Who is talking about punishment methods. I have never seen him punish a dog. I've seen him be harsh with large dogs that are trying to take over the home and trying to put them in their place. Rightly so.

I have watched almost every programme of Cesar's that has been on Sky TV and I have yet to see Cesar be unkind to a dog! If I had, I certainly would not be a 'fan'!

Thankfully, I don't have aggression issues regarding my dogs but maybe that's because I follow Cesar's advice in remembering (which can be difficult with Chihuahuas) that a dog is a pack animal, etc..................blah, blah,blah

Exactly............

But then you get people who aren't so sensible... When you get vet nurses alpha rolling terrified 12 week old puppies. Telling the owners that the puppy is very, very dominant because he has weed himself, wont stop wriggling or stop screaming and then recommending the owners roll him at home whenever he's naughty, or else he will grow up to be aggressive
I think the problem is where you get people who have absolutely no knowledge of dog behaviour thinking that they understand CM's methods and can apply them to their dog. In the show it's presented in an incredibly simplistic way-this is what dogs do to eachother, so therefore they understand it and will accept your leadership if you do it to them. They don't have the years of observation or experience behind them that CM or any other dog trainer/behaviourist/experienced owner has. It's not CMs fault that people ignore the warning at the beginning of the show, but it is a shame that we live in a society where dogs are so greatly misunderstood. It would be nice if we all went out and did our own research before making up our minds, but unfortunately your average person isn't going to do that-and therefore is better off not knowing about harsh or negative methods at all IMO.

I don't understand why you mention punishment methods. In every program I have seen the dw tells viewers NOT to punish dogs, but to discipline them. This is not just semantics, when you punish a dog you are in a stressed or angry frame of mind, when you discipline as cm says you have a calm assertive mind set, not angry and have infinite patience. My little rescue dog, who had been very cruelly treated, has certainly benefitted from a method which I learned from watching this show.

To be fair, it`s not just CM`s methods that that you need to use an Intelligence Filter for. I`ve been to 3 local training classes where a trainer used methods I didn`t agree with. Am I just picky? You judge-
one pinned Daisy down (muzzled) because she didn`t want to go through the Tunnel in Agility and struggled. (We left)
One recommended check chains in a puppy class. (We left)
One told me to string my dog up (hold her up on a tight lead) because she wouldn`t give me a Retrive article back. (I refused then left)
I`m sure that with other dogs these trainers are fine (well, not the choke chains for puppies) and could teach me a lot. However, we have to be able to make judgment calls for the sake of our pets.

Yep this is the philosophy I adpot!...

Best way really.

In dog training there is no such thing as dicipline
there is either reward or punishment
there are 4 types

Positive reward, dog does something, gets rewarded for it, is more likely to do that thing again
Positive punishment, dog does something, something bad happens, is less likely to do the thing again (and bad it can be anything - I dont mean a beating, for some dogs just saying 'no' is punishment, cos it reduces the chances of that thing hapening again

Negative reward, the bad thing stops happening when the dog does the good thing - like the horrible ear pinch, or like the choke losens when the dog stops pulling
Negative punishment, things are taken away when a dog does something you dont want

Reward - something that makes a dog more likely to do something
Punishment - something that makes a dog less likely to do something
Positive - something is added, negative - something is taken away

I don't like him. I don't like him because I don't like to see a dog with any trainer that it looks scared of. If you turn the sound off and watch the dog's body language...well...it sort of says it all. If you read Turid Rugass' Calming Signals book...then watch it with the sound off...well.....

Exactly, I have done that and some of the episodes have me in tears. Those poor confused dogs

My previous shepherd used to bark and lunge at other dogs if they came very close. Many years ago I went on a training week with a very well known obedience trainer. My dog barked and lunged and the trainer told me to squeeze her nose until she screamed. Obviously I refused and she told me I would never cure her.

I think most dog owners look for the training methods that suit them and as everyone is different there are bound to be many methods of training. I'm not sure the answer is to take away the freedom to choose.