DOG WHISPERER; My new addiction

[Yorkie Mum]

When watching TV is the only form of education you have in the training feild the only refrence one was to if it good or not. It easy to get pulled into the dance.

When one has spend the time, the amount of effort on figuruing out the right way to train it frustrating to watch this stuff be seen as crediable, let alone acceptable.

The time and money I have spent on actual seminars, books, trainers and this thing I call rehab would blow your mind.

You have within the group some amazing trainers.
Willing and able to share.
I have had the privlage to chat with them.
I do not include my self in the above about amazing trainers.
Use them, listen to them, see what they do, ask for titles and get reading.
Educate yourself.
This guy will have less of a pull if you read even one of the books I have posted over the last few months.

Best of Luck training.

Joy

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

I am sure that the majority of the members here also have lots of training experience with their current dogs and previous dogs just as you do and "watching TV" is NOT the only form of trainng we have had.

If the TV show motivates even one person who had not before considered training their dog then it is a success for thqt reason alone.

Take myself for example, I have trained dogs all of my life. I started as a child with german shepherds and poodles and showed in obedience trials. I have used many different trainers throughout the years and have read many many books on the subject. I have seen the progression from negative and borderline absuive techniques of the 60s and 70s to the more positive, reward based training of today. I now clicker train my dogs and started that when I got a westie 6 years ago.

All five of my current dogs are service dogs and in continual training to learn new behaviors and improve on those they have learned.

I enjoy the show and feel that Caesar Millan is a good behaviorist and has saved the lives of many dogs. He is not perfect but no one is.

[yorkitails]

Who is recording it besides me?

[bugaboosmom]

Originally Posted by yorkitails

Who is recording it besides me?

I watch it but no need to record because there are always re-runs. Enjoy!

[3CrazyYorkies]

So how come WE'RE not on Oprah?
We're always shocked when some big TV program or series like National Geographic, or, recently, Oprah, gives air time to some Hollywood-ish dog trainer whose harsh methods and dominance-based verbiage make clicker trainers cringe.

We had a big discussion about this on the ClickerExpo e-list recently (open only to past attendees of ClickerExpo). But how do you get a story about clicker training on these shows, or indeed any TV shows? People with strong backgrounds in public relations pitched in. One excellent piece of advice came from Mikki Capparelli-Lally:

“The best way to get results is to get the producer of the show who might like the idea, to think it good enough to put on the air and fight for it during meetings on what the content of future shows should be. Check out the credits at the end of the show. Send a letter to the person named the executive producer or creative producer (not the supervising producer or associate producer, as the latter two usually are in charge of handling costs of the various shows rather than selecting content).”

And where do these shows get their ideas, anyway? Sometimes from PR firms. Sometimes from the public. But mostly, I think, from other media. If it's already been in the newspapers, or magazines, or on the radio, it's likely to show up on TV, and vice versa.

So, I think the place to begin is right in your own backyard. Want to see GOOD training get the media attention? Start with your local TV station, your local newspaper, your own city magazine.

In every city in your state there are always local news broadcasters looking for local color stories. Offer them a LITTLE story, something that can be aired in five minutes or less, something self-explanatory, a “Wow, look what they did! I'd like to try that,” kind of story. Here are a few ideas:

Clicker train a whole litter of puppies to high-five, sit in a row (to be picked up), come when called, and maybe target to the station's call letters. This is like a no-brainer, training-wise, and, especially if the puppies are very young, six weeks or so, it's unbelievably cute.
Show how clicker training saved some shelter dog's life by making it adoptable; video the dog before (shy, over-the-top pushy, whatever) and after. Or several dogs.
Clicker train a cat or two to ride in a bicycle basket, to do tricks at the vet's office, to walk on a leash, to play the piano; whatever will surprise the newscasters. Or offer to teach their cats to give a high five.
Clicker train a group of dogs to retrieve a hotdog, then have a contest on camera.
Show some very elderly people clicker training little household behaviors and cute tricks that make their dogs better companions.
What's your zoo doing? Maybe they'll want TV exposure, too, for their benign husbandry training systems. How DO you take a blood sample from a rhinoceros? With a clicker, of course!
When you get on the air, you have a chance to promote your training classes, your local shelter, and of course clicker training in general. And if you don't want people calling you to find out more, the station can refer them to www.clickertraining.com for basic info.

Good pieces get picked up by other network stations, and sometimes get syndicated and shown over and over. Papers get ideas from TV and TV from the newspapers. When the media start talking to each other about clicker training stories, that's when the big guys start coming around. We can do it, I think. And at home is the place to begin.

[3CrazyYorkies]

forgot to add the above is a quote from Karen Pyor's site