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It’s Me or the Dog

Since 2005, Victoria Stilwell has been working with the world’s most unruly dogs (and owners!) on her international smash hit TV show, It’s Me or the Dog, which airs in the U.S. on Animal Planet and over 100 other countries. Produced by Shed Media US (Supernanny, Marriage Ref, Real Housewives of NYC), the show features Victoria as she gives counsel to families with problem pets and uses positive reinforcement training techniques to help them learn how to correct their dogs’ behavior problems.

Originally produced for UK TV’s Channel 4, the show premiered in the US on Animal Planet in April 2007, and to date over 110 original episodes have been aired worldwide. A typical episode involves a family struggling to cope with their misbehaving dogs. Victoria arrives to help restore order by initially observing the problems firsthand in their native environment, then confronting the family with her expert opinion regarding the root causes of the issues. Victoria then works with the family and their dogs to restore balance by showing where the owners have previously gone wrong and what they can do to remedy the problems. After a period of time alone to implement Victoria’s hand-crafted training regimen, the family welcomes Victoria back to display the progress made and get a few tune-ups and encouragement from Victoria to stay the course.

There have been several 'special' episodes of It’s Me or the Dog including those featuring overweight dogs, Victoria’s public seminars at an outdoor dog festival, her work with the caretakers of a wild wolf rescue park and her training of out-of-control pedigree dogs on their way to the world’s largest dog show. The show has been nominated for two Genesis Awards, a People’s Choice Award in the US and a TV Choice Awards in the UK.

Check local listings here.

Tags: animal planet, It's Me or the Dog, tv, victoria stilwell tv

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43 thoughts on “It’s Me or the Dog”

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Jaynie Kittle-Perry July 17, 2014 at 2:26 pm

we miss you r show not being on Animal Planet. What Happened?
Vicki Dawson December 15, 2014 at 11:49 am

Is "It's Me or the Dog" still on Animal Planet? or any other US channel? Am not finding it and it seems Animal Planet has opted for some pretty violent stuff recently.
Beatriz March 9, 2015 at 9:13 pm

Hi Victoria I have a problem: I have just picked up a 6 week old maltese/shit-zu/cavalier cross and I (very badly on my part) brought him home to my 9yr old Westy. Generally they get along alright but the westy growls at the pup quite a bit and has shown his teeth to him a couple of times. When this happens I tell him to stop and he just turns away and leaves the room. When I got the westy as a 6 week old pup my brother had a yr old german shepherd and he behaved like an angel with the westy, let him sleep on top of him and everything. However they didn't lived together for the first 2 yrs of the pups life. When my current pup tries to sleep near the (now) older westy he growls at him and doesn't want him near him. I really want them to get along, I think maybe its because the pup is constantly chewing everyone and everything and that maybe I should just give it some time as he's only been with us a week, but I constantly worry that they'll never get along and that I made a mistake bringing the little one home. Anyone have a similar problem that can give advice or (hopefully) reassurance that they'll eventually get along? Victoria please help
Terri-Louise Marks April 25, 2015 at 2:57 pm

How to i get my 8 year old and 4 year old yorkies to stop peeing everywhere?
Ella-Rebecka Marlen-Summers March 4, 2016 at 12:15 pm

Good Grief!. I have to tell you all that the problem is so clearly that there are, quite simply, far too many stupid, ignorant, thoughtless, selfish, greedy humans out there who are allowed to have dogs but should not be allowed anywhere near an animal.
Myranda Miller March 15, 2016 at 4:31 pm

First off, stop yelling at the older dog and stop worrying about them getting along. Your Westie is trying to teach the pup manners, just let him do so. There may be a bit of frustration at first but trust me, the pup will learn what is and is not allowed. I know our first reaction is to stop the dog from growling at the other one, but in this case it is acceptable because the older one is trying to teach the younger one what the rules are. It's just as if you had brought a toddler into your home and your 13 year old child is trying to help him understand what is and isn't allowed. I also recommend getting your pup into puppy obedience classes as soon as possible and bring your older dog along, to strengthen both of your bonds while teaching the pup your rules, too.
DogLover5 September 5, 2016 at 2:43 pm

Hi Victoria. I need help with my dog, Maizy. She barks, she digs up the yard, she bites, she jumps and I just need someone to help train my dog. I'll feel better if I can get some suggestions on how to get my dog to stop doing the things I mentioned.
Emma kilshaw September 12, 2016 at 4:27 pm

Hi Victoria I need help with my dog, benji he barks at anythink he see's and he goes for me when I pick him up like bites just need some help and I feel better and not afraid to pick him up
Boo Boo September 18, 2016 at 2:21 am

You may want to try the "leave it" command to stop the barking and have him refocused on you. Look it up on youtube. Victoria has the "leave it" video on there. The dog actually leaves whatever you tell it to and then you reward him/her with a treat
David Morris September 26, 2016 at 4:04 am

Hi Victoria, I had a couple of questions if you had the time to read my post. Are you still making the show and how would we apply to be on it? We have rescued a 2 year old Jack Russell who is very over-reactive on the lead towards other dogs and can also be aggressive of the lead when he meets a dog he is not sure about. This has resulted in a couple of very distressing dog fights, the last nearly killing another dog. We love him bits and he is very submissive and a great house dog, we could really do with some help in supporting him to socialise and meet dogs, we currently use the BAT training technique and have been getting him used to seeing dogs at safe distance and he has made some progress, but we are unsure how to allow him to be around dogs. I write this post with fairly bad bites to my hand as yesterday I had to pull our dog off a smaller dog, which would have resulted in a death and possibly our decision to put him down. If you could offer any advice about how we could apply to your show, it would be much appreciated! Thanks
Moon Star (MoonStar) October 17, 2016 at 12:17 pm

Hi Victoria, I have a question about my dog . We moved to a new house and everyone since my dog will not go to the bathroom in her new yard. But if I put her on the leash and walk her outside of her yard she will go . How do I get her to go in her yard it's been 2 months and I have tried everything including putting new rock in it and taking her poop to the area telling her good girl. Nothing works I don't know what to do anymore. Please help if you can . Thank you so much.
Boo Boo October 23, 2016 at 2:48 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUT3FCFmFpM
Boo Boo October 23, 2016 at 3:06 am

Does she get regular walks like 1 a day or 2 a day or do you throw the ball/Frisbee for her daily? Dogs need to get out. They need to get that energy out. If you do walk her and play with her....for the barking tip 1) When she is in her barking mode, have her favorite treat in your hand and wait til she stops barking. When she stops barking say "quiet" and reward her with a treat. Continue this over and over. Eventually the barking should stop. As for biting tip 2) what does she bite at? dogs? people? need more info on that. As for jumping tip 3) I assume your dog jumps on people. If she does, simply put her on the leash and remove her. Put her in the garage. Wait for a few minutes. Then go back to get her. If she jumps again at the person, again remove her with leash to garage. Keep on and on with this method if she continues to jump. It may take 5 tries...it may take 15. Eventually your dog shouldn't jump when brought back up from the garage. She will know she will get removed if she jumps on people.
KL November 6, 2016 at 5:25 pm

My dog never wanted to do his business in our yard. We took him for walks 3 times per day and that's when he went to the bathroom. Plus it's important for dogs to get exercise every day too :))
Julie Silva November 21, 2016 at 1:38 pm

I have a 6 month old German Shepherd mix. She is still mouthing, nibbling on my husband, my son when they try to pet her, I do take her twice a day for walks; she has her chew toys, I'm trying my best to teach her not to Bite/mouthing when we want to pet her. What should I do? Please help.
Heather Rose Hughes January 8, 2017 at 10:02 pm

I have 3 dogs. A 5 year old female Toy Poodle, and her two 2 year old Maltipoo pups (1 boy, 1 girl).
Problem 1. Walking. When I take them out for a walk they all pull and they're very strong when all together. I've tried harnesses and stopping in the street and treats but they just pull. If they see any other dogs, or even people, they go crazy and pull till it chokes them and they yap and bark and it's so embarrassing and hard to cope with.
Problem 2. Barking. When we leave the house the dogs climb up to the window and bark and howl at us leaving the house, it's worse when we return home as we can hear them from inside the car... we tried locking them in the kitchen but the neighbours complained it was worse.
Problem 3. Toilet. The oldest one will more often than not run back and forth letting us know she wants to go out, but every now and then she will decide to just poop or pee by the door without letting us know first. The two pups just poop and pee by the back door without letting us know at all. They also leave poops around the house when we go out, such as the bathroom or landing. During the night I close my door to keep the dogs in my room so that they can't go to the toilet in the living room (because we had an issue where in mornings we would find pee in the carpet downstairs) but this jut resulted in a bedroom full of it all.

I'm really losing my patience and don't know what to do. Please help?
Ian March 1, 2017 at 11:49 am

i have a 5 months old beadle and lately his behaviour is becoming increasingly vicious. He has bitten my partner several times when she was trying to take away something he shouldn't had and today he shared towards both of us when we trying to move his food bowl out of the way. Now my partner is getting scarred of the dog. What can we do to correct our puppies behaviour
Lorna May 7, 2017 at 7:54 am

Hi Victoria my sister has a small poodle and has had him for thirteen years, she had another dog that unfortunately died last year since then he has been showing separation anxiety from her. This improved a little however has since gotten worse whereby she cannot leave the home and has to take the dog everywhere with her even shopping this has caused her distress as she has been called over the tani calling here to her dog in the car as he was distressed. She can no longer go out because he'
s screeching has had complaints from the neighbours and has been threatened with eviction from the council. She has tried a vibrating collar this seemed to make things worse and leaving items for him to smell when she has managed to go out but has proved unsuccessful. they are very fond of the dog and do not want to get rid of him however feel they may have to look at this as an alternative as it is affecting her life so much can you help please she is sinking into depression.
Crazy Bex May 8, 2017 at 6:25 am

Hi I have a 9 month old Collie I don't know if his problems have been caused by the fact that he was taken away from his mother at 3 weeks as she was sent back to work and the puppies were sold or what but at the moment I am having a couple of problems with him for 1. I can't go out the back door into the garden as he sometimes runs out the garden and it takes for ever to get him back inside
2. He pulls on the lead so much so I couldn't walk him for a couple of weeks back as I had cracked my ribs and was told not to exert myself and when I asked if I could walk him the answer was if the dog pulls don't
3. During the day I can't let him have the full roam of the house as he 9 times out of 10 will poop on the stairs.
4. We (my mum and I) can't leave anything on the dinning room table as he jumps up and takes it. It could be anything from food to clothes but when we try to get the thing of him he will jump on us and try to nip
5. When I am taking him for his walk he jumps up and try's to get the lead my fear of this is the fact that out the front of the house is a main road but when I walk him around the back of the house he goes for my feet and ankles I also don't know if it's the fact of when he was younger he was bite by a golden Labrador. It's always the same place he plays up. We desperately need help as this behaviour cannot go on it is causing my mum and I to lose our patience with each other
Positively November 28, 2017 at 2:20 pm

I recommend a consultation with a qualified trainer to give you some tips on how to manage or change this behavior. It is impossible to give you good advice without seeing your pup's behavior, I'm afraid.

For immediate help, I recommend that you visit our website and plug in your zip code or city to see if there is a VSPDT local to you. If there isn't, there is always the option of doing a phone consultation with one of them.

Here is the link to search for a VSPDT:
https://positively.com/dog-training/find-a-trainer/find-a-vspdt-trainer

Here is the link to request a phone consultation:
https://positively.com/dog-training/find-a-trainer/phone-consultation/

Either way, you should be able to get some very much-needed help.

Best,
The Team at Positively
Positively November 28, 2017 at 2:25 pm

Hi Molly, sounds like you could use a consultation with a qualified trainer to give you some tips on how to manage or change this behavior. It is impossible to give you good advice without seeing your pup's behavior, I'm afraid.
For immediate help, I recommend that you visit our website and plug in your zip code or city to see if there is a VSPDT local to you. If there isn't, there is always the option of doing a phone consultation with one of them.
Here is the link to search for a VSPDT:
https://positively.com/dog-...
Here is the link to request a phone consultation:
https://positively.com/dog-...
Either way, you should be able to get some very much-needed help.
Best,
The Team at Positively