Anyone heard of this guy?

[Maryellen]

hell for 8 grand i will train a dog too.... and you can watch....

[dogcrazyjen]

Which is why I steer clear of anyone who bills themselves as 'positive only'. In my opinion if you refuse to explore any (reasonable) training method you are selling yourself, your dog and your clients short.

I agree.
I have been over that time and time again in my head and with other trainers. I feel that punishment has its place for certain dogs and owners, and I have been literally shouted down and black balled for saying so (talk about really positive, eh? )PC dog training is, IMO, as one sided as what Masters Way appears to be. One can strive to be as positive as possible without disregarding the use and need for boundaries and rules, and how punishment may be necessary.

I would like to get to my goal with all positives, but even now if I really think about it I am not soley positive. I use negative punishment (taking away things to 'punish' the dog). I also have used voice 'corrections', although I am not sure if it is a correction or not, since it doesn't do anything but let them know that is not what i want. Just tonight I needed Tess to sit before going out. She refused. I simply walked out of the room and shut the light off and shut the door, leaving her alone in the dark. I counted to 30, came back out, and she sat immediately. I could have corrected her by a collar correction, but it also worked the way I did it.

I realize choke chains have a purpose, I am not sure if they are necessary or simply a tool. I have never used a prong, but realize it is a tool, and actually it works on a reward basis, not a punishment basis.

Thanks for the offer Lisa, but I am quite a ways from there. I just was hoping I could come up to him for a day and observe, maybe talk to him, but his methods would shut down all three of my dogs, and there is not a snowballs chance in hell I would leave them with him.

That poor Weimie-that story is just heartbreaking. It is amazing how people will believe what trainers say without critical thought. We have far more credibility than we sometimes deserve. I have had clients not satisfied with my training-they wanted a quick fix and I do not offer that -however I can say I have never caused a dog to have issues. I guess that is what the trade off is. Fast and reliable for most, totally and perminantly screwed up for some, or slow and dependant on handler skill, but no negative side effects.

No one said life was simple.