Customer Reviews

It's Not the Dog...Training You to Train Your Dog [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Because of the benefit of location, I have been able to attend Charlotte's training classes with three of our family dogs. We have had wonderful results and two of these pets have gone on to be used as therapy dogs. Now, thanks to the video, I am able to either review what it is that we have learned in class, or to start a dog myself, using the video as a guide. My husband is a local veterinarian and has referred many clients to Ms. Foster, as have I. She loves her canine clients and is an excellent teacher with a strong background in education. She helps both human and canine to understand boundaries, to build self esteem, to live together in harmony, and to maximize the human-animal bond. The video is professional, easy to follow, and done in segments that make for pleasant viewing.

In an age where everything is taken to its most complicated level it was incredibly refreshing to view this video. It not only pointed out the problems with my own inconsistencies when attempting to work with my puppy, but it explained them in a very down to earth and easy to understand format. When most people think of dogs they feel as though they have been domesticated for so long that there isnt much instinct left in your basic pet- even though their instinct is to try to establish that they are the ALPHA! Charlotte talks about how important it is that the owner be the ALPHA not the dog. So many bad behaviors can be stopped just by establishing this! A little practical application has allowed me the oppotunity to accomplish what I set out to do. I am pleased with this video because it teaches the owner to train their dog by being fair and consistent, loving , without yelling or hitting their dog. You won't regret purchasing this training video!

This was given to me as a gift. The first thing I did was look at the running time...104 minutes. I thought to myself "that seems long, don't know if I'll be able to watch the whole tape".
Put it in my recorder and 104 minutes later found myself not wanting it to be over with yet!
Charlotte has the type of personality that you can relate to. Her personality on the tape grabs you and her learning techniques keep you. I love the way she incorporates praise while she puts emphasis on sterness. And the humor that occurs naturally made me laugh at loud more than once! She starts with week one of an actual class and you stay with it all the way through. That appealed to me...you see an actual class from start to finish...with actual everyday people just like me! I am recommending this to EVERYONE I know who loves their dog and wants a great relationship with them. I loved it as gift and will be doing that also!
I have to end this review with one question...CHARLOTTE, WHEN IS THE NEXT TAPE COMING OUT???!!!

If a person does not have access to the BEST Dog Trainer, this video will do nicely. I have attended 10 training classes with Charlotte training ME, not my Chessies and Chessies NEED training. I have rescued this beloved breed for many years and have had dog come from every walk of life...
Every time I have attended a class I have learned something new. It is not the dogs fault for not obeying it is OUR fault for not giving them the direction they so desperately need from us humans. I would watch this video over and over, you pick up something new every time! Enjoy and happy training with your K9 partner for life!

You have to ask yourself do the dogs look like they are having FUN in this video? I don't think so. Sure, they are not being abused, but when you look at the most obedient dogs and the way THEY train, you can tell they enjoy training. Granted, there are SOME dogs who might need a less fun approach, but you might get the best out of your dog by building up the play drive, using food rewards, of course, combined with verbal praise - using punishment as sparing as possible. My personal belief is this is the last resort way to train a dog that will not respond to these methods. The issue I have with this video is that this negative reinforcement method is presented as the standard way to train the pet dog. Go ahead and buy this video if you believe making your dog yelp with pain or fright, and teaching him that you are unpredictable human in a scarey way, is a good thing. For the rest, I wish I had a better video suggestion but I don't. I myself was lucky enough to find a good trainer, who taught me to build up and harness my dogs play drive and to make training FUN. This worked so much better than forcing my already naturally stubborn terrier into submission that we now compete regularly in national obedience sport trials just for fun - and with good results both in the trials and at home.

I have a chocolate lab rescue dog who did not respond to other dog training classes. Luke and I tried clicker training, treat training, the supposed gentle leader leash. Those methods did not work. Some friends of mine who had witnessed my frustrations recommended Charlotte's tape. Luke and I now understand each other. I am the leader he was looking for and I have a different dog. My parents and friends can not believe the metamorphosis. If you need help you will find it with this tape and Charlotte's philosophy.

I've been fortunate to be able to train three dogs with Charlotte, now looking to a fourth, a bulldog puppy. Of the three, there was one full-grown Rottweiler, a pound-puppy Husky emotional mix, and another Rottweiler with a dangerous attitude (so much so that I almost euthanized the dog at eight months.) Of the three, they all responded to Charlotte's training in an amazing way. Of course, she treated each dog as an individual. There was no way the Husky mix could be disciplined the same way you would treat a Rottweiler - and Charlotte differentiates between these needs during class. Take this video as a guide, folks. When I meet people who are unable to attend an obedience class for whatever reason, I recommend this video - and to a person, the response I get from people who use Charlotte's vidoe is "this dog behaves like a different dog now." Guess what - the dog is the same dog, folks. It's the owner that changed strategy. Please note that my Rott with an attitude went through additional training and responded better to clicker training on an emotional level - but the commands Charlotte taught him paid off one hundred fold when he had to go through ACL surgery, very invasive bone surgery on the knee. I could give him commands to sit, stand (very important at the time), stay (also important), and back up - and never had to worry twice that the dog knew what I meant. I could not have loaded the dog into our SUV to go to the vet without his knowing these commands without question. I couldn't have cleaned up after him in the days after surgery without being able to tell him to stand and back up, so he would be off the floor covering until I could put down fresh bedding. Imagine a 120-pound dog that you can't take outside for a few days. Thank God he was trained at that point - he was in incredible pain, but he knew exactly what to do with each command - never once did he challenge a command, even in great pain he never threatened us with even so much as a growl, and that saved us, and him, a lot of suffering in the aftermath of orthopedic surgery. That's an extreme end of the benefits of training that no one thinks about going in to training, but with a big dog, it can make a huge difference in recuperation for both the dog and the owners. I can never thank Charlotte enough for teaching us the basics. For anyone who prefers more "gentle" techniques like a nose lead, I can only say, Charlotte's training has stood up in times of trial. I cannot say enough good things about her training; if you have the opportunity to go through a class, please do so - but this video is the next best thing.

I had the pleasure of meeting Charlotte Foster more than 16 years ago. Since then, she has become an invaluable resource for me in my dog training efforts over the years. I watched her video in admiration. She was not the first trainer I had worked with, but certainly the most knowledgeable and honest about the reality of training canines. Like most dog owners, when I started dog training my dogs with her, what I really wanted was "a can of training", something I could feed my dogs and get results. I did not really want to do the hard work, nor did I want to put in the time to achieve my goals. She showed me how to have fun with my dogs and acomplish the schooling at the same time.

Charlotte's philosophy of establishing the alpha leader in the family circle ended any confusion in our household between the people and the pets. She has a clear understanding of how to balance the required discipline with love so my pets could be enjoyable members of our family. I now have a four-year old daughter and I hope she does another video on how to train a child! If you want to see a no nonsense video that will capture the truth of dog obedience, this is the video for you.

I believe this is a very solid method of dog training. It is very helpful and easy to understand for beginners. There are several methods of training dogs. Not all methods work for all dogs. I have used this method on several different types of dogs with great success. As for the review from Becky in Wa if you are wanting to sell a your product you shouldn't write bad reviews on something that you haven't even seen.

I have a real problem with this woman.
There are several times in the tape where she makes the dog she is working with yelp in pain. Then she has the nerve to say: "Oh, that didn't hurt as much as you are letting on".
I don't think you have to create pain in an animal to the point where they yell in pain, in order to teach them what you want them to do. There are plenty of counter examples of professional trainers who use love and respect to get the animal to behave in a manner the trainer wants, without causing the animal to scream.

I hope you will NOT use this tape, nor her methods. Those techniques work, no doubt, but let's get a little more enlighted shall we? Let's not torture the one's we are trying to love.