[]
A NY Times article on people who do that:

Finding a dog owner nursing daydreams of becoming a
trainer has become about as difficult as finding a
waiter with a headshot.

In recent years, more people than ever have started
teaching dogs their ps and qs. One reason is that dog
training has received its close-up on at least a
half-dozen television shows, including Its Me or the
Dog on the Animal Planet network and Cesar Millans
hugely popular Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic
Channel.

Another reason is that todays dog owners have higher
expectations for their pets and so enlist professional
help more readily than in yesteryear. In some cases,
they do so to tame a behaviorally challenged animal
adopted from a shelter; in others, because they want
their expensive pure-bred dogs to have manners Emily
Post would approve of.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/fashion/27DOGS.html

I'd never heard of Bark Busters before. Yikes.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Melinda Shore wrote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/fashion/27DOGS.html

Wow. I guess Leah is in good company!

I'd never heard of Bark Busters before. Yikes.

My recollection is that they started in Australia, but now they're
pretty much everywhere. There's a franchise in southern Indiana,
even. I get the impression that they're maybe a step up from
Petsmart, but how big a step, I don't know.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Melinda Shore" wrote in message
...
[]
A NY Times article on people who do that:

Finding a dog owner nursing daydreams of becoming a
trainer has become about as difficult as finding a
waiter with a headshot.

In recent years, more people than ever have started
teaching dogs their ps and qs. One reason is that dog
training has received its close-up on at least a
half-dozen television shows, including Its Me or the
Dog on the Animal Planet network and Cesar Millans
hugely popular Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic
Channel.

Another reason is that todays dog owners have higher
expectations for their pets and so enlist professional
help more readily than in yesteryear. In some cases,
they do so to tame a behaviorally challenged animal
adopted from a shelter; in others, because they want
their expensive pure-bred dogs to have manners Emily
Post would approve of.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/fashion/27DOGS.html

I'd never heard of Bark Busters before. Yikes.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Someone posted here asking for help on Oct 1, 2007. He had used Bark
Busters and wasn't impressed with their service
Message-ID: . com

In article ,
Shelly wrote:


Wow. I guess Leah is in good company!

I would say that most dog trainers started out that way (not Leah's way,
but the way described in the article - people who have been successful
with their own dogs)- hooked on training their own dog and had the
desire to learn more and do more. I would venture to say that there are
many careers that happen the same way, through formal or informal
apprenticeships and/or self-teaching.

I'd never heard of Bark Busters before. Yikes.

My recollection is that they started in Australia, but now they're
pretty much everywhere. There's a franchise in southern Indiana,
even. I get the impression that they're maybe a step up from
Petsmart, but how big a step, I don't know.

I see them advertised around here, but have never heard of any of their
trainers. There is definitely a glut of trainers around everywhere
though, and I think that at some point, the bad ones fail and get weeded
out and the ones that produce results keep thriving. OTOH, with the
chain stores, people seem willing to buy almost anything, so as long as
those trainers are pawned off on the public, they'll stay employed. Not
exactly at big money, but technically employed as trainers.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
Janet Boss wrote:
OTOH, with the
chain stores, people seem willing to buy almost anything, so as long as
those trainers are pawned off on the public, they'll stay employed. Not
exactly at big money, but technically employed as trainers.

As I recall from Leah's description, the major part of the
job of a Petsmart trainer is selling the classes to Petsmart
customers. But still, as compromised as their vetting and
trainer education program is, at least it's something. It
sounds as if with Bark Busters all you have to do is to buy
a franchise, and suddenly you're a dog trainer with a brand
name.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

(Melinda Shore) said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

I'd never heard of Bark Busters before. Yikes.

I've mentioned my second-hand experience with Barkbusters. I
was not impressed as to how the owners started growling at their
dog. I heard later that their nice GR (who I'd never had
problems with) finally bit one of the owners.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

In article 2007122909395975249-montana@wildhackcominvalid,
montana wildhack wrote:
All the other pitfalls of finding a trainer that owners can work with
are in place.

What pops out at me is that it seems to provide a shortcut
to becoming a dog trainer by selling franchises and
providing what appears to be fairly minimal education. I
really don't think dog training is the kind of thing in
which you can shortcut your preparation, since it involves
being able to see and interpret some fairly subtle behaviors
on the part of the dog. I wasn't that surprised by Matt's
story.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

In article 2007122909395975249-montana@wildhackcominvalid,
montana wildhack wrote:


The home visit is attractive because you're likely to have all the
humans together for asessment. It is difficult to get a whole family to
show up for classes.

I prefer my in-home behavior counseling. I tend to feel like a broken
record when running Basic classes (not so with my puppy classes). The
in-home is so much more intensive and that pays off for the more
challenging dogs (and people) big time.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article 2007122909525643658-montana@wildhackcominvalid,
montana wildhack wrote:



For one thing, most trainers have NO idea how dogs act at home, and I
think that's crucial to any behavior modification (humans and canines).

How the people act at home is even more telling! Family dynamics can be
pretty bizarre sometimes.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

montana wildhack wrote in
news:2007122910501516807-montana@wildhackcominvalid:

This is a hook for Cesar Millan's show. Watching some of the
people is more interesting than anything else.

That's the part I hate! I can't stand watching people be *that*
clueless in public. It's embarrassing.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)