About Nikki | The UK Dog Whisperer's Blog


From her site:

Really? I don't know of any trainer who doesn't think his (really her, given our latest thread on lack of men in the PR front) job is to train the owners.


Which always forces me to ask, if these people are all about "energy", they why do they always end up using force? Funny how all these quack trainers have their own idea about fear.

• Cesar Millan thinks that putting the tail between the legs creates fear.
• Kevin Behan thinks that there is no fear but a "collapse"of energies in the gut
• and for Nikki its the solar plexus.

The funny part, this woman thinks 'dog psychologist' is a real vocation rather than just a marketing term. And while she know how to use the language of positive trainers, and claims that she trains "without any fear or discomfort on the dogs part.". But she can't get away from Millan's dominance language "
You need her if "your dog sees itself as the ‘pack leader’ vary, from walking through doors before you, pulling when on the lead, to demanding or stealing food. More extreme behaviours might be fear or aggression around otherdogs, people or both." And ultimately that means the use of force.

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there is me thinking the only difference between a behaviourist and a dog trainer was 10 pounds an hour.

Ah, another professional who probably hasn't consulted any of the latest research into dog (or wolf) behaviour.

I was looking at her 6 week course. It's a surprise they even get any training done at all. All I see is 6 lectures on how to think like Cesar Millan basically- which I can do without...

And the differences between a trainer and a 'psychologist' are just silly and even badly explained for a dog whisperer. She makes dog trainers sound very helpful, teaching the dog commands so the owner can control, however a psychologist seems to add a little bit more about body language signals or something!

So stealing or demanding food means the dog thinks he is the pack leader? I thought it just meant that he is a dog! I better be careful then, or Ferdie will be making all the rules in the household, since food is definitely not safe from him!

What a load of absolute garbage.

You might want to read this (a little way down the page) from a sensible trainer. Alpha Dog Training School - Alpha Dog Training School Blog

Well it gave me a good laugh anyway.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Statler there is me thinking the only difference between a behaviourist and a dog trainer was 10 pounds an hour.

Agreed except its more like £50.00 -

Funny you should mention this trainer, I was perusing his site earlier today (cleaning avoidance behaviour by me) when I encountered his 'trainer' courses. Now, I may has misread his site (several times) but he seems to infer that you can be a dog trainer in just two days with one of his courses ... Where do I sign up for that one ...

I'm confused by all this 'psychology' stuff. I've managed to train some good working dogs over the the years without all that stuff. For Gods sake they're dogs, quite simple creatures really, I use the old method of rewarding good behaviour and scolding inappropriate behaviour, It seems to work for me or am I just being too simple in my approach, perhaps if I'd used a 'Behaviourist' I could have had a dog that could design an I phone.
C'mon guys, dog training 's not rocket science. Apologies if I've upset anyonewho's charging shed loads of money to tell you that your dog has some kind of complex.

After Ferdies exploits with the liver and steaks (nearly) If its true, I think rules of the house are chicken feed, hes probably got his sights on No.10
(come to think of it Ferdie would probably do a better Job)

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Springerpete:

For me the difference is this - a dog trainer works with the basic concepts of get the dog to do X and get the dog not to do Y. I agree a lot of it is fairly straightforward (although even then I'm not so sure - plenty of folk get it horribly wrong) and there are a huge variety of methods that may well work to a greater or lesser extent. In terms of profession, I would expect a dog trainer to be able to help an owner to gt their dog to perform on cue behaviours (whether that is basic sit and down or more complex competitive work) and to stop basic unwanted behaviours such as jumping up.

A behaviourist IMO is someone who works with more complex issues (ie problems) that are not so clear cut. For example - you mention rewarding good behaviours and scolding bad ones, but you can not reward good behaviour is a dog doesn't perform any (eg when over threshold), you can't scold inappropriate behaviours when you aren't there, scolding may be ineffective, etc.
Where a trainer will usually work simply on stopping the unwanted behaviour (by any means in some cases) a behaviourist aims to stop the motivation for the behaviour - such as by reducing fear, teaching self control, etc.
In order to do this they need a far greater depth of understanding of canine behaviour body language, etc as well as being excellent trainers in order to implement any behaviour modification.

Sadly I disagree.

You only have to look at all the conflicting advice and info out there, not to mention some seriously ludicrous stuff, to see just how complicated the subject can be.
From people making false claims about what pack leaders always do, to the idea of a dog being dominant over light, to magically curing behaviour problems using psychic healing...

And that's just the trainers / whisperers / nutters....

The average dog owner is clueless. Thousands of dogs are surrended, put to sleep or just plain put up with because of behaviour problems - as far as Jo Public is concerned dog training may as well be rocket science!

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dog trainers "train" dogs to perform on cue..

behaviourists have to have a deep understanding of dog psychology AND they have to be able to read each individual dog as behavioural issues can and often are as individual as each dog. once the "trigger" has been identified the training can begin to desensitise the dog and thus alter the behaviour from bad to good.

NONE of the above should involve physical or emotional abuse!

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All posts are my personal opinions based on the knowledge and experience I have and should not be associated with any organisations I may be a member of



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