Day Care Crisis

So disappointed
I am so disappointed in this latest "season" of IMOTD. The blatant Kit Kat ad placement borders on being offensive, and the producer's deliberate attempts to make more money by selling half-seasons that people will have to pay double for is outrageous.

But more importantly, the show's content is really declining. The show used to be about dog training. Now we see very little training happening, and instead Victoria just yells at each family for being morons. Three times in this season alone (only six episodes have aired) Victoria has walked out on the client, having a hissy fit at their incompetence. The problem is that she is starting to sound like a nag, and comes across as an emotionally immature crybaby rather than the strong, patient individual she appeared to be in seasons 1-2. I miss the old Victoria! I miss the old show.

Focus on the training. The human drama is boring. This is Animal Planet after all!

Jumped the Shark
I want to preface my review with the fact that I am a professional dog trainer with over 30 years experience. I have run my own dog training business since 1986, and I do only private, in-home instruction such as Victoria Stillwell (and Cesar Millan) do, only I have been doing it twice as long as they have. So I am well aware of the dynamics of working with families and their dogs, and the parameters of a dog trainer's responsibility in doing this work.
.
This series started out, in Season One, as classy, informative, interesting and entertaining. I liked Victoria's approach to training, as it is very much like my own, her rapport with her clients reminded me of my own, and since we never stop learning, I was even able to pick up some helpful tips from watching the show. I agree with most of her techniques and philosophy, although I think she goes overboard when it comes to her melodramatic aversion to invisible fences, which work out well in most cases and have saved many...

Positive Dog Training
I am a huge fan of Victoria Stilwell. She is an excellent trainer. She comes up with some very interesting ways to deal with various issues. I love that she is a positive dog trainer as well. She really is terrific. The series is entertaining as well. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone interested in dog training and behaviour problems.

Click to Editorial Reviews