Posts tagged "Victoria Stilwell"

It's back! If you're a fan of Animal Planet's reality show "It's Me or the Dog," you won't be disappointed with the third season, which begins Sat., Jan. 8, at 8 p.m. EST. If you haven't already checked out the show, tune in to see renowned dog expert and trainer Victoria Stilwell "restore harmony in homes where pets are running riot and the family is in the doghouse."

Stilwell tells Paw Nation that the new season is not just entertaining and educational -- it's intense and full of characters. "It's more than just dog training. There are a lot of challenges in this series," Stilwell says. "There are different behaviors that you haven't seen before and some really great people."

Real Housewives, Pampered Poodles, Angry Pit Bulls and More
One such person is Jill Zarin of the reality television show "Real Housewives of New York." Stilwell comes in to help Zarin with the family's cantankerous Chihuahua, Ginger. (Check out scenes from the segment in the video below.) Then there's the bunch of pampered poodles that live in a Long Island castle and a micro pig that is in dire need of training.

Stilwell's most memorable case though? A family in Staten Island, all living in the same house with a pit bull that started displaying worrying and aggressive behavior toward people. Like most dog training she does, fixing the issues wasn't just about working with the dog but also its owners.

"Some of the people on the show are really honest, and they understand they've just gone down the wrong path, so then it's about retraining the dog," she says. "Other times it is their behavior affecting their dogs in a negative way."

Whether you're ringing in the New Year with a new puppy or starting 2011 with an older pooch, we know you want to make this year the best ever. And to help you out, Victoria Stilwell, host of the Animal Planet show "It's Me or the Dog," has provided 10 terrific tips to ensure a truly happy 2011.

1. Keep training your dog. People think that once their dog is trained, there is no need to carry on. But your dog never stops learning, and training should be reinforced throughout your dog's life.

2. Think dog. Take time to think how your dog perceives the world and use this knowledge to make training easier. For example, a human's dominant sense is vision, whereas your dog's dominant sense is smell, making his experience of the world very different from yours. When you take him for a walk, allow him to smell things as much as possible, as this stimulates your dog mentally and helps to tire him out.

3. Exercise your dog. A tired dog is a happy dog, but make sure that the exercise is appropriate for the breed and age of dog that you have. Exercise releases pleasurable endorphins and is a great stress reliever for both of you.

It seems "The Hoff" isn't the only member of the Hasselhoff household battling a hard-core addiction. While David has been knocking back his liquor for all the world to view, the family's Yorkshire terrier, Coco, has been obsessively knocking around tennis balls -- 15 at once.

Fixated on Too Many Toys
The OCD doggie behavior was on full display during the premiere episode of A&E's new reality train wreck, "The Hasselhoffs," starring David and his two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley. "My dog has a severe addiction to tennis balls, and it's got to the point that I don't know what to do anymore," said Taylor-Ann. "He wakes me up with tennis balls in my bed. I don't want to have a dog who is an addict."

So like any self-respecting reality TV clan who see that one of their own is in dire need of intervention, the Hasselhoffs bring in a pet psychic to sit Coco down for a serious telepathic talk. Enter Patrice, who channels Coco's innermost thoughts and informs the family that the pup is feeling neglected and would like an old-fashioned meal from time to time. (You can watch the video clip of the session at A&E.)

Impressed with this silent tête-à-tête, we asked another pro pet whisperer what she thinks of the unconventional form of canine therapy.

Victoria Stilwell Weighs In
"I know a few pet psychics, and all of them are great observers of body language, both in humans and animals, but I personally don't believe in this kind of thing," says Victoria Stilwell, the sassy British trainer and star of "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet. "People have to be wary of the kind of therapists they use for their pets, including trainers and psychics. My job as a trainer is to make the dog and the person feel better. If a psychic can do that, then all the power to them, as long as they give the right advice and don't complicate the situation more."

You have a dog you just can't get to behave. Who would you turn to? That seems to be one of the questions raised in a recent Time Magazine article called, "Dog Training and the Myth of Alpha-Male Dominance."

The article stirs up a long-running debate among experts in the dog training and behavior world about what is the best way to work with dogs. Many experts have gone on record against Millan's use of dominance techniques -- finger jabs, quick flicks to a dog's flank and forcing a dog onto its back -- to assert control over an aggressive or misbehaving canine. "He's a charming, one-man wrecking ball directed at 40 years of progress in understanding and shaping dog behavior and in developing non-punitive, reward-based training programs." one expert wrote in a 2006 New York Times op-ed piece about Millan. (Millan will be the first person to tell you that he is not a dog trainer, but akin to a "dog psychologist.")

Victoria Stilwell, the British dog trainer and star of Animal Planet's,"It's Me or the Dog," espouses the positive-reinforcement method of dog training, and the liberal use of treats to coach an ill-mannered dog into displaying better behavior. "She uses positivity as a counterpoint to dominance theory and reserves her aggression for the poorly behaving humans," says the article's author, Jeninne Lee-St. John.

Viewers of his popular show, "The Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel know that Millan is not averse to using a bag of treats to lure a shy dog out of a kennel, for example. But the main thrust of Millan's techniques is based on dominance theory, in which the dog submits to the human.

Experts quoted in the Time article say that this dominance style is based on an outdated study of wolves. That study suggested that the alpha-male wolf emerged by displaying aggression over other wolves and the idea is that because dogs are descended from wolves, humans need to display alpha behavior (or be the "pack leader," as Millan would say), dominating their pet dogs to get them to behave.

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Victoria Stilwell
Age: 40
Job: Dog Trainer and Host of Animal Planet's "It's Me or the Dog."

You started out as an actor, walking and training dogs on the side. Why did you move away from acting?
I would go to an audition and come out feeling terrible and I would go to a dog training and come out feeling amazing. I remember thinking, "Someone's trying to tell me something." That was in 2000. I still did a few little acting jobs, but I came off the audition circuit and immediately felt so much happier.

How did you learn your training methods?
I learned from a lot of different people. I studied, I read a lot, I went to seminars and became certified. The whole idea of positive reinforcement has been around for decades.

You come down hard on dominance, or punishment-based training. What's the problem?
I always ask my clients: 'Do you want your dog to follow you because it wants to, or because it fears what's going to happen to it if it doesn't?" I've proven on my show, and thousands of trainers like me who use positive reinforcement prove that you can train a dog much more effectively. It doesn't matter whether you're just doing a little obedience training or you're dealing with the most aggressive animal.