Which TV Dog Trainer Would You Choose to Train Your Dog?

[Dekka]

Thanks Jess!

I was at some event where BP started talking. Its well known he thinks carrying small dogs causes all sorts of ills, like aggression etc and it makes a dog hard to train. I made a point to carry Dekka around I was hoping he would pull me out and I could point out just how trained my dog is LOL. But it was at the end and he was done pulling people out. One lady with a rescued BC told him off for grabbing her leash. In front of the crowd.

 

[Cheetah]

OMG I hate BP. If he came up and grabbed my leash I don't think I'd be able to keep myself from reflexively punching him in the face. XD

 

[Kat09Tails]

I'm not a fan of TV dog trainers in general. Victoria Stilwell is a crappy actress and a **** poor dog trainer who isn't qualified to train houseplants to stay let alone dogs to do anything.

But the world of dog trainers has always had it's home for pretenders in leather.

CM isn't my cup of tea but then again my dogs aren't his cup of tea either. That's fine.

If I had to pick one who has appeared on tv to train my dog to actually do something useful Zak George would do the job and manage to not screw everything else about the dog up.

 

[ihartgonzo]

She looks like her any more skilled the average R + pet dog division, I will not let her to work, my dog is better than a pretty girl in PetsMart.

Ummm R+ trainers are capable of doing AMAZING things with dogs. As well as a plethora of other animals, including orcas, chimps and big cats. Any moron can jerk a dog around on a correction collar... in fact, a clicker trainer could teach a chimp to do that! However, it takes much more work, smarts, imagination, patience and dedication to train a dog to not only behave like a good "pet dog" but to execute intricate behaviors that go completely against their instincts using no force, suppression or coercion.

I don't understand why so many people are calling VS a moron. I'd love to see examples of that, really, I would. I would also like to remind everyone that VS is conscious of the fact that she's on a television show that people are going to watch and attempt to emulate, just like Cesar Millan. The difference is that Cesar applies dangerous, frightening methods and has completely flawed theories about dogs and what he does to them. VS does not. She uses very simple, dumbed down, unthreatening techniques that virtually anyone can apply without risking getting bitten by their dogs. The thing about people is that many of them would rather try to learn how to train their dog on TV than call a behaviorist. Personally, I'd much rather see a trainer on TV using the safest, easiest techniques to learn than using riskier methods that could result in viewers getting bitten and euthanizing their dogs.

Does "It's Me or the Dog" have to remind viewers before, after and during the show to "NEVER TRY THIS AT HOME!!!!" nope. Because it's safe, it's science based, and it's dog friendly. Cesar Millan does, because his methods are dangerous and can ruin your dog.

 

[Kat09Tails]

I didn't call her a moron. I just called her a pretender. She's a D list actress who started a dog walking business while she was out of work. Took a correspondence course ... then called herself a dog trainer. Got a job on Barking Mad - started a service... then years later actually bought herself her first dog.

Prior to that tv producers had marched her leather-clad ass in on unsuspecting people for years who actually owned dogs and had to live with them- berated them for the problems they were having - pretending to be an expert on dog training. If I had put down a dog based upon her recommendation, altered a dog based upon her behavior modification program, (which as happened on her show) I would be livid to find this information out.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Well, I don't really care if she was a D list actor turned dog walker in the 1990's. Cesar Millan was a second-rate dog groomer, and a gardener before that. So what? No one is born perfect. I like to see people that take a journey and have many experiences that shape them in their life, and I find that people who convert are the most knowledgeable and understanding trainers. She was also trained by some of the best R+ trainers/behaviorists in the UK, and now runs an organization consisting of some of the best R+ trainers in the US.

She didn't own a dog up until several years ago because she had travelling commitments for work. She still walked 20 dogs a day, had owned dogs prior, fostered and trained dogs. She fostered over 50 dogs, that's quite a bit of experience living with various dogs! I like that she's responsible and waited until she could take on a lifetime commitment. I respect that so much more than CM who has hundreds of dogs coming and going from his "pack", getting very little personal attention, being treated as a number rather than a beloved family companion.

So she wears leather and berates clueless people. It's television. People like that. I'm sure she never chose to wear a leather jumpsuit (which I've only seen her wear in the intro but I digress...) but the fact is she's never been sued, she's never been bitten, ONE dog has been put to sleep who she consulted, and that is because the dog mauled 3 family members unprovoked and a veterinary behaviorist urged the family to do so. Some dogs aren't wired/bred right and need to be put to rest for everyone's safety - something that CM is too haughty and ignorant to admit.

 

[Emily]

She just doesn't impress me, that's all I'm saying. And by the way, that post you quoted is a spam quote that changed some of the words in MY post. MY post read something like, "I don't see that she's any more skilled than the average +R pet trainer, and I wouldn't let her work my dog anymore than I would the girl at PetSmart."

I certainly wasn't doubting the effective of +R in general, but pet trainers don't do anything for me. So no, I wouldn't want her to train/handle my dog. She just uses basic/average techniques that you find with reasonably skilled pet trainers around the world that use +R. That's all I was saying. There are very few people I hand my dog over to and Stilwell certainly isn't one of them.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Lol I thought that spammer's quote was weird. It sounds much more offensive than yours, not worded correctly and without an explanation.

I totally agree that VS's methods are very basic R+ but that doesn't mean she's dumb. It's more the fact that really, the huge majority of dog owners use purely compulsive methods and very little R+. They have to be gently introduced to it, because going beyond basics just boggles their minds. I'm not saying she's the best trainer, but she's the best I've seen on television, and I have never seen her mentally scar or hurt a dog. I would like to see what she had to say about my dogs more than anything, but I don't feel that she could do much that I couldn't do.

I feel like the one thing the most popular TV trainers have in common is the fact that all they do is train dogs to behave... they aren't actively involved in competitive dog sports that demand a higher level of training and understanding. I WISH more serious competitors were given the opportunity to show the world what they do and to help people with their pets, and not just show them how to train their dog to be well behaved, but to be awesome and to direct their drive & energy into productive "work".

 

[sassafras]

One reason why there will never be a dog trainer on TV that I'd be willing to have train my dog is because good training is very boring. It's quiet, it's undramatic and it would get only a couple more viewers than growing grass.

Well for the most part it seems that the dogs and training themselves are sort of a sideline to the main event of the human drama. Which apparently is what the masses want since the shows wouldn't be on at all if they weren't getting good ratings.


Anyway, in the spirit of the original question... I've seen very little of any of them, but if I absolutely had to choose, I'd pick VS. I don't really care what she did before she trained dogs/had a TV show. I don't really care that her methods are really basic - they're obviously more advanced than any of the people on her show are aware of. They're closest to what I would use myself.

From the few shows I've seen, it seems like she gives people techniques that they have some hope of continuing to use properly with some degree of success after she's gone and without harming the dog, the people, or the relationship between them. I might not get more out of her than I would out of trainers I have locally, but I'm not going to get anything bad out of it, either.