Victoria Stilwell's training methods - your opinions please

Don't know if anyone has seen "It's me or the dog" on Channel 4, im pretty sure you've seen at least 1 episode from either series and was wondering what people's thoughts about her training methods.

They seem to be effective (dog's could be playing up for the tv probably being paid alot in doggy treats ), has anyone had ago at trying any of her methods from the TV?

Just curious

I think shes very good, obviously the shows been edited though to look like the results are rapid!!!!the ah ah ah thing works on all mine except candy who barks back at me when i do it!!lol

Most good dog trainers don't need air horns & pan lids to train dogs

They are not "her methods"she uses they are from what I have been told merhods out of the ark

She needs to train the owners not the dogs

She has no qualifications & has never owned a dog-one of the pre requisites for a good dog trainer

She is a sometime actress/dog walker self appointed "dog behaviour guru"

I find her good but that's only on TV but im sure it would be different in person, they probably edited some parts out too fit the programme into the 30 minutes slot.

Other than than dog behaviour courses now available and short course by APDT there arent any real qualifications for dog training, most of it is done by knowledge gained through experience and applying and changing methods used by other trainers.

I think she is ok agreed her methods are not new but then few methods are, we older ones have seen most things tried before and I don't think it matters as long as it works and the dog is not harmed in any way.

The only major concern I have had so far was in one instance a dog had restricted access to water , this should never happen unless done for medical reasons.

I don't mind if VS has qualifications or not, I have seen what some 'qualified' people can do and I value experience and common sense more than qualifications.

VS and her programme have raised public awareness with regard to training dogs and that is no bad thing.

I agree, it's nice too see newer methods and even improved ones and how they work on dogs today. The important thing as you said Minihaha that it's great that the programme has raised public awareness, well hopefully it is because im sure it has made quite a few people think of how their dogs behave and what their doing wrong etc.

Im quite supprised and shocked at some of the people that are shown on the programme and how their dogs behave and most of the time it's all down to incompitence and not playing the proper role in regadrds to ownership of a dog.

I really wasn't happy when i first saw the programme (first series) because the training problems do tend to cross over to behaviour, and I didn't feel she had the knowledge, or at least it didn't come across as if she did

I am enjoying this series much more - she is not honking horns but is getting to solve the problems in a more in depth way. Problem with honking horns etc is that people will copy.

Now, the bulldog (think it was a bulldog? can't remember now) was not at all phased by the saucepan lids, it went to see what was going on - a good reaction from a normal healthy dog that is not sound sensitive

However, you get someone trying that on their sound sensitive dog and it could literally cause problems for life - but this wasn't explainedon the programme!

Another time i was concerned because (in the first series) she appeared to slightly put some children in "danger" of one dog, which I think was not a good idea, thank goodness nothing happened.

I think a lot of editing goes on, to be fair to her - although I do worry that owners will "try it at home" when the one size fits all approach may well not help their particular dog and may make the problem worse.

But generally speaking I've enjoyed this series and really enjoyed last week's

I also like that she shoots from the hip, makes it clear what the owners have tgo do, and is pushing the cause for dog training and also rescue dogs

We just watched the episode with the 2 big black labs - beatiful dogs (other 1/2 taped it coz I was working a long shift)... we were wondering about her methods, well really if it took her that short amount of time, or whether it took weeks, but I am sure that when the first series was shot (I think it was with a malamute or husky type dog?) and the actual owners came on DW and talked about the filming of it? can anyone remeber that?

Errr have you ever watched the beginning of any of these programmes Jodee? I think you'll find she is very qualified, unless they are lying when they say so at the start?

I think she's very good and her methods are very effective. Last week's programme was absolutely outrageous the way they cooked for those dogs, I thought it must have been a wind up!

Yes Cooper, I remember her coming on here, the woman with the malumite wasn't it? I read the thread anyway.

I think she is really good. Wouldn't mind her job......have you saw her car? LOL