hey, anne! :--)
nope, no argument from me... but IMO it is not *vic stilwell* who is COMPETING - it is pos-R as a method.
its a doggone shame, but at the moment, she IS the only pos-R trainer with a major evening-show bummer,
i would dearly love to see competition with 2 or 3 shows of REWARD-based training vs jerk, choke, poke,
but whaddya gonna do?

Man Vs Wolf-Dog is sexy; rags-to-riches is sexy; nature red in tooth + claw is sexy;
friendless underdog becomes celebrity is sexy;
teaching dogs to happily live in harmony with humans, and to have fun together? NOT sexy.

i don't think *victoria is brilliant as a trainer - she's good, but not knock yer sox off -
her handling + timing are good but not great; her leash skills are sound, but not excellent.
as a presenter, she is likable, approachable + expressive; when the woman showed her PINNING tactic
on little Toby, her face was a vivid image of her roiling emotions: horror, amusement, and worry, LOL.
but she is hampered by the filming + editing done, too - they could make the training the FOCUS,
instead of a sideline to human-drama: will mumsy boot her darling-doggie out of the bed
so hubby can lie there? will the BF allow the woman - to whom he GAVE the dog
as a pup - to [shock! horror!...] CASTRATE his... errrmmm, Her dog?!
tune in tomorrow, same time, same channel... ~sigh...~

just ONCE, it would be nice to see a training-show focus on TRAINING - like Good Dog U.
no argument, a better trainer with obvious skills and a good solid grounding in theory AND practical would be fantastic -
BUT - they have to be photogenic, catchy, move well on camera, and speak well - *plus* the excellent-dog-trainer
and wonderful people-skills, AND - we gotta get a network or a production-company to BUY THEM FIRST -
the public only sees the package after the suits sign-off on it.

for now? we have *victoria - she is a better trainer than she was, the PRODUCERS scrapped that ridiculous wardrobe that made
her look like an anorexic-biker-chick with Goth leanings from high-school, THAT was a blessing!
[thank U, thank U, DoG...] so she no longer swaggers around with a riding-crop flicking the heads off
little daisies, LOL - all good.

maybe she could have GUEST trainers? just a thought...
- t

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

I agree with all your saying L4L but the problem is to most of the viewing public and most of the likes of DW fans she is the R+ representative - what she does has a massive effect on the perception of the techniques she uses.
I don't there will ever be guest trainers on her show - they would show her up!
We need someone else altogether who is better all-round

__________________
Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

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"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

"If you don't want your dog to bite you, don't be an a**hole to him." ~ Dr. Ian Dunbar

hey, anne! :--)

forgot + wanted to add: No-One IMO can possibly 'compete' with the CM/DW Empire -
he has media saturation, a live-in manager, a retail-line, books, DVDs, a website for DW, another for the non-profit, the advertising power + prestige [now tarnished in my eyes] of National Geographic which is usually associated with Scientific + Factual information - not (Non)Reality TV, where one expects to see entertainment, drama, editing to heighten tension in the viewer, and other promotional vs documentary techniques.

the non-documentary nature of DW
CM/DW is not IMO any sort of documentary: it has a story-line, the dog-owners who appear on it have stated that footage was rearranged for dramatic impact or to advance the plot, dogs were made to look worse than they were re behavior, etc.

IMO no one can compete with the sheer power of a channel-giant like Natl-Geo, the multi-nature media promotion, and etc;

focus on addressing training and the facts -
if it's enjoyable for both parties, U + the dog want to train - rather than dread it;
and every dog, 2# or 200#, pup or senior, needs training -
* for manners in youth,
* for education as they mature,
* for enrichment thruout their lives

it isn't only 'problem dogs' who need training -
if they had received training, socialization and habituation, many of the dogs needing intervention On or OFF the television, would never have needed that B-Mod - because they would not have developed a problem behavior.

prevention is better than cure, IMO. training happily makes for longer lives, and less stress for dogs and their people.
and there... Pos-R whups any competitor using aversives, 'correcting' after the unwanted behavior, and so on.

JMO + IME,
- terry

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007