Who is Most Like CM?

I haven't found anyone *exactly* like him - but I've read many that share certain areas of his theories. Jan Fennell is one of the few I've read that emphasized being calm as much as CM does. She also believes a "leadership" role needs to be taken by owners of assertive *and* fearful dogs.

Suzanne Clothier's article "Learning From the Masters" on flyingdogpress.com was a good example of how P+ can work when properly applied. CM could take a lesson from her on how to explain to people how important the proper timing is in his methods. I don't think he realizes that not all people have his natural ability to read a dog and react with the appropriate level of intesity and timing.

I know there are others that shared portions of his style, but I'm having a brain-fart right now and can't think of them!

ORIGINAL: jenhuedepohl
Suzanne Clothier's article "Learning From the Masters" on flyingdogpress.com was a good example of how P+ can work when properly applied. CM could take a lesson from her on how to explain to people how important the proper timing is in his methods. I don't think he realizes that not all people have his natural ability to read a dog and react with the appropriate level of intesity and timing.

True!

Proper timing is certainly very important in all methods, and is one key reason why some people fail at positive training, or at CM's methods.  If the dog doesn't realize what is being rewarded (or in some cases, corrected) he cannot figure out what the human wants.  If he can't figure out what is being rewarded, he may try another behavior until he gets it right.  If he can't figure out what's being corrected, he might stop all behavior.  Either way, the trainer has not made the progress they could have.  The positive trainer may eventually get the right behavior, and better timing so that it doesn't need to take so long in the future. Or, he might assume that reward doesn't work, and go to correction, which further inhibits the original desire the dog had to offer a new behavior.  The correction trainer might realize the dog is shut down and improve timing the next time or relax about correcting for a while, or might assume that the dog has learned, which is not correct.  Either way, you can see how timing makes a huge difference.  One reason CM is successful in a lot of cases is that he does have good timing.  One could argue the methods in their relative effects on the dogs and their future behaviors, but that particular aspect of his ability is pretty good.
I find that timing is the hardest thing for beginners to get. How many times have I seen the newbies get a "sit" from the dog, then mark and reward as the dog gets up? []
As a trainer, or behavior consultant, our question to them, and to ourselves, should always be "what have I been reinforcing?"  That tells us if the timing was there.