dobe training issue..... did i do wrong?

This lady called me yesterday for training help with her 5 year old dobe, who just got neutered (he was a stud dog before) I told her about my positive outlook for training especially because he has not had ANY training at all.  She said that she doesn't want to do any positive training with him at all, she is using a pinch collar on him (which i have no issue with) but does not want to reward him because that is too much work.  So i raised the cost of training.  Hopefully i scared her away, because i have no interest in training with all negative reprecusions.   Is this an ok thing to do? I really just didn't want to take it on, she seems like a pain, and i could use the money and help the dog, but do i really want to deal with the owner??? NNNOOOO i hope i did things ok.

I know Im new to the board but I have done the exact same thing as you did. My reality is that the woman would come back and no matter what I tried to do to convince her to go elsewhere, she would stay. And I do agree that pinch collars can be positive esp when the leash has left blisters in your hands. ....Dobes are smart and really in tune to their people that I cant imagine that it would take that long for the dog to get with the program. I have a dobe right now in rescue that just does the craziest things but has to be pretty smart to do them at all. Sometimes humans just need is to see something done in a positive manner to get the picture and understand what its all about. GO with your gut. If shes a bad vibe now, she will be until the end.

Stick by your standards.  It sounds as though the woman doesn't have the time/concern (you mentioned she said that positive reward is too much work) to do any follow through.  When we trained to pups our trained was clear and up front and if you didn't like it she made some other suggestions.  We did great with her.  We have a kennel up here that actually keeps your dog for a month and does basic training.  I have a friend who used it with a difficult pup they got from a family member and they ended up doing that and the pup came back a whole new dog. I believe it was positive reinfircement, but by the time they got the pup back the tough part was already done, all they had to do was carry through.  Sounds like this is the type of training this woman is looking for - but she would still need to do the follow through once she got the dog back.

Good Luck - but please don't back down!  I wouldn't trade our positive training for anything else in the world!