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Chatting with Victoria Stilwell, Star of the TV Show "It's Me or the Dog"
With Guest: Victoria Stilwell, International Dog Trainer, star of Animal Planet's "It's Me or the Dog" television show and author of "It's Me Or The Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet."
Original Air Date: 04-02-2010
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Victoria Stilwell and her chocolate lab, Sadie.
(Photo courtesy of "Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC")
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Victoria and "It's Me or the Dog. " shooting a special on location episode of the show in Windsor Great Park at the 2006 Wag and Bone Show. The show originated in Britain and was produced for UK TV's channel 4. The show premiered in the U.S on Animal Planet in 2007.
Here is the current U.S. show schedule.
Current UK show schedule.
(Photo courtesy of "Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC")
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On location. "It's Me or The Dog" shoot for UK episode 411 (Toby) in Chichester, England.
(Photo courtesy of "Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC")
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Victoria and the crew shooting a special episode of the show outside in Windsor Great Park at the 2006 Wag and Bone Show.
(Photo courtesy of "Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC")
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In Victoria Stilwell's book, she shares many of the training tips and techniques she uses when training dogs in her television show.
(Cover art photo courtesy of Hyperion Books)
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In positive reinforcement training, desired behaviors are encouraged and rewarded.
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Dogs may not communicate in the ways we might like, however, through their vocalizations and body language, we can learn to better understand and "talk" dog.
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A dogs bark is an important part of its communication. In the book, "It's Me or the Dog", Victoria Stilwell explains eight of the other sounds that dogs make and their meaning.
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All dog owners experience times when they wish their dogs would not bark. Watch Victoria Stilwell talk about how to deal with barking on the CBS Early Show.
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Dogs communicate much to us through their body language. We often miss the subtle and not so subtle signals. A nervous or scared dog that presents its belly, may not be asking for a belly rub.
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One of the most common problems Victoria experiences when working with families is their dogs elimination accidents. Often, once the family adjusts its actions, the "inappropriate elimination" issues are remedied.
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Dogs will get into mischief. Letting them know what is not acceptable is part of training.
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Many behavior issues arise when dogs are not mentally and physically stimulated enough. Play and exercise is more than a nice thing to do with your dog - it is crucial. This dog has three balls in its mouth.
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Victoria Stilwell has been anti-puppy mill for a long time and believes that people do not know enough about them. When we go to pet stores, or buy dogs online, we may be contributing to the puppy industry and results in the misery and abuse of millions of dogs.
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Victoria joined hundreds of other people to protest against the puppy mill industry in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania during 2009's Puppy Mill Awareness day.
(Photo courtesy of "Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC")
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Victoria with the guys from "Rescue Ink" at the Sept. 2009 Puppy Mill Awareness Day. I interviewed "Rescue Ink", the tough and tatooed yet warm hearted guys who rescue animals in New York. Listen to the interview with Rescue Ink.
(Photo courtesy of "Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC")
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Victoria Stilwell is committed to helping the cause of animal rescue and is heavily involved with rescue groups around the world.
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Born and raised in Wimbledon, England, Victoria Stilwell is one of the world's most recognized and respected dog trainers.
She is best known for her role as the star of Animal Planet's hit TV series It's Me or the Dog, through which she is able to share her insight and passion for positive reinforcement dog training and as a judge on CBS's Greatest American Dog. Having filmed over 90 episodes since 2005, Stilwell is able to reach audiences in over 40 countries while counseling families on their pet problems.
Her two best-selling books, It's Me or the Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet and Fat Dog Slim: How to Have a Healthy, Happy Pet, have been widely praised, and they detail her core reward-based training philosophy: “There’s a better way to train – Positively.”
Due to her passion for positive reinforcement training methods, Stilwell created www.positively.com – the online home of positive reinforcement – featuring the world’s leading veterinary behaviorists, dog trainers and behavioral scientists on her Positively Expert Blog. She is a vocal opponent of punitive, dominance-based training techniques which often result in 'quick fixes' but ultimately cause more long-term harm than good while damaging the owner-dog relationship.
In 2010, she launched Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training, the world’s first global network of positive reinforcement dog trainers, dedicated to providing the dog-owning public a brand name they can trust in reward-based training.
She also remains committed to helping the cause of animal rescue and is heavily involved with rescue groups around the world including Paws Atlanta, Stray from the Heart (NYC), Hong Kong Dog Rescue and Greyhound Rescue of West England. She supports the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project, Jana Kohl and the Waterside Action Group to increase awareness of the horrific practice of puppy mills globally. She has worked as a volunteer adoption counselor for the ASPCA, and she has been featured in numerous magazines and journals including The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Mail, MSNBC.com, USA Today, Psychology Today and The Sun. Stilwell is a regular columnist for The Bark, Dog World, American Dog and Dogs Today magazines. She has appeared on countless talk shows, news broadcasts and radio shows in the US, Europe and Asia as a dog- training expert. Victoria is certified by the Animal Behavior and Training Associates and is a proud member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT).
(photo by Gemma Day)
Victoria currently resides in Atlanta with her husband, daughter and Chocolate Lab, Sadie.
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Additional Resources
Victoria clears up confusion about positive reinforcement training.
Read Victoria Stilwell's Blog.
To Watch the show, "It's Me or the Dog" here are the show schedules.
In the U.S.
In the U.K.
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