Does anyone watch Dog Whisperer?

[dreamparkingspace]

I think the reason he suggests exchanging dogs with some people on the show lately is because he gives the people a dog whose energy level matches theirs better. Then the dog who had behavioral issues which the owners couldn't correct goes on to live in Cesar's doggie sanctuary rather than eventually bite someone then be put to sleep by animal control. Not sure if that's the whole procedure in trading pokemon cards, but if I had a dog I knew I just couldn't handle I'd be willing to let it live out the rest of it's life at the Dog Psychology Center playing fetch and running around with other dogs every day in a happy and balanced state.

[atchbedyto]

I rescued a highly aggressive/reactive/dominant Rottweiler. She was left tied in a back yard while her owner was in jail. She was basically a last chance dog with a bite history. She attacked me twice when I first rescued her, highly dog aggressive, wanted to eat my Cat, was bad with most people, The Vets could barely handle her etc. At first I used those old out dated dominance training methods such as alpha rolls, pinning, choker, corrections etc. Anyway, the techniques "seemed" to be working and I was pretty proud of myself. But, what really happened was my Rottweiler had shut down, was suppressed and no longer trusted me. She didn't "learn" how to be a better dog she learned to fear me which in a novices eye would look like respect. Anyway what then started happening was she learned not to give any warnings. So I'd see another dog and she wouldn't react and I would think all was well. The corrective type training made her into a sneaky dog that had not learned not to give warnings. She did not learn to not do the bad behavior.

So, I started going to a local behaviorist who uses positive only training with excellent results. She has saved many dogs from being PTS, but you'll never see her on TV. She is not a braggart as this is her job. To make a long story short I used positive training to mold my Rottweiler into the perfect dog. Just because you use positive training does not mean you have a pocket full of treats. Dogs can be rewarded in many other different ways, I used praise, toys, play, redirecting drives, laughter etc. If you have a breed with enhanced drives the dog is rewarded by allowing them to express those drives in a good manner instead of destructive. For example if I have a highly aggressive dog that I am trying to desensitize to people and she has a high chase drive then I will bounce a ball as I walk past the person to start the desensitizing process. Then I will have the other person bounce the ball and play fetch etc. The dog then associates this new person with good things. With my Rottweiler I took her natural drives and rewarded her for expressing them in a positive manner. I was able to desensitize her to horses and cats by simple tactics that did not involve food. For the horses I started bringing home the horse blankets etc to get her used to the smell and good things happened when that smell was around. Another thing as well, even the most highly dog aggressive dog will shut down when they are put into a situation with multiple dogs. A person that keeps 50 or so dogs together does not impress me at all, it's called flooding, also what a stressful way for those poor dogs to live. Flooding a dog is easy to do, but it's not getting the dog over the issue and teaching them a new behavior. My highly dog aggressive Rottweiler is fine in large groups of dogs, it's when there is only one new dog that she became reactive and it didn't matter what the other dog is like in personality she just reacts. Its more predatory drive for her when she see's another dog. So I worked on that with counter conditioning and allowing her to fulfill those drives in positive ways. I am very proud of the turn around of behavior with my Rottweiler. She now has learned new behaviors to replace the old bad behaviors. They were a natural part of her so I just directed them in another harmless forms. I do not believe in flooding, I do not believe in making a dog face it's fears in a force based manner etc, I do not believe in alpha rolls, pinning, chokers etc.

Anyway I am a person who tried different tactics of training I am very impressed with positive only approach. I can't begin to say how thrilled I am in the difference in my Rottweiler. She was a challenge, one which I am very proud of as she is a great representative of positive training. She also taught me so much.

I have 6 dogs, 4 which had issues when I rescued them from food/resource aggression, touch phobia's, fear issues and phobias etc. They have all thrived with routine, positive training to teach them what is expected of them and redirecting bad to desireable. They all eat side by side and are fed a high value food ( a trick many people use for highly food aggressive dogs is to feed low value food). They live in perfect harmony and have perfect lives they all sleep where they want the Rottie, Dobe and Alaskan Husky and cat sleep with me and the Newfs on the couch or where ever When I go for hikes I walk on my property (16 acres) and on trails. My dogs are loose and I never worry about them. I am very proud how well my group of dogs get along especially since they all started living together as adults.

I don't agree with the way Cesar represents dog training or the things he does. He is a good entertainer no doubt but a person to represent dog training...well that is just scary. He is what I see as a phony, but people seem to be enthralled by him because he does have the charm and lays it on thick . It almost seems when people love him they will go to extremes to push him on others which I don't like. We have many clients who are part of the Cesar cult and their dogs are the worst behaved monsters One lady who is a huge fan and follows everything he teaches even managed to ruin a nice mannered Golden Retriever. One lady that came in saw one of our Newf's paw at my Sister's leg for attention. This Cesar cult member started going on how this was a sign of dominance because Cesar said so etc My goodness it's a Newf thing!