. Her contract stipulates that they go to obedience class, but not what kind. I feel like I should tell her what is going on with her puppy, she obviously cared very much who took her dogs. How common is this in the dog world? To call somethign cruel is pretty strong language from my vet.

thanks much.