# Your favourite dog training gurus?



## echo's dad

One of the most daunting tasks in training your dog is finding good reliable information on-line. There are so many training and behavioral canine philosophies out there they start to contradict each other.
Which dog training gurus do you follow?
I really like Michael Ellis and to an extend Ed Frawley, although he is a bit too old school for my liking. I definitely do not agree with a lot of Cesar Milan's ideas.


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## kaslkaos

Michael Ellis, number one, but not much in the way of free 'how to's' there, although he does share a lot of information for anyone who already knows the basics.
I also like Tyler Muto for some things/some dogs/some situations.
And kikopup (on youtube) as she has some very step-by-step easy to follow videos (as long as you can get past, or don't mind, the all positive agenda). Kikopup's channel is a great place to start, especially with puppies and beginner owner combinations.
I love clicker training/motivational training but am not too keen on the politics, or rigid 'my way or the highway' methods in general.
Which is why I love Michael Ellis--
Leerburg/Ed Frawley helped me tackle Dynamo's prey-drive towards our cats, (way back when), so I'm pretty grateful to him too (theory of corrections, introducing dog to cat).
But as for guru's, Michael Ellis. If I had a million dollars, I would go to his school, just for fun.


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## Niexist

Ivan Balabanov has some really great videos as well.


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## ZABDI SHAMAR

I have to admit I do like Cesar Millan. Maybe more because I get to watch the show and then try to apply..I will say I have not watched any others. If anyone can explain difference between him and others mentioned to help me understand different major philosophy that would be awesome.


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## dogma13

I like Michael Ellis a lot.Most of the time when I watch training videos it's with the sound off.If the dog is actually responsive and engaged then I will listen to the dialogue.I learn more watching how the dog and handler communicate with each other.


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## Mudypoz

kaslkaos said:


> But as for guru's, Michael Ellis. If I had a million dollars, I would go to his school, just for fun.


His school is about 10 mins. from my house and I would love to go, too! If I'm able to retire early I've promised myself that I WILL do it :smile2:


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## SuperG

echo's dad said:


> I really like Michael Ellis and to an extend Ed Frawley, although he is a bit too old school for my liking.


I like Ellis as well.....I have to say Frawley won me over when I listened to him talk about getting a dog's engagement.....if you don't have that...you have nothing....as he says. Kind of a cornerstone in my training approach/sessions and has helped me tremendously. 


SuperG


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## wolfy dog

The only thing I appreciate from CM is the fact that he promotes exercise for the dogs. Other than that I learn what others have to offer and pick and choose what fits us (dog and me).


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## LuvShepherds

My only experience with Michael Ellis are his online speaking videos. I learn better from watching someone work a dog rather than listening to an explanation so he hasn't been that useful. My favorite trainer is the person I'm using now who shows us everything and breaks it down into easy exercises. We are learning to introduce minor stress to allow the dog to make his own decisions and work through what we want. We mostly use a flat collar and a leash, with minor leash pressure. He explains it from the dog's perspective, what the dog sees, how he interprets it and how he processes. He also teaches things in different order than standard obedience. We learned recall first, before anything else. I haven't found anyone online who comes close to this method, maybe Sean O'Shea. 

In theory, I like Kikopup but in practice, her methods didn't work for me with a drivey puppy. Jeff Gellman gets good results but he's too weird for me. I've used some Leerburgs for marker training and it worked, but they are more food oriented than I am.


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## LuvShepherds

wolfy dog said:


> The only thing I appreciate from CM is the fact that he promotes exercise for the dogs. Other than that I learn what others have to offer and pick and choose what fits us (dog and me).


Exercise and calm confidence, both of which work great with German Shepherds. I've watched hours of his videos and never did figure out exactly what he does to teach the dogs, though. Most of his work is off camera. Maybe for the best. I would never use his physical methods.


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## MineAreWorkingline

LuvShepherds said:


> *Exercise and calm confidence, both of which work great with German Shepherds.* I've watched hours of his videos and never did figure out exactly what he does to teach the dogs, though. Most of his work is off camera. Maybe for the best. I would never use his physical methods.


The bolded should be the first piece of advice given to any newbie coming to this board with a problem.


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## LuvShepherds

MineAreWorkingline said:


> The bolded should be the first piece of advice given to any newbie coming to this board with a problem.


Yes. I have learned never to lose my patience or work with my dogs when I'm upset. I wish I had been that calm when my children were little.


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## onyx'girl

I personally had some wonderful information to ingest at a Debbie Zappia seminar. I think her methods are great. I also have trained a few times for whole days with Bridget Carlsen and her methods also work well. These are mostly for obedience, engagement and drive building, but they do know how to help problem solve when it comes to retrieves and enthusiasm. 
I think staying on course with certain exercises/methods are very helpful when setting up a foundation. 
Both of the above are more for sport training, or competition. Though learning how they do things to engage are most helpful for the pet people that want to teach their dog basic obedience.


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## SuperG

Ya knowwwww.........I have to say.....this forum and some particular members have helped me tremendously.....so I'm going to say we have a few "gurus" in here.

SuperG

The following comment was unsolicited and made without any compensation or other prizes, gifts and awards given by the juggernaut known as GermanShepherds.com .


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## Cassidy's Mom

Mudypoz said:


> His school is about 10 mins. from my house and I would love to go, too! If I'm able to retire early I've promised myself that I WILL do it :smile2:


You could work with his business partner in the Loup du Soleil Belgian Malinois kennel, Lisa Maze.  She's in Vallejo. Muttamorphosis


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## Muskeg

I agree with there being a few excellent gurus on this forum.

Outside of the forum, I think Ivan B is the one to go to for sport training. He has some great videos. Top notch trainer. 

I like watching Cesar Millan. Doesn't mean I agree with everything he does but I like watching him especially with multiple dogs. But he's not a training guru for me. 

There are a lot of videos out there on "reactive" and "aggressive" dogs but I found them mostly useless. For me, I really needed foundational understanding of how dogs learn and how to teach them, and you don't get that from most of the videos out there which seem to be mostly an amazing transformation of Cujo without any of the nuts and bolts.


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## cloudpump

CM is good because he doesn't promote po crap that is being pushed every where. 
Ive found my trainer to be a guru because she teaches so I can understand. And that's what it comes down to. Someone who can explain and train me on my level would be a guru.


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## Arlene/Archer

I like no nonsense trainers that use logic. Michael Ellis, Tyler Muto (terrific with aggressive dogs) and I like Stonnie Dennis for the sheer homespun common sense approach. I use Archer for a lot of off lead work and I trust him to behave accordingly. But I really need him to be 100% on lead.
I'll give you an example. Yesterday while running through a park (on lead) coming to the end of a 6 mile run we were charged by an off lead collie. The moment I told Archer to 'stand easy' he ignored the dog while the owner ran around like a headless chicken trying to grab it. If he _had_ reacted we had a dog fight on our hands and that's something I have no interest in. Stonnie was the main man who got it through to my skull that there's a correlation between repetition, exercise and the calm dog, and it has paid off in spades. You'd laugh at the number of people who are genuinely surprised that Archer is an intact male, but with 0 aggressive issues ( we have a growing culture here of neutering dogs at ridiculously young ages). Again, this was down to reading experienced owners on THIS forum, and listening to experienced, non PO, trainers. I'm so very glad I did.


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## echo's dad

What I like about CM is that he is a strong advocate of giving dogs lots of mental and physical exercise. This is extremely important - especially for the herding breeds. I however, disagree with some of his theories on dominance in dogs. I especially do not like alpha rolls. Alpha rolling in canine language is like holding someone at gunpoint. 
Michael Ellis's marker training system is the best training method I have ever used. 
Personally, where CM is on the one extreme and PO trainers are on the other extreme, I prefer to be in the middle.:grin2:


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## Castlemaid

> What I like about CM is that he is a strong advocate of giving dogs lots of mental and physical exercise. This is extremely important - especially for the herding breeds


I don't know of any popular trainer that stresses the importance of this as much as he does. (not a CM fan, but agree on this part). However, I haven't met ANYONE who is a CM fan who actually does follow through and does exercise their dog - it's all about 'dominating' the dog, and 'making them submit'. (ugh!)


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## cloudpump

Castlemaid said:


> I don't know of any popular trainer that stresses the importance of this as much as he does. (not a CM fan, but agree on this part). However, I haven't met ANYONE who is a CM fan who actually does follow through and does exercise their dog - it's all about 'dominating' the dog, and 'making them submit'. (ugh!)


He's changed a bit tho. If you compare his techniques now compared to older shows. Not advocating for him, just something I've observed. I do enjoy dog shows, and hes had a few gsd on them. Its interesting. 
Too bad animal planet doesn't do a working dog series....
They used to have a police k9 show that only lasted one or two series .


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## Jenny720

I like my trainer as she shows and explains what and why's of what I'm doing not just tell me what to do. I like watching Cesar Milan and really never got the impression or adopted the concept of dominating my dog I find it extremely interesting the people say they do. From what I get from cesar is being aware of your own energy/body language and is why many horse people like him. It's much about the energy.


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## echo's dad

The Dog Whisperer is like any other TV show: a clever illusion. CM appeals to the masses because of his natural charisma and because his techniques are so "simple". Real pro dog trainers like Michael Ellis would not make good TV. It gets very technical and goes way over the head of the layman. (Ellis even goes over my head sometimes.)


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