Boss ≠ fear or pain-based behavior modification.
What you want is a happy, well-socialized animal that knows how to behave, what is expected of him/her, and how to avoid aversives, not one who is living in fear of you for doing what comes natural.
What Milan and people who adhere to this outdated theory of dog training fail to recognize is that aversives do not need to be violent to be highly effective. In fact, such methods typically create other behavior problems, because the anxiety they create will find an outlet, and one assuredly their caretaker will not appreciate. Choke collars, electrocution, violence in general, is a twisted, deluded, uneducated way to express dominance and frustration, and it is not in the dog's best interest, nor the trainer/owner.
I agree with you. Argo was an absolute nightmare when I got him. I even took him to a well respected animal psychologist after the third week of owning him. The only thing he didn't do wrong was go to the bathroom outside. I was worried for others safety when I took him there for several lessons in dog obedience and training. It was expensive, but she assured me that if I worked with him, I could get him turned around.
For the most part I have. He is very gentle around old people and kids, but I am always very cautious, as I firmly believe that all dogs are unpredictable. He is never on a leash and will stay right by me, doesn't run off, is well mannered in the house, etc. It took a ton of patience and some tough love, but we have worked out a deal. I never really beat him per se, but he has gotten a good whack with a slipper for acting like a total jackass.
The worst night was about a month into owning him, which was about 9 1/2 years ago. He took off one night when I lived on a farm and came back in the middle of the night with about a two inch thick suit of armor made out of burrs that covered every inch of his body. That was before I knew about Cowboy Magic and we spent the next two hours in a bloody fight to yank the fxxxing things out of his fur. At one point, I grabbed him by his chest and pinned him to the ceiling with one hand while he tried his best to bite my arm off.
The next morning, we were both beat. There was a huge pile of ripped out fur and burrdock laying on the floor and he looked like he had gone through the wringer. I could tell he felt bad and he came up to me while I was laying on the couch and put his head next to mine and licked my face. Ever since then we have been the best of friends. He doesn't really snap at me anymore, he just whirls around and sticks his snout where my hand is, if I am yanking too hard on his coat.
Overall, I would say that he has taught me a lot about dogs. The one thing I will say for sure is that with some dogs, you just have to let them be who they are. He is not perfect, but hey, neither am I. He has a great personality now that he knows I am not going to desert him the way his previous owner did, and I love having him around. He turned out to be a pretty damn good dog.
