Have you attended Michael Ellis training? - Page 1

If all goes to plan, I will have the working line GSD puppy of my dreams in December of this year.  I am a classifed USA Helper, and will be training this pup in SchH.  I am very interested in attending Michael Ellis' week long Puppy Development course. 

Has anyone here attended Michael's Puppy class or any other training with him and would like to offer insight on your experience? 

Thanks,

Idog  

I have not personally attended any of Michael's training, but have watch some of his videos and also watch all the small video clips on the Leerburg website.  I think he is fantastic and for what I have seen on the videos and clips, his style and methods work, he has alot of marker training which I use on my training alot  and has a very broad understanding of all other methods of training and techniques and he uses a combination of this to acomplish the end result.  Truly amazing all the knowledge he has and the understanding on dog behavior and how markers work.    I have seen the videos of him competing with his dogs on the Mondio Ring and its pretty impressive.  I hope to one day be able to attend one of his seminars.  Let me know how it goes, if you do attend a seminar.  Would love to hear some imput on someone that has been to one of his seminars in person.  Take care and happy training :)

Thanks for the feedback.  I intend on training with him after the new year, contingent on this pup I have been waiting for.

i have.....just once.  i like him very much.  probably the most important thing michael teaches is in breaking excercises down into tiny parts.  another thing that is important in his training is the use of bridge commands.  similar to clicker training.  command is given, the dog is told that he is correct, but is not released until a release command is given.  when the dog is not correct, he is told "no.... do it again"......no reward.  it is amazing how quickly they catch on when they must be correct to receive a reward.  and no guilt on our part for having to administer harsh correction.  (which ultimately cause confusion in the dog)  i will say this about the bridge commands, it is much more effective for those of us who are clumsy or slow.  you can say "yes" or "good" much faster or even use a clicker to "mark" the behavior than you can dig treats out of your pocket, praise the dog, or even pat him.  marking the behavior lets him know immediately what he did correctly, but does not release him until you say so.  i had a terrible time in the old days when we were always told to deliver the reward at "the correct moment."  that is great in theory, but doesn't always work and besides that the dog assumed he was released so essentially we rewarded them for "breaking."
everyone should go to an ellis seminar at least once.  even if you think you have nothing to learn, you will come away with something.  he has a great technique for teaching dogs to back up.  that is something i intend to use at some point in the near future.
pjp

He is a very good trainer, and that should be a very good start for you and your pup. If you see him, tell him hi for me, and that I think his dog is a sissy. : )

Zieganfarm & Jeff,

Thanks for the feedback, it is very encouraging.  I love my current GSD dearly, and she and I have a great time training in SchH, but I am ready for a pup.  The pup I am waiting for will be a son of Hannes vom Spadener Holz, which will be my third GSD, second to be trained in SchH although first to be raised proper as a SchH dog, and will be my first true working line.....my current GSD is WGSL x Czech, which is another story.

You guys and many others have validated the notion of becoming a Michael Ellis disciple.  Plus, traveling to California a few times a year is not going to be hard to take! 

Thanks,

Idog

I love Michael Ellis, he is one great trainer. I would kill to get a chance to train with him. Good luck.

I'd like to clear up some confusion here and I'll come clear by saying I have not trained with Michael Ellis. I have watched a couple of his cds and according to those, what he does is not at all similar to clicker training. He may use "yes" to mark the behavior, but using leash pressure and words that tell the dog it is not correct or to try again, is not at all clicker training! He is an excellent trainer in his own right and seems to be an excellent teacher as well but it's not clicker training! He seems to be doing the same thing as Ivan Balabanov, telling the dog "no" when it is wrong, "good" when it is right and "yes" to release the dog. He also gives importance to where the reward comes after the release, which may be the only resemblance to clicker training.

Michael is a good teacher, trainer.. and best of all..  a really good person..   you will have much fun training with him.

Changer,

I think the only confusion may be yours?  The only mention of "clicker" is where Zieganfarm suggested the employment of markers/bridges are similar to clicker....that is all. 

I have trained with Ivan a few times, and I agree with you.... my impression is that Michael's techniques are similar to Ivan's.  I am eager to experience how Michael conveys the information to the student.

Idog