John Rogerson

Has anybody ever been on any of his training courses/workshops or attended any of his seminars? Or has anybody got an opinions on the guy?

I must admit i'd never heard of him before but next April Flynn and I are booked on one of his Canine CSI workshops and it sounds excellent.

He used to be a fellow competitor and judge in Working Trials, most of his work is behavioural now.

He is a very nice man, his new wife is an artist, and he has some interesting views on dog training.

Very knowledgeable, but not cheap!

Not cheap I hear you say??!! Yes, i'd agree with that! At least i've got more than a year to get saving!

Ive known john since the early 70's and i bought my first collie from him and his first wife Moira and he very quickly took me to Tdex I'm sure you will really enjoy his course.
he taught me an awful lot

I know somebody who is doing the same course in April.
2 of my friends did a week course with him last year...one loved it, the other left early in disgust at some of the things he saw. (handling of other Dogs)
He's very popular...people either love or hate him.

Do you mean your friend didnt like the way John handled other dogs or the way the owners handled their own dogs?

John Rogerson was one of the original founder members of the APBC. I don't think he is a current member though.

At a talk of his a long time ago he said he had gone back to using check chains, as he hadn't found that he got such good results or the same accuracy with other methods/tools.

As I expect you will know be aware some agree with the use of check chains, some don't. I don't know his current views on them.

It might be an idea to read his recently published The Dog Vinci Code which is interesting reading.

I like the fact that he has interesting and different ideas, but there are some things that I have felt uncomfortable with - for example I was at a dog human aggression day yesterday and his book was briefly mentioned. I have not got this far, in the book, but there is a part which suggests that if a dog is concerned about grooming, to tie it up short and just groom it for 2 weeks, no matter how distressed or problematic the dog becomes.

Although this "might" do the job, it is not very humane, nor safe for the owner who may get bitten by a fearful and frightened dog. However, he thinks it's fine to suggest it so there we go

I do think you can learn from him, as he does have some good ideas. However you might want to pick and choose.

I've done a course with him although it was not a good experience for me, but that is because I was unwell and in pain, and probably should not have gone as it affected a lot of what I did. Everyone else enjoyed themselves and he was good enough to have a chat afterwards. So he seems to be abit like Marmite ....

What is the "CSI" workshop, out of interest?

Wys
x

John Rogerosn is a very knowledgeable and experienced guy.
i have been on 2 courses.

The general opinion of all of us that went on those courses was not so favourable.

I have been on a dozen courses with various people, his was one of the least useful i found.

If you are interested in canine law and the history of stuff in the dog world, you will do well.

Their wasnt much useful practical info, and he made comments like the person that thought of using treats for training pups was an idiot, and he demonstrated grooming a nervous aggressive dog by tethering it on a table and continually grooming it until it surrendered.
The dog kept biting the brush.
It bit on the hard brush bristles a couple of times, which looked painful. My group found this upsetting.
I asked him why he didnt get his assistant to feed the dog treats whilsts introducing the brush, he replied that food would arouse the dog.
But the dog was already highly aroused!
Then he recommended that you smear peanut butter over the wall for the dog to lick!
Isnt that the same as giving the dog food, didnt he just say food wasnt a good idea?!

On the first course, he said that no trainer or behaviourist should do a home visit, in this day and age you open yourself up ot liability of being sued for something.
Fair point.
So he alwasy haas the client visit him with videos of the dog's behaviour.
But on the next course, he said rescue members of staff should visit dogs in the home for assessing their suitability for taking into the resuce for rehoming, instead of doing this when the dog arrives at the rescue.
Another contradiction.

Sadly, i didnt ge to interject with my points, objections, or observations, as JR arranges his courses so you dont really have any question and answer time.

The overriding feeling that my groups had once the days were over was one of extreme mental tiredness and a very sore bum.
As he rammed us so full of info throughout the day and was very hesistant to allow us adequate breaktime time.
He announced this would be the case at the start, as he said he has so much to share and he wants to get thru it all.
But we found a lot of the info passed us by anyway, as we struggled to focus due to the overloading nature he presented it.
Due to this, many of us were struggling to keep our eyes peeled at time.

Worth going once i think, but not twice, and im glad i never paid for it.

He also offers training courses that last weeks or months for dog training, they may be worth it?

It may be that spreading peanut butter on the wall is using food as a distraction, rather than a treat, which seems sensible. The dog isn't thinking "oh a treat", it's thinking, if it thinks about it at all "this wall tastes good".