Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

Well, I went to the natural foods store, but all they had was this organic vegetarian dog food. My dog is no vegetarian! So then I went to PetsMart, a large supermarket for pets, and got Purina ProPlan for senior dogs canned food. First on the ingredients list is liver, chicken, wheat gluten, turkey...

Thanks for your quick reply Em! "Do whatever it is to her food that means she eats it, and do it 'as standard' rather than seeing if she will eat then adding something to it." ---I think that may have been where I was going wrong, because I'd been waiting and then adding the treat. Maybe I...

Hi everybody, I've decided to follow suggestions on this board to feed my dog on a schedule. She was used to free feeding, but I've learned that this is not healthy. She is 12 and eats Iams for old dogs (Sorry, I didn't know it tested on animals... just bought it b/c my vet said it was good and I ca...

Eek! The choke chain made your dog fearful and aggressive?! That's really sad and must've been an awful experience for you. I'm sorry to hear it. :( I don't know, I mean, yes I shouldn't leave things on my counter, but it's my kitchen and I like being able to set my food on the counter. I couldn't j...

Well, we were teaching them to not just walk politely on the lead, but to walk within a very specific zone right next to our side so precise that the dog had to really concentrate on where their walker's feet were the entire time. It's not something we'd do for long walks, but for getting out of sit...

"How do you think the 'correction' of a choke chain works? It works because the dog knows that to not heed it will incur unpleasant results." --- Yes, stressing the word "unpleasant," not that it will experience pain or injury. Are you against teachers in schools handing out dete...

Hi, Not to be the devil's advocate here, as I am a big fan of Victoria's methods and of positive training methods in general, but so-called "choke chains" are actually really effective when used in the right situations and in the correct way. When I took my first dog to doggie school, one ...

Hi, Do you live with your stepfather? If not, in my opinion you need to be more assertive when he and the other "macho idiots" come to visit. Although he is an authority figure, neither he nor anyone else who comes to YOUR home has the right to mishandle YOUR dog. Even if it means telling ...

Hello, My puppy is weird. Her favorite toy is a little stuffed whale. She takes it everywhere and sleeps with it. Sometimes, for no reason at all, she picks it up and starts wimpering. She only wimpers after she picks up the whale toy and cannot be comforted. She is not sick and doesn't have any wou...

Hi, Is she only aggressive when she's chained? If so, I think an easy and neccessary solution to the problem is to simply never chain her up. In my experience, chained dogs pretty much always become aggressive when chained. My neighbors chained up their lab and it bit their child as a result. When a...

Haha! So dog women and people women are actually quite similar... reminds me of my times living in the college dorms. :) Thank you so much for your advice. I think I've been judging Kendra a little to harshly just based on the media hype about APBTs... she's actually a good puppy and doesn't even pl...

Hi guys, My brother's American Pit Bull Terrier (I read in a book that "no self-respecting American Pit Bull Terrier owner would refer to their dog as a pit bull" so I'm trying to be respectable) is 5 months old. As I said in my previous post, she kind of abruptly moved in with me and my 1...

OK, I see the reasoning here. I feel guilty for letting Annie eat the way she has her whole life. I just thought it was nicer for her to be able to eat whenever she felt hungry, but that's probably not how she felt about it. :( On the plus side, I think she must be a genius since she was easily toil...

Thank you so much for your advice! Annie (the older one) is actually really confident and growls at the puppy and barks when the puppy does something she doesn't like. The puppy is the one who is lacking in confidence, but only around people, not other dogs. She's friendly but shy I guess and rolls ...

Hi Everyone, My problem is this: my very irresponsible brother got a pit bull puppy even though he did not have a permanent place to live or any real dog training/raising experience. I live at home because I just recently graduated from college and am trying to find a job and save up some money befo...