Pos-4-ReactiveDogs

I subscribed earlier, but now I'm starting to have the messages from this Yahoo group sent to my email inbox.

Seems there's a lot of problem dogs out there (though percentage-wise not that much). Worse than Kimo.

From the first few messages I've received, the people here seem helpful, empathetic, knowledgeable, and of the positive school. I guess that's what the "Pos" in the title of the group stands for. Turid Rugaas seems big here.

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[5/18/10] Mentioned in this group is LAT from Control Unleashed. Control Unleashed is a book by Leslie McDevitt. There's also a DVD.

Learn how to turn stress to confidence and distraction to focus using methods that are 110% positive. Leslie McDevitt's versatile Control Unleashed® program is designed to help "dogs with issues" learn how to relax, focus, and work off-leash reliably in either stimulating or stressful situations. Whether you're training a challenging dog on your own, an instructor trying to figure out how to help dogs in your classes, or an instructor who wants to design a special program just for stressed out dogs, this book is for you.

Who needs Control Unleashed®?
Dogs that are uncomfortable or unable to work off lead around other dogs
Dog that are easily distracted and have difficulty concentrating
Dogs that are reactive or easily aroused
Dogs that are anxious or stressed and shut down
Dog that are unable to control their impulses when excited

LAT stands for the Look At That game, which for me really represents what makes CU so different from most other reactive dog rehabilitation programs. It's a training game that teaches a dog to look at the thing that is worrying them, and then return attention to the handler, instead of demanding 100% attention from an anxious dog and never allowing them to look at their trigger.

Sounds promising (has good reviews on Amazon) and I'll probably investigate further.

There's also a DVD set, though I don't see it on Amazon or swapadvd.

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[5/27/10] Reading more messages, there is definitely an ideology here. While I have no doubt that many/most in the group are great people, the group is pretty focused (I didn't want to say narrow-minded), in the sense that it is focused on positive only techniques. And anything not purely positive is looked down upon (to say the least). So no Cesar Millan allowed here. Or Kevin Behan / Lee Charles Kelley for that matter.

From their List Guidelines:

"This list is not a place to debate or discuss different methods of training. The methods discussed here are positive and respectful toward dogs, period. Written discussions about methodologies that rely on punitive measures, corrections or over exposure to physical exercise or high stimulation are not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Members who write messages of this nature will be removed from this group."

[Or maybe they just want to avoid ugly arguments, which is cool.]

[11/15/10 - apparently this is Jackie McGowan's group]

There's also another popular group called "dogbehaviorscience" which has some members who are also intolerant of Cesar.

Speaking as a Cesar fan, I prefer to use whatever works, not necessarily what is "proper." And both Cesar (from what I've seen and read) and Lee Charles Kelley (from his blog) seem to get real results using not-entirely "positive" methods. (Or maybe they just happen to be really good at using whatever technique.)

I also joined up the group dogwhispererfans who aren't hung up on using only positive methods, but seem to be mostly "positive" people (then again, they're probably hung up on using "Cesar's Way"). Not to stir up debate [or not not], but presented here was an article called False Positives from Fortunate K9. Seems balanced to me, but would probably be bashed by those of the positive-only school.

So it seems Cesar can be quite polarizing. Like Obama. Whereas their intent is just the opposite. Politics is everywhere. Or is it religion? Or simple closed-mindedness?

The negative energy is why I usually avoid Fox News (and Olbermann too for that matter). So we'll see how long I stick with these newsgroups.

However I did happen to catch part of Cesar's appearance on Fox and Friends the other day while scanning through the channels. (And now he'll probably criticized being commercial and pushing the Swiffer Sweeper Vac. You just can't win with some people..) And here's an interview with Colmes.

do you notice that I'm rambling?

rambling on. I googled idealogue (and noted that I spelled it wrong) and came to Flame Warriors which describes what goes on in many of these "discussion" groups.

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[5/28/10] Neil ventures into the fray at dogwise forums.

Took a quick glance at the anti-Cesar Millan facebook group. Sheesh. Talk about your negative energy..

(And on and on.)