Customer Reviews

Woof! A Guide to Dog Training

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i remembered watching a snippet of this when i was 9 siting on my living room floor watching channel 6 on tv. "uncle Matty"'s dog training program came on and having nothing better to do, i watched it. 4 years later i got my first dog, an energetic 1 year old siberian husky who refused to have anything do do with commands such as sit and heel. i remembered vaguely the techniques that were used in this video and implemented them on my own situation. in two days my puppy was heeling, in another four, she was sitting. a friend of mine shortly after bought a young akita puppy. we used the same methods as i did with mine, and shortly after, her own dog was listening better and thier bond was even tighter.
Mr. Margolis uses extremely non-agressive, but firm, methods to teach dogs what we need them to know. the animals in the video seem to have fun learning as well. he teaches methods for leash training and also methods for owners who get walked by their dogs. i highly recommend this training video.

I've seen several dog training DVDs and this is above average primarily for helping you look at things from the dog's point of view. Matty's methods also appear very effective. Indeed the segments dealing with bad and aggressive behavior are convincing. That said, the methods for sit, heel, and some other corrective behaviors rely not on 'shaping' with treats but on negative reinforcement with a choke collar (coupled with praise when the right behavior happens). If you are not willing to give your dog a good yank on a choke collar, this may not be for you. There is also some good advice on housetraining. My biggest criticism is that "Uncle Matty", while likable, is pretty repetitive and given the higher than 2 hour running time, you won't find a wide breadth of 'tricks' here.

Matthew Margolis must have been a dog in a previous life. How else could he be so insightful? Having lived all my life in the company of dogs, I got my own first pup at eleven, and she was the first of many I trained. I've always believed in bonding and love, not punishment. But through the years, with all the information I've read and seen, the various advice and ideas, I've learned this - all dogs are not the same, and training has to be tailored to each individual. I had not found any method that could shed light on how to do that. And now I had two challenging little guys who could be successful, but it was up to me to figure out what they needed.

Thank goodness I found this DVD. Uncle Mattie nailed identifying your dog's personailty and teaching accordingly. Especially helpful to me was the clip about rescue dogs, as my two are just that. Both came through agencies that save dogs from kill shelters, one as a pup, the other as a two year old. Let's just say we had some issues.


In our first session, the one who was two at adoption heeled fairly well right off. But he got an A+ at Stay on his very first try. Now, we are talking about a Papillon, and if you're not familiar with the breed, imagine a five year old kid on a sugar rush, and that's my Rudy. Anybody who can show me how to get this greased lightning to Stay in less than five minutes is my hero.

And he didn't do it just one time - I later had him Stay in one room and I went a couple rooms away for five minutes or longer. That dog did not move until I said "Come". That's amazing.

And he was as happy about it as I was. Both dogs were upset about my putting the choke chain on them at first, but now they know how much fun the training is that they are excited to see it. I too, was concerned. But it actually chokes them a lot less then having them constantly pulling at their leash while walking. Now, they're heeling, not trying to drag me along. The leash is slack, the choke chain stays loose until they need a little yank. It's more noise than anything.

And with little dogs, they will yap if they feel anything, so I can be sure it's not hurting them. They certainly wouldn't wag when they see it if they thought it would harm them.

Some of the things on the DVD are potty training - puppies and dogs, why they have accidents, the five steps to doing it right.

Basic comands -

Sit - and there is a difference between getting a five pound dog to sit or lay than doing the same with a ninety pound dog. Anyone who's had both can tell you that.

Down

Stay

Heel

Uncle Mattie addresses problem behaviors like mouthing, aggression, and stealing food off your table - mostly with a No!, sometimes also with a shake of the Woof! can.

And then there's a lot of praise, praise, praise. And that seems to be the magic, because although he claims there really is no magic to dog training, I almost have to disagree. Yes, there is a right way, a way that works, and then there are a lot of less successful ways. When the dogs responded to this man, over their beloved owners, well, it sure seemed a little magical to me.

It's an okay training video. Good sections on dealing with dogs with aggression, but I didn't find the general training as helpful. I also bought Train Your Dog-The Positive and Gentle Method. That worked much better for us. The dvd is a little cheesy, but the dog picked up on the training immediately!

This is an ok video, it didn't address the problem I was trying to fix, but would make a good basic training video.

Uncle Matty is a pleasure to watch when he is around dogs. He obviously loves his work, and his silly, falsetto dog-praising voice seems to be all the reward they need. I adopted a strong-willed pup from a shelter some months ago, and have been searching for a training method that will work on her, but not one that is harsh. I got the opportunity to watch this video, and will be trying its techniques. Uncle Matty gives the viewer training variations to match the individual dog's temperament, and I found this valuable. His combination of kindness and control are definitely worth emulating. Also it is a pleasure to get to see all the various dogs included here. (Go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/woof/index.html for more of Uncle Matty's canine know-how.)