or a training collar. When I was little, this was how I was taught to do it; however, I have since come to realize that fear/pain based discipline is not only somewhat lazy, but it is not the way that I would ever want one of my dogs to relate to me. I would never spank my son, and I don't use those methods on my dogs.

Likewise, I put debarking in the same category as de-clawing of cats. My mother uses an apt analogy for the latter; she says that it would be the human equivalent of cutting fingers off at the first knuckle. My vet wholeheartedly agrees with her. These are extreme measures that are taken by people that are more concerned with convenience than their animal companion.

I do find it disconcerting that your trainer uses these methods. When my mother started training her German Wirehair, she had the most awesome trainer. He was a young guy, and used newer methods, but I was really amazed at how often he would relate the dog's behavior to the breed with clever work arounds for each dog's idiosyncrasies. It was also pretty fun to watch.

It's also cute that you call your doggie the Vegan Beagle.