What Do You Think of This Training Advice? - Page 1

The Toronto Star runs a weekly column on pet training. Here's the latest offering:

www.thestar.com/living/article/756249--biting-dog-needs-to-be-desensitized


I know it's hard to get a complete idea of what's going on with this dog without more details, but other than that, what do you think of columnist's advice?

I think she needs to find another job! 

I agree with 1 thing" Nothing will change if nothing changes." Other then that....no don't agree. I had trained a Norfolk Terror...I mean Terrrier and the lady had "trained" it to attack her boyfriend.Not meaning to but when the dog would go at him the lady would give her tummy rubs to distract her.Pretty much praising her for going after her boyfriend.I am surprised the guy didn't drop kick the dog.What was good about it was he was willing to work with it.SO it came in for training. It tried to bit me a few times but I worked it with a muzzle(after getting it use to it so it didn't see it as a bad thing) and had a few other trainers work her and she eneded up being a good dog.That was all through collar corrections and praise when she was good.I actually liked that little bugger. SO I think this Advice person....needs to get a new day job!!! JMO

Don't train it, medicate it, is basically the message. Barf.

To be honest, it's getting harder and harder for me to argue with those who claim that compulsion worsens dogs- because 9 times out of 10 the handler is incorrectly using compulsion and probably IS making it worse! There are very few dog trainers, let alone average owners, who understand how to correctly apply a leash correction in this age of peaches and cream and hugs and kisses.

I probably WOULD use a leash correction to handle the dog but its never as simple as throwing on a lead and yanking away. Sounds to me like an overreactive, possibly neurotic terrier who desperately needs structure, discipline and confidence building in the hands of an extremely calm handler, and only THEN is the dog ready to have this bad behavior physically corrected.

Sounds like this columnist is just another soapbox self proclaimed dog trainer with no real experience in correcting and reshaping problem dogs.

Well said Kelly...but peaches and cream is yummy.lol  I am just glad that I am not living in Austrailia.There are NO collars of any kind of correction aloud.It is the "gentle" leader or clicker.

Bet they sell alot of those buckle collars over there with the hidden prong underneath!

For training the ever so popular Beagles out there I would say YES!!  lol I know I would be smuggling one in!!

Behaviorists,
Just what the world needs.
The article was just what I would have expected.

Moons.

Ivan Balabanov used to be the behaviorist at the ASPCA kennel in San Francisco.  That is before they went to the kind of lunacy displayed in the article.

There were several club members who also worked at the ASPCA.  They trained hearing dogs and all kinds of assistance dogs and did a lot of rehabilitation.

There got to be a big competition between the folks who trained like Ivan (motivational with corrections as needed) and the air fairy crew who believed in all positive all the time.

They each took a new dog out of the kennel and trained it and at the end, had a competition with the dogs.  The crew from our club produced well trained, happy, motivated, dogs and the airy fairies had confused messes.

I have a feeling the air fairies are in charge by now.

Michele

"air fairy" I like that. These goofy behaviorists from what I have seen like that nut in the UK don't get it that the behavior is changed though training.It is much quicker and more reliable.Drives me nuts when I see people like that and the "Dog Whisperer" they are all show.There are many things that can be done behind the scenes of TV. (it's called editing!) Hell the guy can't even spell Chihuahua...and I think he is from Mexico!! Plus he has become too for the $$.He doesn't really care about the dogs if he did he wouldn't have denied the shelter here that is in desperate need of a new building,a grant cause they don't have an educational program of neutering your animals.DUH!!! They don't have the facility to have an education program or the people to put on on.Hence the need for the grant. So to those "air fairy" people a big thumbs down!!

The hardest part of using pure behavior modification is that there are things that are rewarding to the dog that we can't control.  For example, Georgia barks at squirrels (which doesn't bother me because otherwise they dig up my garden).  Chasing the squirrels is more rewarding to her than any correction I could give, so the chase is rewarded whether or not I correct it.  The easiest thing in this situation is to provide her with a far bigger reward than chasing squirrels - the ball on a rope.  She is rewarded for a "here" command, and in the process ignores the squirrels.

Biting is totally different, especially a dog that bites kids, and I say that as a parent.  This person needs to be sent to a competent local trainer who can do hands on.

Opal