Pesky Neighbors Don't Like My Dog Training

[RetrieverNation]

Decided to do walking collar fetch in the front driveway today and had to ear pinch on a couple refusals. Same neighbor that told me I was cruel to my dogs for leaving them outside in kennels during the day on a past occasion decided to come over and tell me how cruel I was being to that poor little puppy. She went on to say that that metal collar on his neck is cruel and how would I like to be jerked around by that? She also mentioned calling animal cruelty and taking photos to show them. Her final comment was that dogs have feelings just like humans and if I did not love them then I shouldn't have dogs.

I did my best to stay calm and explain that sometimes the training may not always look pleasant but is necessary for the training program and both her and her husband have also complimented me on what well trained dogs I have.

Obviously I will not be training in the front of the house anymore where she can make observations but was wondering how some others might deal with this situation. Would be interested to hear what others who have experienced similar situations have done to deal with this stuff in a professional manner. What do you tell animal cruelty if they do show up?

[tejohns3]

Good vent.. and id tell animal cruelty to kiss my a$$

[chuck187]

What you don't really want to do is get a couple of ducks, shackle them, and make your dog retrieve them out of your yard on while the neighbors are around. You really need to move into the country were you can do your own thing. I really loved having my neighbor tell me how I should treat my dog, when her kid shows up immortally stoned in her yard- not to mention pregnant.

Don't use heeling sticks, or e-collars in front of the neighbors either.

Welcome to retrieving.

[2tall]

What you don't really want to do is get a couple of ducks, shackle them, and make your dog retrieve them out of your yard on while the neighbors are around. You really need to move into the country were you can do your own thing. I really loved having my neighbor tell me how I should treat my dog, when her kid shows up immortally stoned in her yard- not to mention pregnant.

Don't use heeling sticks, or e-collars in front of the neighbors either.

Welcome to retrieving.

EGADS! Potheads that will live forever!!!! The horror, the horror! Vampires on meth!!! Speed bleed!!!

[2tall]

Oops, so caught up in the imagery of the immortal stoners I forgot what i was going to say. If anyone were ever to question the way I handle my dogs, I would just ask them to watch a while. All 3 of mine are impossibly happy and it shows. (as long as its not past dinner time and I'm not home yet).

[Mary Lynn Metras]

Decided to do walking collar fetch in the front driveway today and had to ear pinch on a couple refusals. Same neighbor that told me I was cruel to my dogs for leaving them outside in kennels during the day on a past occasion decided to come over and tell me how cruel I was being to that poor little puppy. She went on to say that that metal collar on his neck is cruel and how would I like to be jerked around by that? She also mentioned calling animal cruelty and taking photos to show them. Her final comment was that dogs have feelings just like humans and if I did not love them then I shouldn't have dogs.

I did my best to stay calm and explain that sometimes the training may not always look pleasant but is necessary for the training program and both her and her husband have also complimented me on what well trained dogs I have.

Obviously I will not be training in the front of the house anymore where she can make observations but was wondering how some others might deal with this situation. Would be interested to hear what others who have experienced similar situations have done to deal with this stuff in a professional manner. What do you tell animal cruelty if they do show up?

Best to do all training away from your home or in your basement etc. Not likely to spark that kind of interest from your neighbors! Some can be very interesting. And you can't tell what they will do! They simply lack understanding of what you are doing nor will you be able to explain it to them without an issue.

[Dos Patos]

Get the hell out of my yard!

[swamprat II]

Tell'em to get off your property and stay off or face trespasing charges. A good 6 foot high fence works to.

[labman63]

I had to train on a public area before I moved and the field had a walking path around it. One day I was out running blinds and a couple ladies stopped to watch. Like most people that don't know they thought it was amazing. One lady then asked how she could get her kids to mind like my dog? I pulled the heeling stick out of my back pocket and showed it to her. She promptly turned and walked on. lol

[Julie R.]

What you don't really want to do is get a couple of ducks, shackle them, and make your dog retrieve them out of your yard on while the neighbors are around. You really need to move into the country were you can do your own thing. I really loved having my neighbor tell me how I should treat my dog, when her kid shows up immortally stoned in her yard- not to mention pregnant.

Don't use heeling sticks, or e-collars in front of the neighbors either.

Welcome to retrieving.

LOL...agee w/all of the above, except you're not necessarily free from the nosy clueless neighbors in rural areas, either. A friend who force fetched one of my dogs was in a very rural farm area. On his road about a half mile away one of his neighbors kept exotic animals--lions, tigers, etc., not within sight of his house but, you could occasionally hear them roar. One day when he was working with my dog (I should add that she was and is a screaming drama queen)a concerned neighbor came racing over--she thought maybe one of the lions had gotten out and was eating someone's pet! At the vet 's, this same dog will scream as soon as she sees the lab coat coming in with a needle if she has to have a shot or get blood drawn. I have to warn people in the waiting room we're not doing an anesthesia-free amputation.

Forget using a heeling stick in public (or heaven forbid, a wiffle bat!) Get a bandana--they're useful for retriever training in public. They can be tied around prong collars and ecollars, so you look like a doting owner who'd never, ever do anything mean to your doggie. They don't exactly project that "cool" image, but neither does a squad car or the animal cops pulling up with the incident report pad!