How would a....

I am a follower of neither, but wouldn't a CM enthusiast say that CM isn't a dog trainer and wouldn't do that sort of thing?

ORIGINAL: Vinia

I am a follower of neither, but wouldn't a CM enthusiast say that CM isn't a dog trainer and wouldn't do that sort of thing?

I'm not asking about CM, I'm asking about his followers that are "professional dog trainers." []

Ahhhh... gotcha []
 
Good question!  I will be interested in seeing the replies...
 
 
 
 

I think on a recent episode of The Dog Whisperer, once the dog's bratty behavior was solved, Cesar brought in a clicker trainer to teach the dog some tricks.
 
Leerburg, I don't know. I'm going to go with a lot of physical manipulation. Not corrections so much as just positioning. That's how I taught most "trick" typed things before I began clicker training. I taught "shake" by picking Conrad's paw up a million times myself and then rewarding as he began to anticipate me picking his paw up by doing it himself. I taught "down" by pulling his front legs forward and physically putting him in a down position then rewarding for that.

Hmm....let's see, first, they would tape the dog's front feet to the floor, and then put the shock collar on, paired with a choke chain tied to the floor so the dog can't get up, and then.......

Just kidding. []

Really it would likely fall into the realm of molding - physically putting the dog in the position that you want.

Kim MacMillan

First off, I think it's kind of an weird question. It's like asking how a herding trainer would do bite work or how a retreiver trainer would train agility. Lots of trainers have a specialty.

My guess would be molding or baiting and a reward. I've never seen CM persoanlly teach "tricks" or obedience commands on his show. He mainly deals just teaching owners how to set boundaries and enforce limits so the dogs aren't out-of-control lunatics.

For exercise and mental stimulation he has had the owners take the dog to trainers who specialize in different things. He's had a herding dog go to a herding trainer. There was a dalmation who worked with a movie animal trainer who used clicker training to teach the dog "stop, drop & roll" for school fire safety presentations. He had a retriever trainer work with Gracie from the Marley & Me family to give her something to do besides harass chickens. He always seems to be really excited to see these trainers work and very interested in how they train the dogs.

I loved a part in the episode with Gracie when they were playing the recall game and hiding from her. He said something about how every dog in America would be happier if all owners played that game!

Oh - I just reread the question. As a fan or CM, I use his techniques for managing general behavior around the house. Like Squirrel Alerts and Doorbell Crazies.

For a bow I would use the clicker. The bow is on the list of tricks I want to teach that I use as a bookmark in my "Clicking With Your Dog" book.

on Leerburg's website he explains how he teaches the Drop: he slams the dog into the ground by hitting the dog really hard between the shoulder blades, and repeats until I guess the dog, out of self-preservation, drops on command to avoid being slammed into the ground. So I guess he'd grab the dog's front feet and yank him into the bow position.

wow!  That is horrible. Ack!  Makes me want to throw up.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

on Leerburg's website he explains how he teaches the Drop: he slams the dog into the ground by hitting the dog really hard between the shoulder blades, and repeats until I guess the dog, out of self-preservation, drops on command to avoid being slammed into the ground. So I guess he'd grab the dog's front feet and yank him into the bow position.

Wow, that's even worse than the way I used to teach it (positioning and molding, but gentle).