[prolibertate]

Kuritsa18, I'm not sure why you appear to be taking whatever I say as an attack on you or your comments. I'm simply giving my opinion based on my own experiences and knowledge.

Reading about training, behavior, psychology, attending courses, etc. are some of the main things most good, experienced trainers recommend when one is learning to be a trainer. You can't go get experience with actual dogs without some knowledge behind you first...that would be doing a disservice to those dogs and their guardians, and could cause more harm than not. Besides working with a trainer to train my dogs, I'm also working with a trainer to become a trainer, in addition to getting a degree in behavioral psychology.

Not one trainer I know will use a choke collar anymore, especially when it's so easy to train a dog to not jump using positive methods such as ignoring them and only petting them after they sit, or taking them out of the room when they jump. I do know the safe way to use a choke collar; I simply prefer to not use them, as positive methods have always worked for me, including with dogs that were 120 lbs. or more.

As far as saying 'no' to a dog, some people say it so much that the poor dog must think it's his name! Rewarding good behavior and ignoring bad behavior helps to ensure that the dog repeats the good behavior and ends the bad...it's as simple as that. Unfortunately, some people simply don't make the time, or have the patience, to train using positive methods; they want quick fixes...and cases like that make me wonder why they got a dog in the first place.