I am glad that things have worked for you and your dogs - but you do see how dangerous what you have done could be for a dog with a slightly different personality?
He backed down and that gave you time to work on building a bond and trusting each other - so that he understands your meaning in your knee nudges and going right up in his face

Not all dogs will respond like that - especially if they are reacting - they are so focused on what they are reacting to that any touch can cause them to turn and snap first and ask questions later

I am glad that things have worked for you and your dogs - but you do see how dangerous what you have done could be for a dog with a slightly different personality?
He backed down and that gave you time to work on building a bond and trusting each other - so that he understands your meaning in your knee nudges and going right up in his face

Not all dogs will respond like that - especially if they are reacting - they are so focused on what they are reacting to that any touch can cause them to turn and snap first and ask questions later

And those are all reasons why every dog needs to be considered and addressed as an individual, with no one method suiting every dog every time.

I like some of what he does, but not all.

Overall, I'm of the opinion he does more good than bad (his more avid fans might well have bought & read Ceaser's rules and been introduced to Ian Dunbar etc).

Whatever his faults, and whatever his worst case/scenario might be, I just can't get worked up about it whilst there are practices such as this and this going on.

That's what sets my blood pressure off!

......I know you dislike CM intensely Wys, but truly for our hooligans he has been a saviour.

Exactly Tass. Which is one of the carps I have with CM, that he tends to treat all the dogs the same. He gets it right some of the time, but all too often he gets it wrong and that's not fair on the dog.

And those are all reasons why every dog needs to be considered and addressed as an individual, with no one method suiting every dog every time.

Agree with the bolded bit ! How's about that!

Wys
x

Ben is not aggressive now in response to the knee nudge, but he sure was when we first got him. His answer to being asked to do something that he did not want to do was aggression, pure and simple. Why? Because everyone in his past had either abused him, or spoiled him rotten and let him do what he wanted. I am not sure what is worse with a dog like Ben. His last owner, who gave Ben to us, is a lovely guy, a very good friend of our's, and he would be the first to admit that 1) he was far too soft with Ben out of very pure motives - he adores the dog, and it is a measure of how much he loves him that he gave him to us to keep permanently because he could see how Ben and Tai had bonded and he considered it would be cruel to split them up. 2) Ben has flourished, thrived and reached his full potential with us ... using those cruel CM methods !

I don't kick my dog, but I do respond to his paw-stamps and vocalised demands quite assertively. I will knee nudge him quite firmly in the ribs, to which initially he responded with aggression - not severe, but he would turn on your leg in a threatening and suggestive way in an attempt to frighten you into backing off. When this didn't work, indeed far from backing off, I would step forward into his space, tell him to sit, knee nudge him again in the chest if he refused to, and would not give up until he was calm and sitting down. He would then get huge praise and a cuddle. I find one of the best things with Ben is to always expose your vulnerable parts - eg your face - whenever I praise him I have my face up against his muzzle, clearly a very dangerous thing to do with an aggressive dog, but this was one of the things that I have always done with ben and he responded very well. He has never ever threatened me in any way when I have had my face next to his muzzle, but several times he has turned on my hand when I have gently grasped his collar to remove him from the sofa. He has stopped doing this now because he can clearly see that I am not intimidated at all by this threat, and meekly gets down now when asked to.

His recall is now fantastic - better than Tai's - his respect and love for us and for Tai has no bounds. he is a thoroughly happy and well balanced dog now - it's just over 2 years since we first had him, and I credit CM's techniques - not the kicking of course - but the calm, assertive energy and the setting of rules, boundaries and limitations and being a good pack leader.

Incidentally, my 2 boys love going on our jogging machine. We have it set to the highest slope and they both really enjoy it. It is an addition to, not instead of, their daily walk, and I see nothing wrong with using such a device to stimulate them. They still need of course to go out daily for walkies, but as an extra I think it excellent.

I know you dislike CM intensely Wys, but truly for our hooligans he has been a saviour.