It me or the Dog

Hi
Ive been watching Victoria Stillwell's series with interest.
I find her generally positive and honest.

Sky Real Lives have been showing the American series narrated by an English narrator.

However, last night (Monday), the channel displayed 'All New'. And this episode was based in the UK. She looked very toned down and not a severe as she has looked. But what intrigued me was she was mentioning 'pack leader' and 'pack' many times. I'm pretty certain, like most current trainers, she doesn't buy in to all that 'pack leader' stuff any more.

Was it an old episode or the start of a new British based series? It appears to be on every night at 7pm.

Any ideas?

She's in the states now so I think this is her old UK series. She certanly used to mention pack etc a lot more for the UK series but she has certainly changed, for the better, in her USA series.
Becky

Thats how I understood it too.

Have to say her US show , is a lot more positive than her old UK series was.

I'm surprised to hear that coming from VS, I thought she was against all the pack leader stuff - probably why I like her methods!

Well if it's an old show that they are showing( all week) then we can forgive her.

The majority of all trainers have gone through the pack leader phase. in fact most books beyond two years old mention it.

Is it still on this week?

Yes indeed. Sky Real Lives at 7pm

Oh good, I'll Sky+ it, thanks.

What are we? Her judges? I don't agree with the alpha theory at all but at time you have to...ummm...well dumb it down for folks that aren't into dogs if time is short. If time permits then you can go off on how dogs don't operate like wolves but at times you have to teach it to them in terms they are familar with.

In a reputable book by Karen Pryor Dont Shoot the Dog she mixes up the whole negative/positive reinforcement/punishment issue to better explain something, but being a clicker trainer I'm sure she knows the true definitions of them but avoids being technically correct to avoid confusing the readers. But she clearly states "Before going any further, I must apologize to any professional behaviorists who are annoyed at my cavalier uses of the vocabulary of reinforcement theory. . . . hair splitting definitions have proliferated. So I have sacrificed technical precision for a vocabulary I think people can understand." http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/DrP2.htm

That being said, having established herself as the trainer/behaviorist she is, I don't think we have a right to judge.

yep, we're the Dog Police! Seriously thugh, I haven't seen any of her US shows (don't have cable) but the older UK ones were a great deal focussed on 'rank reduction' to the extreme of pretending to eat some of the dog's dinner - eating crackers while holding the dish before putting it down on the floor.

I would think that training the dog to hold back from the dish until commanded to eat would work just as well, and don't most people do that anyway?