Dog Training by Bash: The Tried and True Techniques of the Dog Trainer to the Stars
By admin on Jun 18, 2010 in Dog Training
Product Description
The acclaimed animal trainer teaches dog owners how to think like a dog, housebreak their canine, learn special techniques to deal with serious problems, choose the right dog, and more. Reprint.
Dog Training by Bash: The Tried and True Techniques of the Dog Trainer to the Stars
Anonymous | Jun 18, 2010 | Reply
I was going to learn how to train dogs under “bash” in NYC. I heard he was the best. I called him one day, and he said to read everything i could find on wolf behavior. This is a good book. More of the same, but i’m sure you’ll get something from it. I live in VT now, and am in another line of work. I was walking in the woods the other day and was attacked by a wolf and i thought (as the wolf was tearing me apart) … gee, i wonder where old bash is now.
Rating: 3 / 5
Lee Charles Kelley | Jun 19, 2010 | Reply
In this book Bash Dibra, the self-styled “dog trainer to the stars,” recounts some of his experiences raising and training an actual wolf. You’d think this would lend a great deal of credence to Dibra’s training techniques and to his retelling of the now discredited alpha theory, which states that the social instincts of dogs and wolves is based on who’s most dominant within the pack’s hierarchical structure. But since this book was initially published in the early 1990s, it’s now totally out of date and off-base, at least from a theoretical standpoint.
For instance early in the book Dibra says, “You should take the alpha role with your puppy early or he will always try to dominate you.” But the top wolf experts don’t even like to use the word alpha anymore because, as David Mech puts it, “It falsely implies a hierarchical system in which a wolf assumes a place in a linear pecking order.” (Canadian Journal of Zoology, 2002.) Mech has also stated that in wild wolves “dominance displays are uncommon.” So how can you “play the alpha role” with your puppy if there is no such thing as alpha? And why would a puppy always try to dominate you if dominance displays are rare in nature?
Why the disparity? Because it turns out that the alpha theory was based on studies done on wolves kept captive in sanctuaries, not on the behavior of actual wild wolf packs, who behave in a more cooperative and harmonic manner than captive wolves (or most dominance trainers) do.
Dibra also says that training a dog to lie down on command is difficult because lying down is a submissive posture and dogs never want to be submissive. There are two flaws in the logic here: First of all, the posture for the obedience “down” — lyiing with the spinal column in a straight line, head up — is radicallly different from a submissive down — rolling over on one side and putting a back leg up in the air. That posture would not win points at an obedience trial! Meanwhile, Patricia Gail Burnham, in PLAYTRAINING YOUR DOG, says that she saves the down for last because it’s too EASY. Again, why the disparity?
The other flaw in Dibra’s logic: if dogs always want to dominate and never be submissive, and training them is about showing that YOU’RE dominant, doesn’t that describe an ongoing, unending battle between you and your dog’s instincts? Does that sound healthy, happy, and productive? Wouldn’t it be better to find a way — as Pat Burnham, Kevin Behan, and others do — to work WITH your dog’s instincts and not be constantly battling them?
With that said, there ARE some good bits of training advice here: don’t rush the training process, give your dog lots of vigorous exercise, etc. Just keep far, far away from anything that smacks of dominance…the logic of that approach no longer makes any sense.
Rating: 2 / 5
Joan A. Hall | Jun 19, 2010 | Reply
This came as a new book…was so pleased to get it…timely…thanks so…
Rating: 5 / 5
P. Kennedy | Jun 19, 2010 | Reply
This guy does have some good stuff going on. Written some time back, there are some methods that have been shown to be damaging such as bumping a dog in the chest to prohibit jumping. The physiology of a dog’s chest is such that even a gentle bump at the wrong angle can crack or even break the breast bone. So other methods have been developed for that behavior since this book was written.
Overall, Bash does a fairly good job of describing tried and true methods that have been in place for eons. But one must realize there are more ways than one to train a dog. Read the dog and determine a training plan that will suit that animal. One size does not fit all.
Rating: 3 / 5
Anonymous | Jun 19, 2010 | Reply
Bash Dibra is one of the most gifted trainers extant. His techniques differentiate him from all other trainers in that he teaches the owner to train his own dog. This book is one of the few training guides that actually gives easy-to-understand information in a format a novice can follow. All dogs fall in love with Bash, so he must know something other trainers don’t!
Rating: 5 / 5