It's possible that I need to see more than just the one episode, but I was left distressed and upset at the training shown in the show I saw last night.

The language used by one trainer in particular shows his true colours, he couldn't train a dog with kindness to save his life. He's a bully pure and simple.

I won't be watching again.

Dawn R.

I watched it last night - It was great ..Mick makes me laff
I couldn't believe how aggressive the Kelpie was - Full marks to the two blokes for giving it a go

The Collie was lovely - so eager to please and the Rottie well ...he was just a love .I thought the girl did very well there ..at the beginning I thought ''ooooohhh noooooo' but she was willing to learn and did very well ..I always think its hard enough in the first place to ask for help but to go on national Tv as well takes guts .

I watched Dog Borstal with interest last night, partly with frustration and partly with pride for those owners.
I am dumbfounded sometimes at people that have dogs. The rotti was a big dog she couldn't control REALLY. The owner of the Collie said she was running mad and uncontrollable yet she did nothing with it. WHAT A SURPRISE.
As for the Kelpie. Well this was the one I watched most with interest. I respected those two guys for sticking with a dog this long. I have to admit I expected it to be bad news at the end. There seemed a slight improvement by the end of the program and they were sticking with the dog and the training. I hope they do a follow up progress programme in the future. I do hope that the dog comes right. Most dogs like this would be seeing the vet at this stage. Full credit to them. People think that all dogs are trainable, but unfortunately some dogs are just too far gone and have to be put down. It was good to see this dog come back from the brink and I hope that they can turn it round. It was obvious that they loved that dog.
I have to say I do think these programmes are good as if it just reaches and educates a couple of people regards their dogs then it's a good things.
The instructors are good. Even Mick whose liking of the F word is slightly over the top. However he sticks to the point and makes no apologies for having a go at the owners. Some people need that wake up call. He wouldn't suit everyone. But look at the results he got with that dog. A bit of common sense goes a long way.

Although I agree with you that he over uses the F word. Where was he not kind with the rotti. He didn't show any cruelness at all to the dog and only showed kindness. There wasn't even checking involved with the heel work, he used the changing direction routine, and with the agility course the dog was given treats. All done with kindness I thought. He threw a few comments at the owner which was a touch over the top at times. However most of the time it's the owners that are to blame and sometimes need a check of reality however unsubtle. That girl was slowly killing her dog and it (even though a lovely dog) a liability. She needed a BIG wake up call for the sake of the dog.

nursey - what an incredibly narrow minded point of view

What 'distressed' you? The kelpie being aggresive towards its owners, and them being trained to deal with it so as not to harm others? The rottie actually getting some exercise? The collie's owner being taught an outlet for her dogs energy?

As for Mics language? Its on at 9pm, so its after the watershed, and you should be aware that the odd offensive word may come out. Next time, wrap your ears in cotton wool.

You are right though, you do need to see more than episode before making such sweeping statements. Mic has nothing but respect for all the dogs he trains. Certainly more respect than he shows to the owners who dont apply themselves to the task.

Everything you seem him do is for the long term good of the dog - if you're blinkered views cant see past this, then you make a stand, and dont watch it again.

I watched and enjoyed and i do think this program does great work

I think it was a great pity they did not call in a T Touch practitioner to help with the Kelpie. They use T Touch to deal with similar problems with all sorts of animals including feral cats, of course it wouldn't have made such good TV to see the Kelpie being helped by a non member of the team & Biz would have ended up enjoying being touched & stroked & actually initiated it instead of being forced to accept it. I have great respect for Rob but I do think he should have thought outside of the box of conventional dog training for once.

I think the majority of the owners on this programme need a wake up call, and if its Mick calling a spade a spade then so be it all of the dogs on this programme are there because the owners, have'nt put effort in whatso ever with their dogs, they buy them as puppies and EXPECT them to come with full knowledge of whats required of them. so if it take Mick to be a bit abusive to the owners to get them to realise what plonkers they are then so be it. I personally like him and dont mind the swearing that Kelpie I must say had me worried, its going to take a hell of a lot of consistant work with him, if its going to work out(thats if it does). as for the collie what a pleasure to see it actually doing something it needed to do, work and use its brain, the majority of dogs that come into the dogs home I work for are collies that are way too much for the owners because they just couldnt be bothered with training them or giving them an outlet for their energy.

Mo

I was just pleased to see the Rottie get some control, and lose some weight. The initial videos of him lunging at others in the street are precisely the sort of thing that helps give Rotties a bad and largely undeserved reputation.

As for the Kelpie, the owners are far more tolerant than I. One bite of my hand would be the last bite of my hand, period.

P.S. You can now all say you've seen Rob refuse to use the rattle method in cases where it's unsuitable. He told me about this case when he visited, and I can assure you, he wasn't even slightly tempted to use it. It was never in the equation, as, as he stated in the programme, it just wouldn't be suitable for that dog. It was the owners who wanted him to use it.

IN the first series, I was practically apoplectic at some of the things I saw. I was so angry I wrote to the BBC. It took dog training back 30 years

The second series has been much better - the female trainer is better, for a start so a big improvement there. Mic - I just think he's full of ego, it's not necessary. He's coming across as very sad, and also who made him the boss? as he appears to be put in that role for the cameras when the other trainers have problems. I also feel sorry for Rob when he is offloaded owners or dogs Mic can't be bothered to learn to understand or handle. A good trainer doesn't pick and choose to the extent he does.

I do have one major gripe, which is that with some of the dog aggressive dogs, we initially seem to see them attacking loose dogs ... is this set up for tv? In which case I'd be absolutely furious if it was my dog who was being used as "bait"!!!

I have seen some good "bits" in second series of DB but overall I still think it's taken dog training back 30 years.

Wys
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