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| A random pair of working cockers; not the dogs in question. |
Unlike Barbara Woodhouse, I do not believe there are "No Bad Dogs."
Dogs, like people, can be brain damaged and perhaps even psychotic. This is, of course, very rare, and so too are the number of dogs that cannot be helped by a competent trainer.
But what is a competent trainer?
Can you be a competent trainer if you have never even owned a dog yourself?
Victoria Stilwell put herself out to the world as a dog trainer when, in fact, she had never even owned a dog.
And this was the result.
Faced with two wild-at-home cocker spaniels, one of which had biting issues and which she could not seem to help with her fly-in-and-fly-out schedule and one or two small bits of knowledge gleaned from a correspondence school dog training course, Victoria Stilwell advised the family (by phone, no less) to put the dog down. To be clear, this is a dog that was vet-checked several times and which had no medical issues, and the other dog in the house was a train-wreck mess of behavior too (though not yet a biter).
Apparently, Victoria Stilwell had yet to hear of a muzzle.
She also seems to have no idea that there are boarding kennels where the dog could have lived out its life on her dime (she certainly has the money!), or that the dog might benefit from a little field work (yes, yes, this is a working breed).
Of course, consulting another trainer would have been out of the question. And why? Why, because Victoria Stilwell is, by her own proclamation, the greatest dog trainer in the world!
Caveat emptor.
RUN from any dog trainer that proclaims that he or she invented dog training.
RUN from any dog trainer that starts off with an "I believe" statement of philosophy rather than simple affirmation of the basics of operant conditioning -- reinforcement (treats, play, etc.), punishment (voice corrections, leash corrections, etc.), and extinction (no reaction from behavior, desensitization) which have been the backbone of dog training for over 2,000 years.
RUN from any dog trainer who does not actually watch dogs and who ignores what is obviously working, and who does not think that the dog is the real authority on what works when it comes to dog training.
Above all, accept the fact that the real "secret" to dog training is that the dog needs to be given a lot of exercise and time by you, that you need to be buy a book or two to learn the basics of operant conditioning, and that you need to learn to be consistent and reward good behavior, not bad.
As for Victoria Stilwell, I imagine she knows more now than she knew four or five years ago.
Sadly, however, she has yet to learn that she is not the world's authority on dog training. That authority is owned by a dog.
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- Related Links:
** Victoria Stilwell: Leather or Feather?
** Cutting Sign in the World of Dogs .
6 comments:
Nice calm energy there, Victoria.
Reminds me of those yappy insecure dogs that lash out at any little thing...ironic, no?
Um, I think she said she was the "God of dog training" in that she agreed with that tongue-in-cheek comment from lady she was "conversing" with. Victoria looks like a biter to me, so maybe we should have her put down.
Seahorse
Oh, baa-ram you Patrick...I thought you were serious in that title! For a second, I thought that the dominatrix chickadoodle actually went in and genuinely helped a family's biting dog stop its behavior, teach the family how to properly handle the dog and maintain that good behavior, and all's well that ends well.
I should have known better.
You'll find me at the chalkboard writing line that 50 times. Mebbe I'll finally learn one of these good ol'days.
I try to keep an open mind about the reality of dog training, but it's extremely hard when that woman or anything related to her even steps a toe over the threshold.
Funny - my word verification is "outsh." Very appropriate words to tell her: GET OUT and SHUT UP!
I actually like the kid you posted about last time a lot better. I think he actually has owned a dog or two.
I find the woman a complete idiot and have to turn her off or run out of the room screaming.
And yes that's how I really feel.
Debi and the TX JRTs
The "Kid" talked about here, is as much of an idiot as Stillwell is on this matter. Patrick actually said it best and with few words:
"...the real "secret" to dog training is that the dog needs to be given a lot of exercise and time by you, that you need to be buy a book or two to learn the basics of operant conditioning, and that you need to learn to be consistent and reward good behavior, not bad."
AMEN.
Science based training works - not the ideas of all of our fly-by-night Hollywood wanna-bees. Show us the studies, the numbers, the facts and train based upon those facts.
Meh. It's more than plausible that the dog has an organic screw loose, because baby, rage syndrome is rare, but not among cockers and springers it ain't.
And the most effective trainers in the world would give the same advice after determining, to the best of their ability, that the dog was not neurologically amenable to being rendered safe.
But they would have done it before the kid got mauled.
And while they were determining it, over a period of weeks of regular work and reassessment, they would have had the owners on absolutely strict instructions, agreed to by written contract, to *manage the dog so that it could not harm anyone.*
*Anyone,* much less a trusting child.
No vague notions of "getting tougher" with a habitual biter.
Do clients disregard this advice and cause a mauling? Yes and yes. Been there, early in my career, after I and every professional who had seen the dog (golden retriever) told the owners to put him down.
Reason that I have a rather nasty written contract for aggression cases, am quick to fire a noncompliant client, and the number of Children and Youth Services in my phone.
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