Sunday, March 14, 2010

Dog Abuse at J.R.'s Dog Training

This 'man', Joe Rosen, of J.R.'s Dog Training, located in Montreal, Quebec


Held this dog



2 feet off the ground with this choker chain



His idea of 'off-leash training' is to use the choker chain as well. Except, he threw the chain at the dog's face.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

As someone who is presently enrolled at JR's dog training, I would much rather have my dog corrected severely enough to prevent him / her from running into the street in front of a car, or biting someone.

Ever since I've been enrolled at JR my 10 month old dog has finally learned to heel properly, is much better when greeting guests (I had to crate him before), stop on a dime if I tell him to, and pays much more attention to his commands. And he was not any rougher with my dog than I've seen Cesar Milan be on his show.

You may not agree with his methods, but to state that he's abusing dogs is simply ludicrous. I would much rather tap my dog on the behind with a chain than drive him to an emergency vet after he gets hit by a car.

Spamfighter said...

I'm glad for you, but my contentions are not 'simply ludicrous'. I have consulted several other dog trainers who agree, including one who trains working rescue dogs, and another who worked with dogs abused my the infamous Michael Vick.

There are plenty of approaches that do not require physical abuse of the dog, which is what I witnessed.

To call Joe Rosen's approach analogous to Cesar Milan's is simply ludicrous.

Murdox said...

Strangling a dog or hitting it with a chain has nothing to do with preventing it from running into the street or biting people, Steven.

That IS abuse.

Unknown said...

I never even had him come to my home! You should read the email he wrote to me!!! Never mind being abusive to dogs, he's also abusive to humans. No wonder he has to have guard dogs, because he needs them to protect him from the STUPID that comes out of this jerks mouth!! So unprofessional! If I passed him on the street while walking my dog, I'd rub dog poop in his face!

Unknown said...

Without Prejudice,

The trainer from J.R.’s dog training used the same aversive methods of training for all problems whether it was walking my dog or dealing with her aggressive nervous behaviour. When I told him I was not happy with the results and wanted to try another method he told me there was NO other method and insulted me by telling me I just coudn’t handle the breed. Truly customer satisfaction at heart! After going through this experience with this trainer I found that most trainers use non aversive methods to deal with aggression. This trainer does not fix problems, he removes the ticker from the bomb. Using the chocke chain leash jerk on my dog only increased her aggression to the point that she could not even be in the same room as my 2nd dog without attacking it, which was not an issue prior to starting the training. This aversive method caused significant irritation to my dog’s neck, increased her stress level and increased her aggression. Read up on a success story about how he acquired his Doberman, ask him if his dogs would get along if they were left together in the same room without his presence. What you see is what you get, the use of physical manipulation (leash jerks) to control a dog’s behaviour, it does not focus on the root cause nor fix it. I just saved you 299$ + tax + extra costs for the equipment he requires you to buy for his course. Did I mention you have to pay upfront and sign a contract before starting the courses which states he is not liable for any injuries to the dog and the course is non refundable. Who would have thought that leash jerks could lead to problems with spine alignment!?! Most other trainers make you pay after each individual course, so you see how they work. In my case this trainer did not care about customer satisfaction he already cashed the payment; after just 3 courses he told me that I had already gotten my money’s worth, even though my dog’s behaviour had clearly gotten out of control. Piece of advice, don’t be naive like me, do extensive research on a trainer before hiring them, ask for proof of certification, don’t believe word of mouth ,especially if you can’t find any information on the internet about the instituation from which they claim to have graduated from. Ask yourself this, if they are such a great trainer why are they not part of the canadian association of professional pet dog trainers? Inform yourself on the consumer protection laws before signing a contract, you might find some things which do not follow the guidelines, protect your rights. Never pay in full beforehand, especially if they say no refunds, something might be fishy there. Also, look them up in the Provincial Enterprise registry and find out if they have been struck off from the registry, it’s interesting what you can find out about them.

Unknown said...

JR is a terrible trainer, and completely full of himself. I hired him (unfortunately) to train my Australian shepherd mix, because she was pulling on her leash and quite strong and uncontrollable. I figured $500 was worth a guarantee for the entire life of the dog, and I had to pay him before he would even evaluate my dog.
So this guy shows up, and he has a super loud voice which already scared my dog, and then I gave him the money, he showed me how to 'properly' walk my dog on a leash. Apparently that's by putting a choke collar on her and strangling her, yelling at her, and physically hitting her.
My dog was terrified of this guy, and dogs are a good judge of character.
He kept telling me that he knew best and I knew nothing, and completely disregarded my dislike of choke collars, yelling, and physical abuse towards animals.
I ended up telling him not to come back, trained my dog myself over time, and was out $500.
He kept talking about his 'happy clientele', but couldn't even provide a reference.
Please don't bother calling this guy, you're getting yourself in a mess, and 'training' your dog based on fear and abuse.
Hire someone else.