Chicago "dog whisperer" Ami Moore arrested on cruelty charges

i took my boxer to dog training my self and worked with her. only nylon colars were allowed. so your safe with me.. the animal lover

 

I wonder if they make a collar in her size. We use to breed Samoyed when I was a kid, these stories make me sick.

 

not all bad

Hi Gretchen,

You know me as a fellow dog lover!

I found that my Deutsche Kurzhaar, the lovely Greta was a very difficult assignment (training wise) when she was still a pup.

After having been lucky enough to live with and sucessfully train a very bright and exquisitly mannered Dalmatian, I thought that I could do no wrong in training my new dog Greta myself! Oh O!

I did what I thought was good research listened to the breader and to other enthusiasts until I found Greg Edgar and his school for dogs. Greg takes in the dogs for two weeks to three months at a time. After working with Greg and sending Greta in twice I finally got my standing back in our family as primo.

Greta was trained by Greg and Greg in turn spent the time to train me and let me know just what works effectively with Greta. Greta still has some moments where her maners are less than socially aceptable, but she is still learning and we are still working on it.

Greg may be the exception, but then there are some dogs that need more training than others. Regardless, training need not be violent in any way and in this regard I am totally with you. But some dogs need to be sent to boarding school, just be careful and do the research about your school.

Ciao

 

Hi Gretchen. I understand your comments about those dog handlers you deal with and how it takes years to fine tune dogs' behavior, but how do you explain the success Caesar Milan has achieved? While I've never seen his facility in person he seems to achieve success in relatively short periods. These problem dogs highlighted on his TV series usually seem to have annoying ticks and are simple pets, not obedience or show dogs. Admittedly some dogs take a while, as he occasionally keeps seriously affected dogs with his pack for relatively long periods. Nevertheless, unless he's running the perfect con his philosophy seems to be firm, but gentle treatment of dogs with behavior problems and he achieves correction in comaparatively short periods.

As for collars, we have owned two large male german shpherds and the slip chain, sometimes called "choker collars" by critics, is an absolute necessity for a dog pushing 100# to get their attention. Lots of people mistakenly leave the collars on all the time which defeats their purpose. As you know this type collar is meant to be snapped quickly and abruptly to gain the dog's attention and then released and hang loose. Walking with a dog who is constantly pulling the owner who is using this type collar shows that the owner is ignorant of the intended use of it. Clearly the owner doesn't have control of the dog in the first place and needs training him/herself.

Thanks, Rich

 

How people treat "lowly" animals shows their true character. Once they've knocked the soul out of an animal, it's body is just a shell for a large empty space... usually with a lot of hurt attached.

My second cat is a rescued cat. If I raise my hand, even in play, he cowers, so I've had to learn how to play with him. He's now settled, happy, very talkative and is a treasure. Even after five years, the damage is still there. They never forget bad treatment.

Don't worry... Karma works... eventually, she'll get hers.

 

I hope she doesnt have kids...IF she does I think an invetiagtion is in order...

 

Gretchen, thank you for bringing this story to everyone's attention and I could not have worded your advice any better. As a canine behavior counselor it just pains me when I read stories like these. I, for one, do not believe in using any kind of electronic devise. Yes, they do work if used correctly, but there are other, more humane methods of training one's dog. I also do not believe in these "training camps". Yes, some of them may be reputable but if only people would do their homework, get references etc, before sending thier beloved companions off to these places. We would not send our children off to a summer camp without first getting references would we?
Cesar Milan's success comes in the fact that he trains the human, rather than the dog. 90% of the time, a dog's behavior is caused because of something that is amiss in it's environment. The dog may be getting mixed signals from the owner, they are not consistent with their commands etc. It is very simple to rectify that. I am not however, saying that I agree with all his methods. I worked for a German Shepherd breeder and she imported Shutzhund trained dogs from Europe. One day I witnessed her doing a "helicopter" on a dog because he would not stop pulling on the leash (he was one of her puppies and was about a year old". That was the day I decided that I first of all, had to leave, and second of all, I had to make it a mission of mine to teach people how to humanely train and treat their dogs.
Unfortunately, anybody can call themselves a "dog trainer" and open a business. There is no board that governs how dogs should be trained and many people take advantage of this. I cannot stress enough, if you want to train your dog, be it at a a local pet store or a private trainer, GET REFERENCES FIRST. And, if at any time duriing the training you feel uncomfortable about what you are doing, leave. Trust your instincts.

Sorry I did not mean to give a speech but this is something I feel very strongly about. I can't believe that she is still allowed to continue training dogs. What is wrong with the justice system?

 

If the method employed by this trainer was applied to humans, there would be a national uproar. Cable news would milk this for weeks on end, especially in the slow season. Positive re-enforcement creates happy dogs, negative re-enforcement mostly creates neurotic beings. This trainer displays a serious lapse of judgment.This Ami Moore is truly a poor reflection of a human being and should not be allowed near animals.

When I think of "real" dog trainers, Barbara Woodhouse springs to mind. My labradors would perk up their ears when someone would say "Walkies".

 

That is horrible.

It isn't always sweet and gentle when it comes to dogs, but it sounds like that woman was using abuse as a training method. Incredible that she managed to convince people to pay her to abuse their animals.

My oldest borzoi was quite the character when he came home at 18 months. He attacked me on the first day. :biggrin: Him being 32" tall at the shoulders meant this was a serious problem.

I actually went to a protection dog trainer to get him sorted out, but it was both of us, not a situation where you hand over the animal.

I was skeptical at first, thinking this man that trained dogs to be controlled weapons had no idea how to teach a dog to calm down.

But he did it. And he did a great job. His rotts and shepards listened to him perfectly, and even my angry teenaged alpha male borzoi couldn't rattle their nerves. They just stood there.

So instead of condeming ute (the borzoi) to an early grave for attacking me, he ended up living to be 14, and quite the sweetie.

 

Made me want to live with a rottweiler too one of these days. Awesome dogs!

 

Gretchen, you are right on with your advise. I have a nice well behaved dog for the very reasons you cite. He sits when told to, does not bark without permission, comes when called and wouldn't think of running away. My wife on the other hand does not command the same respect because she is totally inconsistent. Same dog, different results.

By the way, I did not have to use the prong collar to train my current dog but do know of their value for more difficult dogs.

 

I try and steer away from reccomending prong collars because I have seen what it can do if used incorrectly. I don't think that they should be sold without some kind of training - same goes for electric collars. I have also seen people sharpen the prongs thinking that it will make the dog learn quicker - NOT!. My 130lb Bullmastiff pulled me for years and I was at the point of giving up on taking him for walks. I tried every kind of collar on him (except electric). I finally found the Easy Walk harness and have never looked back. It is different from the old harness's that attach at the back because it attaches at the front of the chest instead. A very good device.

Gretchen, you are giving some great advice here. Thanks.

 

I am soooooo jealous. You must have learned a ton from her. I have only ever touched on clicker training. I really need to practice more.

 

Great thread folks! I have a question for any dog trainers here....

I have a 7 year old dog that is half Border Collie and half Austrailian Shepherd. It's actually a very pretty mix but needless to say she is smart as a whip and quite a bundle of energy. She is pretty well trained and quite obedient in every respect other than when we walk her she pulls, and she pulls.....

My wife is pretty petite and it's quite a handful when you have 45+ lbs of dog tugging on your arm. We tried everything we could think of to get her to heel but it's beyond my training capabilities apparently. We've even tried the choke collar on a temporary basis and she pulls so hard that she just practically strangles herself and seems almost oblivious to that fact so we had to nix that as well. Even her regular collar chokes her when walking so we have settled on a web harness type of rig that goes around around her shoulders and across her chest that allows for a little better control without her strangling herself.

Anyone have any ideas or links I could have a look at that might give some alternate training ideas to get her to heel? Thanks a bunch!