I have used wire for about 40 years. A good quality wire is safe. Obviously if you have a strong dog who is determined to break out, you may need to go to the uber expensive crates that are almost solid metal. Few dogs need those. As Pat said, no top means no dog. They laugh at 6 feet, much less 40 inches. They can jump or climb easily. Plastic ones are more easily chewed unless the solid ones... which block view and air.
Dog whisperer???
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<_Whether or not you agree w/his methods is one thing. But Thinly-veiled Insults of those who disagree is entirely another.>>
I apologize. Clearly I can't discuss this topic and remain neutral and unemotional. I will just avoid this topic from now on._
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Oh I forgot to add…I took Talker to see Cesar in 2005. We went to his facility. It was truly amazing to walk among 50 dogs and everyone is peaceful as can be (except Talker).
He worked with Talker for about 2 hours but the results were immediate. He did the tap thing on Talker's side and I saw it and it was not a kick. It was a tap with the side of his foot onto the side of Talker's middle section.
When Talker and I walked among the dogs, Talker was the only one who was in an excitable state. The dogs pretty much sniffed him and ignored him. Then Talker calmed down. I was able to walk Talker thru the crowd of dogs without any incident.
I think basically the lesson is that Dogs need to learn how to behave by being with other calm dogs. When Talker is around a calm dog, he brings it down. He always feels the need to push his alpha self on to the other dog. When they don't react, TAlker calms down.
I think if anything I would have loved to have Talker around Cesar's dogs just so that he can pick up their behavior and learn how to be a dog.
I always joke that Talker is really an insecure macho male that always feels the need to prove himself to others. If he was more secure with himself, he'd probably enjoy his dog life more being around other well behaved dogs.
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What I always wondered about Cesar Milans show is how much of the "rehabilitation" is edited out of the show. It seems to me like there is a dog with some kind of problem or whatever and all he does is tell it to sit before walking out the door and letting the owner walk out first, and tires it out by rollerblading with it and all of a sudden it is gentile and obedient. I always feel like his solution is to tire the dog out and then it won't be obnoxious anymore. Just my 2cents. I like watching the show, but I can't say I've gotten much from it.
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Oh I think there more to the show. For instance, another thing I learned was about MY energy. After my session with Cesar, it really took me a long time to get the energy thing down. I'm more aware of my energy and how it affects TAlker. When I would see another dog, I would avoid (cross the street, go another way, etc.) During the last show, he discussed with the owner that your dog picks up on your anxiety. He explained that "Yes, when you see a dog/owner coming towards you and that owner has no control over the dog (ie., dog is on a long flexi and all over the place), you should move out of the way as much as possible b/c you don't want that dog to come rushing at your dog and giving the wrong message). BUT if the dog is calm and owner in control, those are the dogs your dog needs to learn from.
Yes, so many of the episodes have owners who do not walk their dogs at all. Yes, he has to go over the same stuff because I believe there is a false belief that 'my dog has a big backyard, I don't need to walk them' mentality.
He also discusses the importance of knowing your breed. If you dog is a working breed, they will feel frustrated when they do not have an outlet to release that instinctual nature–herding dogs, bloodhounds. He tries to teach people to use their imagination and be creative when finding ways to exercise your dogs. It's not all about roller blading.
He's done shows that deal with issues like submissive peeing or excitable peeing and taught people how to not react to the dog when they are in the excitable state.
I think people can take a little of something away from his show and try to incorporate it with their dogs. Not everything will work, but its worth a listen and possibly a try.
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When I went to his seminar there were people from all walks of life…dog walkers, pet sitters, pet store owners, groomers, grooming buisness owners, breeders, rescue workers and yes there were trainers there too. I have seen that his fans are not limited to the everyday pet owner or TV watcher.
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<_>
I believe Cesar would tell you that Talker would have to learn how to be a dog from you. It is one of the things I DO agree with him about. People tend to treat their dogs like little humans wrapped in fur (me included, yes, I'm very guilty of that) rather than dogs. A dog will only repeat behaviours that you allow him to get away with. That's not to say they're not opportunistic. They will repeatedly try something time and time again. If they are successful, they will repeat it; if they are not successful they may forget about it or try another strategy(did I say Basenji?)._
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I love the show "Its Me or The Dog" totally good methods IMO & she uses rewards for good behavior & no rewards for unwanted behavior. This is different from punishment for unwanted behavior. There's no tugging or pulling or touching…she uses sounds to get the dogs attention like an EH EH in a loud voice. My dogs do respond to that...now they know that EH EH means don't go near the window (they like to watch dogs go by & then go crazy!).
Yeah that show is great too, I trained Mali with the "shh…" and the "AHP AHP!" from It's Me or the Dog. That lady does use some CRAZY sounds, remember the episode with the insane husky? That was scary...
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There was a recent episode on the Dog Whisperer where three small dogs were not getting along with each other. I believe they were two Chi's and one Jack Russell. They were constantly fighting with each other. Cesar took one Chi and the Jack Russell for 2 weeks to his facility. They got daily exercise and basically learned out to live with a pack of dogs. They stopped their fighting and learned to live with others.
Well when he brought the two back to their home, the one Chi who didn't go to camp, started trying to fight but the others just ignored him and stayed calm while they were all in the house. It was pretty funny to see how the rowdy Chi reacted to this change.
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I watch two episodes in which he used confrontational techniques to show he was the boss and not the dog. It worked, but I am not so sure a basenji is going to back down.
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I agree i´ve used those methods on all my dog´s(long before Cesar came along) not only the basenji and never has a dog questioned my leadership.But I always praise and i´ve never used force never had the need for it so there i´m different.These methods are common methods with working dog´s I used to have a Boxer and i´ve just adjusted certain parts of it to fit the Basenji
Many of the dog´s in that show are just left to "run wild" no training or excercise and instead lot´s of silly things with people who humanize their dog´s.And they looked surprised if they need to take walks jeez I take mine out 4-5 times a day and two of the walks are 6 miles and he he plays with other dog´s every single day to keep him socialized as he´s growing into adulthood.I also show train him every day not more then 10-15 minutes just to keep it fresh in his mind.
What people tend to forget obedience training is something that you have to keep doing continuously as their memory is not like ours so you have to keep it fresh in the mind.
I probably stated the obvious but I do agree with Jazzys mum:)
