The Glamorous life of TV dog training...
Or not?

By Sharon Arkoff, KBTF Rescue Director

Sharon Arkoff with her rescue Kerry Seamus

If you have a smart, funny, opinionated Kerry who can not understand why you would want him or her to obey the same command over and over again, the miraculous results obtained seemingly in minutes by TV dog trainers can be hard to buy into. But, some of these shows can be helpful.

"Watching the techniques and hearing the philosophies of a good trainer on TV can help give you more tools for your toolbox in train ing your own dog," says Julie Schmitt, owner of San Diego based Out N' About Dog Training.

Schmitt, who recently worked with the Kerry Blue Terrier Foundation and rescue dog Southwest Belle, is a partner with Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training. StilIwell's popu lar show "It's me or the dog" airs on Animal Planet.

Schmitt admits that not everything you see on TV will have gone quite according to plan, behind the scenes.

"Some of the funny stories come from when you have a dog with a problem, and you as the trainer fix the problem. The dog gets it and you think your work is done. Then the pro ducer says, 'Hey, that was great; can you do it all again for the camera?' and you have to untrain and then retrain the dog."

A key to trying to learn to train your own dog by watching TV shows, Schmitt says, is to understand where you could get into trouble.

"Victoria's show does do dog training a service. She is very candid with people, and I believe that the positive reinforce ment that she uses is training dogs the proper way. You don't want to do dominant, fear-based training. When the public tries to do that, it causes harm."

Does Schmitt have aspirations toward becoming a TV per sonality herself, after working with StilweIl?

"A TV trainer does have access to resources and technol ogy that I don't, like video cameras in the home to show what is going on when the trainer isn't there. Plus, Victoria has access to a broad network that includes resources from shelters to agility clubs.

"She can take a family to a shelter and tell them, 'if you don't train your dog, this is where it is going to end up,' and then she can also offer the flip side of, 'Your dog needs to do agil ity; this is what she could accomplish if you provide her with the training.'

"I can't always drive these points home as strongly as she can. But, I can ask my clients to watch her show, and that's doing a service for the dog and for its family."

Julie Schmitt lives in La Mesa, California. For more informa tion on Julie and her training methods, contact Out N' About Dog Training, at www.outnaboutdocitraining.com Telephone: 619-417-2368

©1997-2011 KBTF -- Last Update: 04/24/11, 16:48:48 -- Terms of Use and Disclaimer -- Contact Webmaster