Pack Leader vs. Predator article

[dwerten]

This was excellent! Thanks for posting this

[Dogwriter]

I dunno. Appreciate the post but... I followed more of the author's information, and although I agree with his main premise, I DISAGREE with his malignment of Cesar Millan. I don't think Cesar intimidates dogs, I think he just really loves dogs. Lee Charles Kelly appears to think that by dissing Cesar he can promote his buddy, Kevin Behan. I looked all over Behan's site and couldn't understand his concept of Natural Dog Training, so I searched for it on Amazon. He has really negative reviews. So I still don't know if his brilliant idea is in line with truly "natural" training. What does it mean? Why is it different?

For the record, I do a lot of clicker training (if the dogs haven't been so traumatized before they come to me that they're scared of it). I use all positive reinforcemnet and treats, while redirect or ignore negative behavior. Before Piper, they were always rescues, most of whom I rehomed. I don't use Cesar's poke in the side or the "tchh" sound.
I think that's pretty close to what this author was trying to say. Maybe.

[Furbaby's Mommie]

Originally Posted by Dogwriter

I dunno. Appreciate the post but... I followed more of the author's information, and although I agree with his main premise, I DISAGREE with his malignment of Cesar Millan. I don't think Cesar intimidates dogs, I think he just really loves dogs. Lee Charles Kelly appears to think that by dissing Cesar he can promote his buddy, Kevin Behan. I looked all over Behan's site and couldn't understand his concept of Natural Dog Training, so I searched for it on Amazon. He has really negative reviews. So I still don't know if his brilliant idea is in line with truly "natural" training. What does it mean? Why is it different?

For the record, I do a lot of clicker training (if the dogs haven't been so traumatized before they come to me that they're scared of it). I use all positive reinforcemnet and treats, while redirect or ignore negative behavior. Before Piper, they were always rescues, most of whom I rehomed. I don't use Cesar's poke in the side or the "tchh" sound.
I think that's pretty close to what this author was trying to say. Maybe.

[jmm]

The friend vs. predator is based on research in the field of ethology. From this field also comes the scientific evidence disproving alpha theory. It gets pretty technical pretty quickly, but if you're truly interested I'd study it further.

[tamizami]

what a great article, jackie, thanks for posting!

[thach8]

Poor dogs that he scares into obedience. Unfortunately, a lot of dog trainers seem to subscribe to his ideas. We are looking for some dog training help in Toronto, but we can't find anwayone who relies primarily on positive reinforcement. There was one place that specialized in little dogs and relied on positive reinforcement but it seems to be closed now.
We really want to find a trainer for Diamond who would only use positive reinforcement and only socialize her with small dogs at first.
She is a great pup except she has what looks like some on-leash aggression to other dogs and she barks too often when people are in the hallway at our condo building. We would like a bit of help, but it seems like Caesar Milan has ruined dog trainers.

[LinzFair]

Originally Posted by thach8

Poor dogs that he scares into obedience. Unfortunately, a lot of dog trainers seem to subscribe to his ideas. We are looking for some dog training help in Toronto, but we can't find anwayone who relies primarily on positive reinforcement. There was one place that specialized in little dogs and relied on positive reinforcement but it seems to be closed now.
We really want to find a trainer for Diamond who would only use positive reinforcement and only socialize her with small dogs at first.
She is a great pup except she has what looks like some on-leash aggression to other dogs and she barks too often when people are in the hallway at our condo building. We would like a bit of help, but it seems like Caesar Milan has ruined dog trainers.

I am Canadian too, but living in the US My maltese Mika is an amazing dog, but she too is aggressive when on a leash towards other dogs. She is fine off leash and I socialize her with other dogs on a daily basis at the dog park, but I wish I could get this leash aggression under control !

[silverhaven]

Originally Posted by thach8

Poor dogs that he scares into obedience. Unfortunately, a lot of dog trainers seem to subscribe to his ideas. We are looking for some dog training help in Toronto, but we can't find anwayone who relies primarily on positive reinforcement. There was one place that specialized in little dogs and relied on positive reinforcement but it seems to be closed now.
We really want to find a trainer for Diamond who would only use positive reinforcement and only socialize her with small dogs at first.
She is a great pup except she has what looks like some on-leash aggression to other dogs and she barks too often when people are in the hallway at our condo building. We would like a bit of help, but it seems like Caesar Milan has ruined dog trainers.

Dog Training Toronto and Obedience using Positive Reinforcement that place looks decent if they are anywhere near you. They even have a couple of articles on the issue you mentioned

[sunnycleveland]

I have the same issue - I am looking for a good trainer for our dog; I found one that was highly recommended by a friend but he was too dominant, I've never seen Fiona so stressed. She was shaking the whole time. Some of what he said seemed to make sense but I did not like the "corrections" method - I have yet to find a positive reinforcement trainer in the area.... everyone seems to love and use Cesar Milan's way

Originally Posted by thach8

Poor dogs that he scares into obedience. Unfortunately, a lot of dog trainers seem to subscribe to his ideas. We are looking for some dog training help in Toronto, but we can't find anwayone who relies primarily on positive reinforcement. There was one place that specialized in little dogs and relied on positive reinforcement but it seems to be closed now.
We really want to find a trainer for Diamond who would only use positive reinforcement and only socialize her with small dogs at first.
She is a great pup except she has what looks like some on-leash aggression to other dogs and she barks too often when people are in the hallway at our condo building. We would like a bit of help, but it seems like Caesar Milan has ruined dog trainers.

[jmm]

A good place to start searching for a trainer (and to learn about how to find a good trainer) is Association of Pet Dog Trainers - Dog Training Resources