Homeland K-9 Dog Training Academy

a little pissed this morning after changing the channel from animal planet's show "its me or the dog"    the title of the show was a bullheaded bulldog.  i was never a fanatic of her show, but at 11 on a sat night when the fam is in bed, i get to control the remote. 

anyway, this lady had an unruly english bd that had serious dog aggression.  she talked about how previous trainers had tried but no success.  what made me angry was how she made mention of using the "shock collar"  and how there were even burn marks on the neck.  (side note, i have never seen burn marks, i have seen irritated skin on short hair dogs that leave the collar on too long)  the device was a piece of crud petsafe anyone can buy at petsmart, made in china sells for about 120 and costs about  five bucks to make. 

to make a long story longer, victoria asks in horror, they used a shock collar on a puppy?  and they call themselves trainers?  then says how "these are not trainers but animal masochists"  then takes the collar and throw it in the trash.

  i aggree "that" collar needs to go in the trash,  and after watching that episode i am most likely done with her show.  the e-sollar is not for everyone, but this portrayal that it is just barbaric is something that i feel sould not have to hear from someone calling themselves a professional.

i'll get off my soapbox now and let you all respond to this thread.

It's a working dog Joey,

I agree  e-collar is not for everyone

wonder how much training the owners or victoria had in e-collars??  there are drawbacks on any training tool if you don't use it correctly.  that's why i think training from a pro is a must.  owners seldom have a trainers education, interest, dedication, experience or expertise on how to use a training tool.  too bad victoria thought shooting from the hip would make her sound better.  i've been using my e-collar 2yrs and never had a burn mark or anything close to it.  my dog gets excited when she see's it.  i have found the e-collar to be a good tool to have in my bag of tools!

If fact if she has a TV show... Mike's TV show should be on right before "Desparate Housewives"

   I've seen that episode too.  She even put the collar on the owner and activated it, which the owner wasn't a big fan of.  If all e-collars worked that way, Mike would never make it past a consultation.  Victoria Stillwell is a postive reinforcement only trainer.  I'm currently reading her book, actually, and there have been a few things I don't agree with entirely.  She even states in the book that she hates choke chains (though I prefer "slip collar") and prong collars.  She doesn't like the slip collars mostly because many people don't know how to use them properly and can injure the dog...which I entirely agree with.  She's not the most versatile of trainers but I still watch her show and hope it's a stateside episode...the British people annoy me.

I have a confession to make... i first responded to this post months ago and got my post removed by the Administration.

I wrote that I thought Victoria Stillwell "sucked" as a dog trainer. That was totally out of line saying that she "sucked" and that her methods "suck". I apologize for saying she "sucks" on this forum.

This is not the place to say that a Internationally known dog trainer "sucks".  Obviously some people do not think she "sucks" as a dog trainer and might like her methods. I have no place saying those methods "suck".

So please forgive me... I will not say "Victoria Stillwell Sucks" anymore.  

Kurt

OK guys. I try to stay out of General Discussion but I can't help myself on this one. If I still trained the way I did 5 years ago then I would be still putting out the same results. The dogs would perform the commands for the owners but not with as much enthusiasm as they are today. I totally believe that in order to get better at something you have to willing to evolve. That is what I have done over the past 3 years for sure. I use what I learned at NK9 and what I learned from Robin (Thats my dog). Oh yea, even from the "treat trainers". So I guess I use a "Hybrid" method of training. The results,  Off Leash in 5 days.  I get that with all dogs, not just super driven dogs (food, toy, praise). That is every dog, from Bassett too Mastiff. I am not tooting my horn. I just want you to know if your not willing to try something new your not going to know if it works or not.

I can relate it to my favorite sport,  the UFC. In the begining the ground guys ruled the ring, now you have to be very well rounded to make it. That meant the ground guys had to now learn "stand up" in order to compete.

Every profession has evolved over time in order to make things not only eaiser but better. From medicine to the mechanic.

I have something to learn from everyone. You guys that are reading this post have taught me something in the past.

Finally, I have been across the country watching dog trainers and what kind of dogs they're putting out. I'm not talking about Sport Dogs. I'm talking about family pets. No one is putting out an off leash dog in 5 days...period. If you can prove me otherwise please let me know.

I thank God for blessing me with a talent and for bringing all of you into my life.

Happy Training, Mike