I couldn't decide whether I should write about this episode or not. It's not a very good episode. I decided to write about it because it shows the bad side of reality TV and how even good shows can quickly go to the dark side.
Advice shows can be an interesting and fun way to show first hand what can be accomplished with good methods on any topic. But then the ratings get in the way, and the shows can easily stop showing anything useful or even factual at all.
This episode of It's Me or the Dog was the worst kind of reality TV. It was the kind where they get some people doing incredibly crazy things, put them in front a camera, make fun of them, and tell them off. For this episode, they found four women who lived in a house together, didn't take care of their dogs at all, let them pee and poo all over the house and didn't even clean it up.
Very few of us are that messy, so this show isn't really useful to us at all unless we just enjoy making fun of people. I don't. So for me, it's a whole show wasted.
What little training they had actually reduced my opinion of Victoria Stilwell as a trainer. It seems she does not know how to lure a dog into a sitting position. This is the first thing you learn if you go to a dog training class and it's the easiest thing in the world to do. Not only does it teach sit faster, but it sets up a whole way of thinking for the student that they can use for future training.
I'm bummed out, and a little disappointed in Victoria Stilwell. I'm realizing that a person who was really good at dog training and also has integrity would never be able to survive in the world of television. It's too bad, because there is so much information that could help people.
They dramatize the show and don’t let the people clean up after their dogs to “intensify” the show. These girls are actually quite intelligent and are indeed really disappointed with the show as well. These people really wanted answers to their dog’s behavior… but instead, were forced to examine bad relationships with a girl (Susan) that wasn’t even living in the house at the time of filming (which of course wasnt mentioned). The Susan chick was kicked out of the house before filming began, so the emotions were real, but completely unrelated to what the show was about… which is why on one level, I completely agree with you in regards to the training. The dog didn’t learn anything, and the whole three month process was a waste of time. Oh well… cheers to bad tv. haha
Thanks for your comment. I actually changed my language in the post because I realized I had nowhere near enough knowledge to question the girls’ intelligence.
Also, it did feel a bit like the show was milking the messiness factor. I kept thinking that even if the girls were messy, wouldn’t they clean up when the cameras were coming over? So in that sense, the show felt a bit fake, as you kind of suggest.
I think the real lesson to be learned from this show was it’s not only necessary, but that it can be a good thing to take your dog out 3 or 4 times a day on a leash. Not for whole walks even, just to have that time to bond. But it’s a lifestyle change, and I think Victoria could have really shown how to make that change.
Funny, that someone thinks they know what really went on behind the scenes w/o actually having a clue in the world (“Actually,” I’m talking to you). This character, Susan, did NOT get “kicked out” of the house before filming; she was there the entire time suffering through it all and decided to leave 2 weeks before the followup because it got too bad. After the followup, the other 2 girls were evicted from the house, and their little dogs too. Susan still rents the house and manages it from Las Vegas. I know these things b/c, oh wait, I AM SUSAN. Get your facts straight before u go online w them please. And bad tv u say? Try actually being a part of it and having someone emotionally tortue and berate u on national television. Crying ur eyes out for the country to see is not my idea of a good time.
Oh, and 2 of the girls are not as intelligent as u say. One of them is in fact an alcoholic who decided to make her best friend’s life a living hell, while the other is a narcissist who is too lazy to clean up after a 3-lb dog. I WISH it was the show not allowing them to clean it up, but it was in fact sheer laziness and the fact that there was poo on the wall for 2 months that actually brought the show into our house in the first place. Again, check urself before u open ur mouth for everyone to read.