Comment

Comment by Alice on March 17, 2010 at 12:55pm

I agree mostly with Kerry. Many of her methods are unrealistic for everyday training with your average house pet and she does hand out the treats like there's no tomorrow. I think she has a relatively good understanding of canine behavior and she is able to pinpoint the problem and its cause but she uses a very roundabout way of training. Granted, she has some good tools and as with Cesar, I pick and choose which tools I will use with my own dog. I think there are more effective, to the point methods but Victoria's way is to sugar coat it and draw it out. I hate the whole putting magnets on the fridge thing she does to show who's the boss in the house and I recall and episode with a fearful dog where she made the owner lay on the sidewalk in town to show her how scary things look from down there. Totally unnecessary.

I wish the Monks of New Skete show Divine Canine was still on but I think it was canceled. That was another show where you just had to pick and choose. There's another one I saw a couple times in the past few months but I can't remember what it's call. The trainer is a man and from what I saw he had some good techniques.

Comment by Nichole and Shelly! on March 16, 2010 at 7:56pm

I used to not like the idea of leaving a dog in a crate all day..... then we got shelly..... when we first got her we left her with run of the house, once she became comfortable she got bored and chewed on anything and everything she could reach, including our couch some shoes and head phones. Having just lost a 16 week old puppy to choking, Shelly chewing on random things during the day while I was not there left me with the worst anxiety.

We got her a large wire crate and she is just as happy to be in her crate during the day, and at night, she even goes in there in the evening when she is ready for bed.

When it comes to Shelly it isnt mean or cruel because its for her safety, its triple the size it should be and she enjoys her crate, it would be a totally different story if the crate were small and she didnt like it .

Comment by Stephanie on March 16, 2010 at 7:35pm

I agree, the few times I have "tested" Bear and left him out while I ran a quick errand, he has been in his crate with the door open when I got home.

Comment by Parker on March 16, 2010 at 7:23pm

I crate Grover during the day, but I'm starting to think I might not have to. But when I come home he's usually, like your dogs, just waking up, not barking or making a fuss. I think he worries when we leave him out. He runs into his crate when he hears me grab the car keys to go to work. Of course, he also knows he gets a treat when he goes in the crate for the day, so that might also have an effect.

Comment by Beth on March 16, 2010 at 6:20pm

Well, I think it depends on the circumstance and it's all subjective. I read somewhere that no more than 8 hours total in a crate, combined between daytime and nighttime. If the dog is alone and asleep, I don't think 8 hours is excessive. If you are there and there is activity in the home, I think even three hours can be too long.... We crated at night and penned in the daytime, both when Jack was a pup and when Maddie was new to the house and had not yet earned house privileges.

I like watching her show because she too points out how people create their own problems with the dog. But like all trainers, I don't always agree with everything she says. I tend to take what I like from trainers and leave the rest. When we did CGC, our real-life trainer told me I needed to give a "Stay" command like I really meant it. :-} I give commands in a normal voice and my dogs respond accordingly; I used my "like I really mean it" voice half-heartedly in class to keep the peace, but my dogs know I really mean it when I use my regular voice, and that I'm none too happy when my voice gets lower. If they are not paying attention I snap my fingers.

Horses for courses.