Michael Tucker

[luckydog]

At the risk of creating a flamewar, I am curious about peoples thoughts of the writings of Michael Tucker in the Dogs Victoria magazine.

As someone who has discovered the gentler form of dog obedience I am not a fan of his techniques but I know full well that there are many dog trainers who are.

I certainly have no objection to him providing his advice in a column, but I am deeply disturbed by his latest letter on page 8 of the May edition.

He refers to criticism as "inappropriate and unacceptable" which I find an astonishing stance given his status.

While he is certainly entitled to say "dear letter writer I think your wrong" I actually think the only thing that is 'unacceptable' is his apparent inability to accept that there are those who disagree with his views.

If I am going to criticize anything Mr Tucker actually writes (and I speak from the position of someone who writes for a living, as opposed to someone who trains dogs for a living), his articles are far too self congratulatory. In his March 2008 column, the last 3 paragraphs were of little value to dog trainers and could have easily been collapsed or even removed.

Surely its time for Dogs Vic to bring an additional columnist onboard to promote alternatives such as clicker and food training?

Edited May 2, 2008 by luckydog

[persephone]

Any chance of seeing his comments? You could pm them if you like....

was just wondering if he had changed his viewpoint any from when I worked with him many years ago.

[luckydog]

I am not certain I would do justice by just typing highlights.

Sadly Mr Tucker is quite verbose.

It appears this whole subject has been done before...

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=michael+tucker

Edited May 2, 2008 by luckydog

[Natsu chan]

Luckydog, personally I don't think Michael Tucker or his methods are bad in and of themselves. What isn't good is the way people on both sides of the training style debate talk down to each other and insist that their way is the only way. Both sides do this, and Mr Tucker isn't innocent of this either. That sort of attitude really doesn't help. The reality is that no one training style works for everyone in all situations, which is the very reason why there are so many different training styles. The worst thing about this sort of attitude no matter where it comes from is that it makes people who are experiencing difficulties feel isolated and helpless and pretty stupid too.

I myself use what works best with that particular dog but I lean towards the older training style as that suits my temperament much better. There's a lot to be learnt from watching and reading about other training methods and closing your mind to them is just short changing yourself in my opinion.

I will say one thing for Mr Tucker some of what he says is helpful and based in commonsense. You're right though he is pretty verbose. :D

[luckydog]

The reality is that no one training style works for everyone in all situations, which is the very reason why there are so many different training styles. The worst thing about this sort of attitude no matter where it comes from is that it makes people who are experiencing difficulties feel isolated and helpless and pretty stupid too.

I myself use what works best with that particular dog.....

Absolutely true!

Thanks for the great and well thought out reply.

I totally agree with you!

[Lablover]

I find it strange........I have one of his books, abet dated, which I found (or at least reminded myself - which is good) a couple of gems. Totally confused with his recent published advice, as it is contradictive.