I want this woman to come and train tyson! she is so good at training dogs, i felt so sorry for those people when there bulldog was pooping everywhere, it reminded me so much of tyson, he has gone back to doing it since my husband told him off the other day with a rolled up newspaper :-(

does anyone have the link to where i can ask the TV people if she can come and see tyson and help us train him? he was doing really well but hes started going to the loo overnight again and its getting us down :-(

I found this on an article about the programme:

If you would like to nominate a dog for the programme, then contact at the "It's Me or The Dog" team on 01273 224 827 or dogs@ricochet.co.uk

oh thanks jeanie thats fab i will phone them in the morning and send an email as well, i think that victoria is a brilliant dog trainer and i just know she is the only one who will be able to sort tyson out so we dont have to put him outside in a kennel thats the last resort :-(

Please dont allow your husband to tell your dog off with a rolled up newspaper (I presume you meant he hit the dog with it? )

Have you posted about the problem on here? maybe we can help, or if not try a local reputable behaviourist or trainer... being a tv person, it may take forever for Victoria to get in touch with you...

Lindsay
x

My understanding of the proper use of a rolled up newspaper for housetraining purposes is that:

1. You do NOT show it to the dog.

2.You DO hit yourself roundly about the head with the rolled up newspaper because YOU failed to get the dog to the garden in time!

:-D Roz

Hi Jollyjem,

I do think Victoria is good, I don't agree with everything she says, but I like the way she does things, she makes it simple and basic and is straight to the point, and makes the people understand that the dogs problems are largely down to the owners lack of understanding or effort!  However she is definitely not the only person that can sort Tysons toileting problems out.

How old is he and has he ever been completely clean and if yes for how long? 

If he has been clean and then started toileting inside was there anything changed in his daily routine or anything that could have got him worried?

What is his feeding routine, how many times a day and at what times?

How do you react when he has had an accident? 

How often is he getting out and exercised?

If you could answer these questions then I'm sure people will find it easier to advise you.  whether the advise is from Victoria Stillwell or Joe Bloggs it's going to take some time and work.  :-)

All the best,

Karen

If you're selected, it won't be Victoria who does the training, remember! ;) It'll be you - and it won't be a 'quick fix' - it'll take weeks, if not months of consistent effort on your part. Just saying this so you don't get false hopes which are doomed to be disappointed.

She'll ask you questions like:

How long have you had Tyson?
What is his daily routine?
How much food and exercise does he get?
Under what circumstances does he mess?
Has he ever been totally clean?
If so, what has changed in the household since then?
How do you react when he messes?

It's the answers to questions like this, and many others, which will decide the course of action you must take.
:)

I watched this last night and although I dont agree with everything she says on the whole I think Victoria is very good.  It did amaze me though with the food issue last night the amount of food in his bowl was huge for a dog his size, especially given the fact he would take no exercise to begin with.  The scrambled egg thing 12 eggs!!!! i was stunned.  So IMO the toilet habits in the house were hardly surprising. 

Michelle

Grief half that number of eggs a week would be plenty.  the dog will get fat which is not good for any dog, especially a short faced one.

can you tell me how often is this programme on

Weekly Tisha. :)

ch4 tuesdays 8.30pm :)

Victoria is amazing the way she gets those dogs to sit and leave food in a few seconds. Its amazing she is so good with those dogs and its great to see the dogs owners all happy at the end of it.

Don't forget though that we don't see it ALL on telly. It isn't just done in one day. After all NO dog can do as told just by being told so, they have to LEARN what it means first -which is the parts we don't often see unfortunately.

Ah, but if they explained what needed to be done, and the effort that it involved,
a) people wouldn't need to employ her, and
b) people wouldn't bother - they like 'quick fixes'. :(

It's worrying. After all we've already had one person now who believed banging two saccepan lids together when the dog messes in the house might be a good idea -which is perfectly understandable as it wasn't explained any further (i.e. that it was a good idea for the humping doesn't mean it's a good idea for everything).

There are better behaviourists out there whose price will NOT be making you look like a complete moron on national tv.

Her methods are dubious at times and downright dangerous at others, and she wouldnt be allowed to set foot across MY threshold, never mind get near my dogs with an air horn or a pair of pan lids!

Em

I agree Goldmali, unfortunately the nature of ALL TV programmes is that the editors have the last word and so valuable footage can be left on the cutting room floor.

But exactly the same issues arise say from dog training classes, people hear what they want to hear, and see what they want to see, which is generally not the WHOLE picture.

You cannot please all of the people all of the time unfortunately.

And it has to be remembered that no one put a gun to these people's heads, they volunteered for their 15 mins of fame and they did not require the assistance of a media personality to reveal their lack of common sense.........:rolleyes:

But exactly the same issues arise say from dog training classes, people hear what they want to hear, and see what they want to see, which is generally not the WHOLE picture.

Yes that's true -but at least with classes it's a more limited audience. :)

And it has to be remembered that no one put a gun to these people's heads, they volunteered for their 15 mins of fame and they did not require the assistance of a media personality to reveal their lack of common sense.........rolleyes

Yes this I will NEVER understand! And there are so many people out there as well, in all these reality programmes. Me, I'd feel ashamed to be shown to the nation in such a light.

Although I do have to say it is nice to have regular doggy programme on the telly some of her methods are not always the most appropriate. She is also constantly obsessed with castration, and sees it as a cure all. Although it may be helpful in some cases, it is not always useful. Although IMHO I do feel that unless you are breeding/showing it is healthier in the long run for a dog to be castrated/spayed.
It is interesting to see that most of her choices to air tend to be male (and hence the option of castration) but there are numerous females dogs with very similar problems where that would not be an option available to her. The selection bias is thus misleading people.
Victoria is an actress and used to do petwalking and then tried some bit of training, however she is not a qualified pet therapist as far as I know ( I might be wrong). A qualified pet behaviorist would know far more about solving the problems than she does, however having said that, it is just an entertainment programme and I for one do enjoy seeing a doggy programme. Would have been nicer but it has been a while since Rintintin or Lassie type of programmes were aired. Perhaps what people need to understand is that some of the things she talks about may be useful for their particular circumstance and some may not.
The funny thing about TV is that just because people see someone doing something on the TV they believe it. At the risk of  being awkward people are going out to buy a tape of Jade Goody's workout to reduce weight and think of her as a Guru of exercise! I recently met a chap who does a UK based TV programme on doctors/nurses (I do not want to name programme or person for obvious reasons) and was told of how people approach them for medical  advice and are then surprised when they say they don't know or even worse believe advice given. They are actors not doctors, Victoria is an actress not a animal behaviorist.
To sum up its fun to watch Victoria's programme but if you really need help, there are people on this board who are the real experts. Anyway that my opinion.

Of course the other thing the vast majority of viewers will never consider is..... she ISNT a miracle worker, she simply picks the dogs she reckons she can 'cure' pretty quickly.

Loads of people applied and when they did i very much doubt it was sold to them as it actually appears now, and the ones with problems that would NOT be cured by ms stillwells methods didnt get picked.

Em

I loved the dog. How cute! The facial expressions were excellent and said it all for me.

It wasnt suprising for me that the dog was the way he was. Poor thing! If hes allowed to do things like eat all day round and therefore poo all day round then he will. I think there was a serious lapse in common sense if you cant even see that if your dog is constantly nibbling that he would be constantly pooing too.

Em, you are quite right about that, I know of one person who applied and was turned down on the grounds that she was too far away, but interestingly the programme makers did go "up north" for someone else :Pj

I can understand it though, as difficult problems such as aggression to other dogs can be very hard to solve quickly, and this programme shows "fixes" in a sense, (not saying that in a negative way)

Lindsayx

Hehehe, same person we are thinking of :D

I spose in a way it is good that they arent suggesting 'you can train your very aggressive/special needs/whatever dog i half an hour'..... still dont agree with her methods, she really IS barbara woodhouse in a sexy suit!

Em

:P

I do think she's got much better though, this series is better than the last. I was interested to read she's done dog walking on a regular basis for Battersea at one stage which quite surprised me.

Lindsay
x

If hes toileting in the house and has been clean for sometime before and NOTHING has changed in your and his routine then i would take him to the vet for a checkup. Once all medical issuses have been ruled out then i would go back to basics with his toilet routine and start again. There are lots of posts on how to do this.
I would never dream of going on a tv program to train my dog as for one i would be embarressed and two it will not solve the problem in the long run. It takes a lot of hard work and consistancy to train certain behaviours. One of my dogs has recently been having a pee in the morning after i go to work but before hubbie gets up which is only 30 mins difference and this is early in the morning so now i force them from their comfy spots on the sofa which does take a lot of hard work as they refuse to budge - at first i had to physically pick them up as they turned their cloth ears on and pretended to be asleep :rolleyes: but now they know this new routine and are waiting to be let out and this took 3 weeks to get to this point doing it every day even when i didnt go to work we still get up early to let them out and then go back to bed till its time to get up.

To be honest, jollyjem, if all your dog is doing is pooing in the house then there's not chance that Channel 4 will be interested. And I speak as someone who works in the "meejah" business. Only to make a rivetting enough programme that can be compressed into half an hour's worth of instant solutions, your dog needs to have a whole range of behavioural issues. Ideally of the variety which would make his pooing in the house pale into insignificance! :D

Your best option is to follow some of the very sensible advice already offered on this thread!

Yes, I applied, though in retrospect it's probably just as well as I think she would annoy me quite a lot! But I suspect the problems with my 2 boys would be too difficult for her quick fixes. :-(