Victoria Stilwell "It's Me or the Dog" - Review

I had the opportunity last evening to watch 2 episodes of Victoria Stilwell's "It's Me or the Dog" on The Animal Planet Channel. Both episodes involved her working with families that had adopted terrier mixes. Both dogs were very poorly behaved in the home, on leash, and off leash.

If nothing else, I will say that Ms. Stilwell's show gives a great glimpse of PR (Positive Reinforcement) training. As those who read this blog regularly know, I'm not a big fan of that approach when working with dogs. In the past I've discussed programs featuring BT (Balanced Training, for example, Cesar Millan "The Dog Whisperer") methods, so I thought this would provide a good opportunity to discuss a television program featuring PR training.

As I watched the show I realized that I was actually growing very uncomfortable . The biggest reason was that Ms. Stilwell uses some of the same terminology and explanations I would use with clients, but her meanings were obviously far different from mine. For example, she discusses the need for leadership and structure in the home and the need to correct the dog for some bad behaviors. These are all things with which I would normally agree. Unfortunately, I saw nothing during the program to indicate to me these things were occurring.

As an example, for one dog that was routinely jumping on the owners, her "correction" was nothing more than turning away from the dog and ignoring it - this is NOT a correction. After she or the owners would turn to ignore the dog several times, the dog would stop jumping up momentarily out of confusion. At that point she would give the dog some very uninspired praise and give the impression the problem was fixed. I'd had been more impressed if the dog had been "proofed" - trying a set-up that would previously illicit the bad behavior to see whether the dog intentionally chooses the correct behavior instead.

Otherwise, most of her methods involved addressing problem behaviors by getting the dog more interested in something else - lures, treats or redirection. The show implies that the bad behaviors are fixed or improved each time, but again, these changes are never really proofed during the show. Such methods may be good ways to initiate some training, but they don't offer substantial long-term solutions. Some examples....

One dog had a problem running off while off leash. Ms Stilwell's solution was to put the dog on a long line while waving rubber toys, then blowing a whistle when the dog turned toward her. On a re-visit to the homes a few weeks later, the dogs were still on long lines and the owners were still needing to "lure" the dog to them on recalls. Not a good sign that the dog is really learning "come means come". In fact, even when SHE was working the dog, the dog was more interested in running circles around her (playing) than actually coming (obedience).

Another dog was charging other dogs while on leash walks. Her diagnosis was that the dog was fearful due to it's excited whimpering. Hard to say in a few seconds of video, but the dog didn't impress me as having any fear issues, rather just poor manners and an unwillingness to listen to the owner. Her solution involved re-directing (luring) the dog with a tug toy when other dogs were in the area. Again, maybe a short term method to gain initial attention, but the owners were still needing to carry a toy on walks weeks later. Playing with the dog when it wants to charge other dogs is not leadership. Toys or treats shouldn't be required crutches for more than a short time.

An effective training approach establishes communication, leadership, and structure. Long term use of treats or lures to keep a dog's attention actually demonstrates a lack of these things. In such cases the dog typically sees the owner as servant and subordinate. That's not a healthy human/dog relationship. I hope owners can appreciate the difference, and realize they can expect more from their dogs than this show offers.

As I've mentioned in the past, owners need to decide how they want to work with their own dogs. I respect any owner's decision, but I do feel owners should be able to make informed decisions. I felt "It's Me or the Dog", while giving a good glimpse of PR training, was more telling in what it didn't show.