Should Illinois Continue in This Direction?

Leslie Harris here, and back in January, we adopted our dog, Ziggy Stardust, who we think is a mix of terrier and lab. Well, I’ve never had a puppy before, and my husband and I were not prepared for the amount of energy this guy has.

Anyway, we put him through puppy class, and will be putting him back into classes. He’s a very sweet little boy, but he definitely needs some training.

There is a proposal that dog trainers in Illinois be licensed. I’ve heard some horror stories about some training places that are using some really negative methods on the dogs, and sometimes these methods are not known to the dog’s parents. These are usually cases where people leave the dog with the trainers, but sometimes are even used when the owners stay with the dogs. These techniques make the dogs fearful, and there are some other negative effects as well. There have even been reports of dogs being injured while being trained.

What do you think? Should dog trainers be licensed? I think it’s a good idea, but maybe I’m not seeing the other side of this issue. let me know in the Facebook comments.