My only issue with her was the sarcasm and vitriol in the opening of the Culture Clash. It didn't seem like a good way to convert anyone and actually seemed very "positive punishment" oriented instead of "positive reinforcement."

I wish she had taken the attitude of "Congrats, you want to learn more and want to get away from punitive methods of training! Good for you! Now let's find out how." I like a lot of what I had to say but I worry that anyone picking it up will get annoyed before they get to the really good stuff!

I saw one very distressed, panicky dog being forced to the ground and held there. I've never seen a calm, relaxed dog lie rigid on the floor panting in the way that dog was at the end.

Butterkisk please.... Ta

Not really a comment on CM himself but i took Milo to a puppy party last week and a trainer there came to speak to me and said he saw me correct milos bad behaviour (he was lunging to go and play with a shar-pei puppy so i said no and told him to sit which he did).

He then said i have the wrong collar and lead for him and i have no control over him at the position his collar was. He then took a collar/lead out of his pocket and slipped it over milos neck right at the top, unclipped his lead handed it to me and pulled milo over to him. Now Milo straight away when the guy stopped he went to sit down as this is what i've taught him and before he had chance to sit fully down the guy tugged at the lead and said shh and Milo sat (he was already doing so before he did that) and the guy said see i've got total control over him now

He then began to tell me about SBT's and how i need to get him under control or he'll make the breed have an even worse reputation... this whole time he was talking about 'correcting' Milo's bad behaviour a black labrador puppy was lunging at Milo barking and making that weird yowling puppy noise lol and Milo is just sat there looking at it and not doing anything wrong.

He told me that i wouldnt be able to have certain breeds that i wanted with him (another SBT, rottweiler, dobe, GSD) as they are all too aggressive and wont work together and he would advise me on the breed i should get

He then told me he would be able to sort all of Milo's bad behaviour out for a small fee of £150

I declined and said i'm doing fine on my own he's very well trained especially for his age (i think so anyway) so he handed Milo back to me so i put his lead back on and walked away.

When i peered back he was trying to get the black labrador under control trying to get it to sit... the lead at the top of its neck he was pulling it upwards and so the puppy was standing up (obviously to try and stop itself choking) and he started trying to do that back kick thing and making the puppy yelp

Obviously i know where he got his training techniques from!
Lets just say i wasnt interested in his training or his classes

That's a favourite CM trick, the lead at the top of the neck is much more sensitive so pressure there is going to get a reaction, rather like me walking around with your arm up your back rather than just holding your hand.

As far as the man himself goes, I think he is starting to come around judging by some of the more recent episodes I have seen, but it is very much too little too late. He has had a worldwide influence on millions of people who despite the on screen warnings not to copy his techniques at home, do exactly that, get it wrong (or even right) and mess up a perfectly good dog.

He has great intuition and is very good at reading dog body language, but because he works on the principles of dominance and pack theory, his interpretation of the language is never quite right. It like he understands what the dogs are saying, but he doesn't know what it means.

By far the most frustrating thing about him though is his complete inconsistency, one minute he will be using simple positive reinforcement (albeit explained by dominance) and the next minute he will be alpha rolling a tiny lapdog that is scared of taking a bath. I have seen episodes where he has spent hours with a petrified dog just to get it out of its rescue kennel, without a word or a touch, and it was very moving. The work he did with reuniting strays with their owners after hurricane katrina was also very emotional, but then a week later he is using a prong collar to restrain an under stimulated, under exercised border collie. I just don't get the guy, he knows there is a better way and he sometimes uses it, but he also sometimes does the exact opposite.

I think at the end of the day you have to remember that he is making a tv program, and the point of the exercise is to get people to watch, its just a shame that the dogs long term wellbeing often comes second to that.

I think you must have read a different book.

Oh definitely not. I'm not the only one with that complaint about the beginning of the book. I'm 100% on board with her, but I just didn't care for the tone through the first section. I kept thinking "if I weren't on board with her this wouldn't be convincing me."