The Dog Whisperer, der Hundeflüsterer

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
I sometimes look after a Barbet dog, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbet_%28dog%29 for a lady friend, at first she (The dog) ignored all other dogs, but lately as we get to know each other over a longer time, she has started to lunge and bark at other dogs.

Recently she has been fighting with a neighbour's dog, by accident they both emerged from woods off the leads, and flew at each other with blood being spilt! They absolutely hate each other. Even when she smells the other dog in the garage she goes beserk.

In desparation my friend called in a dog expert for help. She visited him last week and they went for a walk in the Jura. He diagnosed a "Leader of the pack problem." The dog is protecting her from other dogs. The expert has 8 dogs and this has become a legal problem for him this year, as now since 1.1.2013 we are only allowed to walk 3 dogs at one time. The pack behaved impeccably, they all followed the leader and my friend's dog joined in, albeit reluctantly. They stopped at crossroads in the woods without any command, they all stopped when a car drove by on a wooded trail. He has all the dogs under control and off the lead.

Yesterday he came to Berne to help her with the dog fight problem. First he let the dog know that she was not the leader of the pack anymore (Failure by the owner to recognise this) and then we went outside to meet the other dog. Immediately there was a violent confrontation, the two dogs were about 3 meters apart and were both snarling, barking, trying to get off the leads. In short hating each other.

The dog expert then took the friend's dog aside, while the other dog and owner waited behind a wall. He talked to her dog, and manouevered the dog around, and showed the dog he was the master. Within ten minutes the dogs passed each other, about two meters apart, and there was complete respect, not even a snarl or a bark. Amazing!

I have never experienced anything like it. The man was really an expert. Now my friend has learnt and seen the demonstration and needs to put it into practise.

The Swiss dog expert follows the systems used by Cesar Millan. http://www.cesarsway.com/

His programs are dubbed into German and can be seen on Sixx TV channel, today, and every week, many showings,

http://www.sixx.ch/tv/der-hundefluesterer/episoden

http://www.fernsehserien.de/der-hundefluesterer/sendetermine/sixx

2

Yeah, I don’t have a dog but I love watching Cesar Milan’s Dog Whisperer programmes. He has an amazing understanding of dogs and how they behaviour. It’s not only aggressive dogs, but ones with phobias of things as well. One of my favourite episodes was when he tackled a St. Bernard with a fear of the stairs. Now the St. Bernard probably weighs more than Cesar does, but he hauled and shoved and pushed and hauled that dog up the stairs time and time again and after 20 minutes that dog was happily climbing the stairs. I think that’s the hardest I’ve ever seen Cesar work, but he succeeded.

Amazing man.

3
My dog has the same problem...he is a havenese who thinks he is a pitbull...i tried a trainer, but that didn't change anything so i bought some books from cesar millan and hopefully i will be able to discipline my furry friend soon enough

4
I like Victoria Stillwell better than Cesar Milan though he is certainly successfull and his method seems to work.

5
Dear Sbrinz,

Could you please state the name of this dog expert in Switzerland? I am looking for a dog "trainer" in Switzerland whom follows Cesar Millan's ideals and can help me with my dog. I have adopted him from the streets, he has been abused and is very insecure.

Thanks

6
I believed he has moved to canton Jura, i will ask the dog lady friend.

How long have you lived here with your dog? You must do an official dog training course, with your dog.

The people running the course will be able to advise you on helping your dog adapt.

There are threads on this Forum about owning a dog here, and what you must do to keep inside the laws of Lausanne.

7
Dear Sbrinz,

Thank you very much for your fast reply. I do not mind if he moved to the Jura, I can go there if I need to, it is just urgently important that I get in contact with him.

I have lived here for more than a year and have had my dog since 3 months, he is already registered and has a passport and vet, and we have already done the obligatory course.

The problem I have had is that these dog trainers are very focused on obedience and one of the trainers I tried even knew very little about psychological traumas a previously abandoned and abused dog may have (my dog's case). The second one I tried is a behaviourist and does understand dog behaviour but she follows a training method that I do not agree with. Nevertheless I tried with good faith to apply their methods but neither of them were able to help me address these issues.

I am really looking for a trainer that follows Cesar Milan's ideals and methods, which is something very rare in Switzerland since most trainers follow a "positive reinforcement" treat-giving method.

Hence I was so excited to read your comment that I came across, about this specific trainer, after hours of browsing blogs and forums.

I would really appreciate it if you are able to find the contact of this person, and finally my dog and I can have a balanced lifestyle of pack follower-leader respectively.

Thanks a lot in advance,

Grape

8
Here is the website below, I have no idea if he speaks English or French. He asks you to telephone or e-mail him for an appointment, but not to expect a diagnosis or help over the phone or by e-mail, and do not arrive without an appointment.

His strong point is he uses his pack of 7 dogs to integrate problem dogs: they teach the trainee dog how to behave, they all watch the leader dog and do what he says. The waiting list is about 2 to 3 months for his weekend therapy courses.

http://www.dog-psychology-center.ch/

Adresse:

Markus Habermann

Dog-Psychology-Center GmbH

Sapran 39

CH-2716 Sornetan

Telephone 032 484 04 21

best times to telephone him are, 08:00 - 09:00, 15:00-17:00 & around 21:00-22:30

If you leave a message on the answering machine, tell him when NOT to call you (When you will be asleep)

E-Mail to, [email protected] - for contact purposes, but please don't ask for dog training advice by e-mail.

It is about a 2 hour drive from Lausanne, http://map.search.ch/Lausanne,gare-S...etan,Sapran-39

I was very impressed with him, after a few minutes with him, our dog did not try to attack her arch enemy, a neighbour's dog. He had our problem dog immediately under control.

.

9
Thank you so much for your detailed and fast reply. This will be incredibly helpful. I will contact him to try to book an appointment!

Grape

10
Hi - did you ever do this course? Was it any good? We're looking for someone to help our rescue - her anxiety is only getting worse and the trainers we have tried so far have not managed to help!

11
Kanya,

When working with anxiety, any trainer using or advocating techniques that include force, fear, intimidation, so-called and thoroughly discredited 'dominance' models is to be avoided.

Of course, one should never use these methods with any dog - but these methods are especially harmful to dogs who are already experiencing anxiety or show fear-based behaviors. Adversive methods only teach your dog to fear you, distrust you - and can make the behavior much worse.

Adversive techniques tend to only force an animal to hide the first-level symptoms, which can seem to then escalate the behavior, but do nothing to address the underlying cause.

Please do not go that route.

To treat anxiety or fear-based behavior you need to address both the underlying cause and the symptoms.

Rather, please look for a trainer or behaviorist who uses positive, progressive reinforcement, who has experience working with fear or anixiety-based dogs. Hopefully EFers in the Lausanne area who have worked with such trainers will be along with recommendations.

If you need recommendation for appropriate help, perhaps you could describe the behavior you wish to work on a bit more (what, when, where), as well as what kind of programs you currently follow as you are working with your dog every day. Then we could offer suggestions for strategies while you are looking for the kind of trainer who has the skills and approach that would best fit your dog.

Wishing you and your pup all the best.

ETA:

To get you started looking for an appropriate trainer, a good resource might be the group 'Initiative für gewaltfreies Hundetraining', which lists a number of trainers who support the principle that force has no place in dog training. I do not see a school listed in Lausanne - which doesn't mean there aren't any, of course - but you might check out those that are within a reasonable distance from you.

https://www.gewaltfreies-hundetraini...hulen/schweiz/

Please take some time to browse the site, there is much there that could be of help to you as you assess any trainer you are considering working with. English and French content available as well as German.

12
Hi all,

I can offer a little more information from Australia. The method being used is what we call Alpha Canine technique.

Dogs are pack animals and communicate constantly with one another through various forms. As pack animals they are submissive to the pack leader. The technique teachers owners to be the pack leader. This does not mean that you need to employ aggression or fear based training techniques.

Treat based training only teaches a dog when they have done something right and not when they have done something wrong. To have a fully robust communication system between you and your dog you should teach that there is a consequence for doing something wrong. In most cases this can be a warning tone first that then leads to a firm NO if the behaviour progresses.

We are taught that the following 'punishment' for doing the wrong thing is to then walk the dog in a circle. This shows the dog that you are in control and that you can take their power from them.

This technique works on all kinds of dogs. Whether they are are anxious or aggressive. It teaches that regardless of the situation, you are in control and they can relax and just have fun.

The trainer who taught me to train can control 40+ excited dogs of lead with just his voice. I think he offers a slightly watered down version of the technique online.

13
Maaayalin, I disagree with this statement:

If you think that using positive reward based training does not teach a dog when they have done something wrong, then you are doing it wrong.

It's not a power struggle.

Training is communication. With the right sort of communication, based on trust, you teach your dog what not to do - by more effectively teaching them what to do. The goal is to teach them to make good choices.

---

This discussion highlights how very important it is to assess a trainer before signing up for classes. One needs to understand a trainer's philosophy and training methods well before deciding if this trainer is right for one's dog, or not.

Follow your instincts in training class. If you are asked to use a technique that you do not agree with, stop and discuss the situation with the trainer. You know your dog best.

14

I fully agree with your point that understanding a trainers philosophy is important before you sign up.

In my experience 'rewarding' a dog for doing the wrong thing does not encourage them to do the right thing. And yes I may have your interpretation of 'treat based training' wrong.

But it is a power struggle. There cannot be two alphas in a pack. A dog must be submissive to the owner and know when its time to listen and time to play. I have seen too many swiss dogs that lunge aggressively on lead and cannot be let off lead. they do this because they think they are protecting their owner. A shared vocal communication is paramount – specially for that time you don't have a pocket full of treats.

I have see the method turn rescued fighting dogs into gentle social dogs with no 'fear' based methods used.

15
Also I think I misrepresent the training style. The alpha method similar to cesar still teaches reward for good choices. Usually the style of reward is love: Ear scratches, affectionate tones, pats and cuddles. The inverse is firm vocal tones and resetting the situation by walking in a circle.