Dog Whisperer Yorkie Episode 7/31

[baileysmom31]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

I was excited all day. Well 8:45 came and I deceided to find the channel.
Guess what? I "DID NOT GET IT"! Every darn channel but that one. I was
so mad. What did I miss? Did you learn from it?
Please inform me.

I used the link to the site. There is a season one DVD on sale. I checked other places and Amazon also sells it. Was able to pick up the whole season 1and one of his books for just over $50.00.

[yorkieskater]

I find that positive training works best on Sparks. He is VERY stubborn and responds better to positive. The "shhhh" doesnt' work with him. He just looks at me like "are you nuts?". If I say "leave it", he leaves it but that is because I taught him by giving him a treat for listening. If I say "out" when he gets in somewhere he shoudln't be, again he responded better when I trained him with treats. He also responds well to "time out".
Every dog is different and different things work with them. I think finding what works for your dog and being committed to pracitcing it is how to get them trained. Sparks would never respond well to Cesars methods. Actually, I have tried some of cesears methods and I can see how they would work with some dogs but not Sparks.
suzie

[rosesmom]

I missed this and would love to see it. Ill watch for the reruns. Thank you for the information.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by yorkieskater

I find that positive training works best on Sparks. He is VERY stubborn and responds better to positive. The "shhhh" doesnt' work with him. He just looks at me like "are you nuts?". If I say "leave it", he leaves it but that is because I taught him by giving him a treat for listening. If I say "out" when he gets in somewhere he shoudln't be, again he responded better when I trained him with treats. He also responds well to "time out".
Every dog is different and different things work with them. I think finding what works for your dog and being committed to pracitcing it is how to get them trained. Sparks would never respond well to Cesars methods. Actually, I have tried some of cesears methods and I can see how they would work with some dogs but not Sparks.
suzie

Cesar's method is to get the dog in the right state of mind. If a dog only behaves for treats then who is in charge, you or the dog? I'd have to say the dog. He has trained you well. When I do this behavior, you give me a treat. Good girl. LOL

[JeanieK]

Using Cesars method is not hard at all. I have mine sitting at the door waiting for me to tell them it is OK to go through it. I can walk through the house with them at my heels and they move when I move and stop when I stop. They sit and wait when I feed for me to tell them it's OK to eat. And now we are working on them going to the Kennel on their own when I tell them it's bed time.

[Gayle_T]

Originally Posted by doortego

I am curious as to how many of you have more than one Yorkie & why?
Its just my husband, Little Bit & I and I am wondering if I am being unfair keeping her by herself. I am home most of the time so she is not alone much but I'm quite sure I'm not as playful as another puppy would be. LOL Does their having to share your attention make up for the advantages of having another dog to play with. If you do have another dog, how do Yorkies & Maltese get along? Thanks for your input.

I know a lot of you who have multiple baby's will have other feelings about this. You said that you are home a lot...sometimes adding another can make her/him feel less important. We have had many dogs over the years....and our Schnauzer and our Silky Terrier were very close....BUT.... if you watched the show last night you would notice that in the beginning she stated how perfect her first one was until they added the other. This can breed problems either with bad habits...like barking, potty problems or just not focusing on you as their pack leader. Now... I don't want to upset many of you that have many in one household but if your baby is doing great...and receives lots of love from you... I think that sometimes unless YOU just feel the NEED.... your baby is just fine and you might be better off just being her special Mommy. (PLEASE REMIND ME OF THIS IF I MENTION GETTING A FRIEND FOR TAYLOR) I love him so much.... but the way we travel with him and a small parrot..... we probably won't add another. This is just my humble opinion.... Go with your heart.

[judyeve]

I really have been enjoying watching the dog whisperer-I taped 4 shows. I think he's on all week. (He's kind of sexy in an alpha male way and I love the way he understands and loves animals). At any rate, I tried to get Max in a "calm submissive" state of mind. Yeah, right!!!! He just kept trying to nip my fingers, which is what we're working on right now. Let me correct that - I'm working on it. Max thinks nipping me is a wonderful way to pass time.

Judy

[yorkieskater]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

Cesar's method is to get the dog in the right state of mind. If a dog only behaves for treats then who is in charge, you or the dog? I'd have to say the dog. He has trained you well. When I do this behavior, you give me a treat. Good girl. LOL

As I said, different training methods work for different people. So what if he gets a treat?? If it gets him to do what I want. Thre are many things he does now (like waiting at the door) that he does without treats now. The trainer I work with has 11 dogs and has trained MANY with positive training. She personally doesn't like Cesear's methods and has had to help people re-train their dogs because of it...however...don't attack me because I am NOT saying I am against Cesar. I am saying that different things work for different people. NONE of her dogs HAVE to have treats and they are in agility, heel excellant, and more etc. Most of them are strays from shelters so it cannot be because she got them from one breeder.
My dog knows I am the leader of this house. I sometimes find that compromise is good when you have a stubborn breed. I've tried some of cesars methods, didn't work for me but maybe it will for other people. Good.
I have people who compliment my puppy all the time for how well behaved he is: sits when bikes go by, heels, etc. ALL the time I get compliments and I still dont' think he is as well behaved as I could get him. I need to be more consistant on some things.
People can "rip" any training method: Postive means the dog has you trained and you rely on treats. Cesars means you have to have your dog "fear" you. Whatever, anyone can say anything. I think we should all respect our choices for training and be open minded when someone tells us that something is working for them.
Cesar's has worked for people here...good...I applaud them! I do watch the show occasionally to see if there is anything I would want to use. I am open to learning new things.
Positive works best for me and we are doing very well here. My dog does NOT rely on treats but does realize this...everything GOOD happens with my master/owner. If I pay attention and do the things she wants, good things will happen.
suzie

[Tykerman]

Definitely positive reinforcement works best for our yorkie, Tyke. Although, he has never had those problems that were on the show, luckily. He loves people, loves other dogs....but he is somewhat scared of bugs and rodents. I think sometimes you get lucky.

[bonovox011]

I would have to say that Baxter so far has been a great puppy... I use mostly positive reinforcement and it is working for him. I agree with yorkieskater that different dogs will react differently to different training methods.

Although Baxter does receive treats for many of the things he does well he definitely knows he is further down the chain of command. For nipping at my hands or chewing on things he shouldn't grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and pinning him for 3 seconds quickly lets him know that the behaviour is undesired. Every time I do correct that behaviour I use a stern "No" and now he resonds to just that voice command and stops anything he is doing when I say it.

With any training method though I think persistence, consistancy and patience are necessary components... All I know is for all the work that we go through is totally worth it to have a companion as great as a Yorkie!

Walter

[QuickSilver]

I'm going to come out and say that I don't like "The Dog Whisperer" very much. My impression is that Cesar IS in fact a dog whisperer - he is very intuitive and I think he connects with dogs on a deep level. While this is fantastic for him, I don't think he is a very good teacher, because I think a lot of the time he himself doesn't know exactly what's he's doing.

I feel like "The Dog Whisperer" is more about the legend of Cesar than it is about actually training dogs. He throws around words like "energy" and it seems to mean about twenty different things. Often he'll attribute his methods to some type of "energy" when it's a basic, established training method - desensitization, for instance.

I think Cesar has done a lot of great work for dogs, so I admire the man himself quite a bit. It just boils down to this: I think everyone should watch "It's Me or the Dog"!

I read a very interesting book recently that said that dogs are basically baby wolves, so they don't need a "pack leader" so much as a momma and poppa wolf. Which boils down to something pretty similar, since you need to teach your children that you are in charge and show them how to behave.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

I'm going to come out and say that I don't like "The Dog Whisperer" very much. My impression is that Cesar IS in fact a dog whisperer - he is very intuitive and I think he connects with dogs on a deep level. While this is fantastic for him, I don't think he is a very good teacher, because I think a lot of the time he himself doesn't know exactly what's he's doing.

I feel like "The Dog Whisperer" is more about the legend of Cesar than it is about actually training dogs. He throws around words like "energy" and it seems to mean about twenty different things. Often he'll attribute his methods to some type of "energy" when it's a basic, established training method - desensitization, for instance.

I think Cesar has done a lot of great work for dogs, so I admire the man himself quite a bit. It just boils down to this: I think everyone should watch "It's Me or the Dog"!

I read a very interesting book recently that said that dogs are basically baby wolves, so they don't need a "pack leader" so much as a momma and poppa wolf. Which boils down to something pretty similar, since you need to teach your children that you are in charge and show them how to behave.

I totally see what you're saying. But I have to sort of disagree. I've been watching that show and doing some of the things he does, and has been working like a charm on Jackson! I love his techniques.

And as he states, he is training PEOPLE, not the dogs.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

I'm going to come out and say that I don't like "The Dog Whisperer" very much. My impression is that Cesar IS in fact a dog whisperer - he is very intuitive and I think he connects with dogs on a deep level. While this is fantastic for him, I don't think he is a very good teacher, because I think a lot of the time he himself doesn't know exactly what's he's doing.

I feel like "The Dog Whisperer" is more about the legend of Cesar than it is about actually training dogs. He throws around words like "energy" and it seems to mean about twenty different things. Often he'll attribute his methods to some type of "energy" when it's a basic, established training method - desensitization, for instance.

I think Cesar has done a lot of great work for dogs, so I admire the man himself quite a bit. It just boils down to this: I think everyone should watch "It's Me or the Dog"!

I read a very interesting book recently that said that dogs are basically baby wolves, so they don't need a "pack leader" so much as a momma and poppa wolf. Which boils down to something pretty similar, since you need to teach your children that you are in charge and show them how to behave.

You're right, and I doubt if Cesar has had any professional training, but he "gets it" and he helps others get it. I watch his show, and I understand exactly what he's using when it comes to behavior theory, but while using the correct terminology makes it easier to understand the concepts behind everything, you would need a whole class on terminology. Most people don't understand what desensitization is, but when he shows you how to do it, and then you can use those principles with your dog, who cares about the word? Same with pack lead/or mama and poppa, same idea, different words. I think what he's contributed the most to the field is his explanations on the way we behave around the animals. I think as you watch the program more, you begin to understand what he means by the energy you give off, but you're right, there are probably twenty different meanings behind it. So many behaviorists, seem to want their share of the pie, and seem to want to set themselves apart from him by bringing up the differences. Find what works with you, and what you are confortable doing. There is more than one way to train a dog!

[QuickSilver]

Just to be clear, I've watched two (three?) full seasons of "The Dog Whisperer", and I still don't buy the energy thing. It might be because I tend to be more logic-oriented, so telling me to change my energy means a lot less than "speak more slowly to your dog."

I have to say it really annoys me that so many episodes of TGW show Cesar doing something "magical" - he makes a hand gesture and suddenly the insane, dangerous dog is totally submissive. That doesn't seem like helpful dog training for normal people. That just seems like "Look at how great Cesar is!"

I do also worry because his training is SO dominant, and I really think it's bad for dogs, ESPECIALLY in the hands of someone inexperienced. If your dog is afraid of the clippers, yes, you can hold him down and run the clippers near him until he exhausts himself in a frenzy of terror and "breaks". Or you can just give him a treat every time you use the clippers. I did this with Thor recently. He freaked out when I kissed him, so I started kissing him with a treat in my hand. After maybe two hours total training, he doesn't mind when I kiss him.

The important thing here is that I am not an expert dog trainer, so if my training doesn't work, maybe Thor is a little fatter and doesn't like to be kissed. If I try to "break" him and then kiss him, maybe it works, and maybe I traumatize him.

I think the clippers is a good comparison, because both Cesar and Victoria have had episodes with dogs who hate grooming, and the differences in approach is quite striking.

Anyway, after all that hate, I DO agree with Cesars message that dogs need boundries, exercise, discipline and affection. Dogs are much, much easier to train if they are not hyper, and I think there are a lot of under-exercised dogs out there.

Just my opinion, of course. Just please don't alpha roll your dog unless you really know what you are doing.

[MollysMum54]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

I'm going to come out and say that I don't like "The Dog Whisperer" very much. My impression is that Cesar IS in fact a dog whisperer - he is very intuitive and I think he connects with dogs on a deep level. While this is fantastic for him, I don't think he is a very good teacher, because I think a lot of the time he himself doesn't know exactly what's he's doing.

I have to agree. Some of his methods worry me, but some of the things he teaches us humans make sense. I think maybe its better to read a few different books and pick out what works best for you and your dog.
I still believe that The Dog listener by Jan Fennel is a better training book than Cesars book.Theres no forcing a dog to roll over etc, but she appears to get amazing results. I feel a bit silly pretending to eat mollys food before she has it, but that is something that definitely helps establish me as pack leader!!