Tricia, yes, that way of manageing aggression is totally unacceptable! Not all trainers / behaviourists are like that. Unfortunatley anyone can call themselves anything
In the links on the posts above there are some to articles on how to find a behaviourist - this one is okay
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/tips.html
Also, on this link
http://www.animalbehavior.org/Applie...directory.html there are contact details for some behaviourists, many of whom have world wide respect for their knowledge, research and management of dog aggression issues. If the above link does not work, go to
http://www.animalbehavior.org and follow the link on the left to the Behaviorist Directory.
Has Tessa had a full health check done?
Sharon