Dog Behaviour TV programmes

I've decided to add this in a separate thread to the CM because it's about any programme and also because I just can't be bothered with the whole CM thing anymore!!

I wondered what your opinions were on dealing with problem behaviour on TV.

Personally, whilst I quite enjoyed watching Its Me or The Dog (c'mon she's an attractive lady!) and I like to see the dogs I don't think that airing problem behaviour and how to 'cure' it on TV is a good idea.

Although I don't agree with everything VS says, I've not really seen anything I thought 'oh no - that's not good' on It's Me or The Dog but I've seen the use of certain methods on both Dog Borstal and The Dog Whisperer which I've thought could be a little dangerous in the hands of the general public.

As a result, a friend of mine told me of her father who decided to follow the 'squirt it with water' approach from Dog Borstal.
His dog misbehaved in the garden, the man went back inside, got the squirty bottle, went back to the dog and squirted him, who by this time was playing with my friend's dog nicely.
When she asked him why he did it his answer was 'that's what they did on Dog Borstal'

My point is - I'm not sure that problem behaviours should be dealt with in the public eye, yes I can see that they're saying 'look how far these dogs can come and improve' but I feel it's much safer to deal with these problems one to one to prevent people believing that 'one size fits all' and misinterpreting or carrying out punishments incorrectly.

What do you think? Regardless of whether you enjoy the programmes or not - do you think they're a good idea for the general public with less understanding of dogs?

I feel whenever a new programe appears, you see dog owners picking up on the new {"in way of training"} be it water sprays, shaker bottles, whatever, but the problem for me is, all dogs are diff, they should be trained as such, the other problem for me, is,
these programs focus on problem dogs more than general training, so the GP are not being given good methods of training, but they think oh my dogs pulls im going to do what this trainer does, I often feel so sorry for dogs,

Here here shona some people really don't understand why there dog does XYZ and then try and train it out.

so true, sadly 9 out of 10 dogs do what they do because the owner has inadvertantly trained them to do it,

I agree, that's what I meant by one size fits all.

I liked the underdog show - I'd like to see a show come on just teaching people how to train general behaviours and bring a dog up to be an acceptable member of society - not problem dogs.

But then, that wouldn't be dramatic enough, would it

One thing I dislike about these programmes is there is no reference to going to puppy classes etc. They should keep mentioning that go to classes when the dog is young to try to prevent the problem behaviour in the first place.
Maybe there needs to be a programme about responsible dog training, more like Barbara Woodhouse used to be (not her methods obviously) as they were just general training classes rather than resolving problems already there.
Maybe doing one showing dogs going through the various KC Good Citizen Awards would encourage more people to go training?
Becky

I also feel many training clubs are regimental, which puts people off, some trainers should poss look at lightening up a tad and making it seem more fun, then people may enjoy it more, lets face it who wants to go out and pay money to be made feel a failure, x

My thoughts exactly. The more dramatic a programme is the more viewer the show will get, which is what counts in broadcasters eyes. But what the GP needs is a decent general training show on how to raise a level headed canine and goes into how the dog's mind works - something which alot of dog owners seem to know very little about.

Barbra Woodhouse did have that side of things correct; though obviously her methods were outdated long ago.

I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, they do get some of the basics across to people that seem completely ignorant of this type of thing (e.g. like dogs needed regular exercise and mental stimulation) and that IMO has to be a good thing.

on the other hand, I hate the way people blindly follow any of these training methods, particularly when they probably don't follow it exactly.

Hi there

I just posted a post on the CM thread that probably should have been posted here.

Personally, Im against these types of programmes. The number of times Ive heard a dog getting told to "leave it" harshly and then yanked away beggars belief - and the dog was only sniffing something which, lets face it, is what dogs do!!!!

I really get disappointed when I see these programmes still going on about pack leadership. When is somebody going to come along and actually tell the nation that the theory is based on flawed science. Why do we have to tell people again and again why its wrong. This is something that just wont go away and there are lots of dogs that are suffering because of it. It makes me sad.

You dont have to pamper your dog to treat him/her with respect. It seems that people think you either have to dominate it or your a wimp. Well, that's what came over on the last CM thread that I took all day to read yesterday.

Sad really!

Kind regards
Spettadog