Brad Pattison is a well-known dog trainer in Canada. He has his own dog training television show, called At The End of My Leash which airs in Canada and Europe.
Brad Pattison’s show just started airing in the United States, under the name In The Doghouse, on Saturdays, at the Animal Planet.
Brad Pattison also runs a CET (Certified Educator Trainers) dog training program. Presumably, after attending one of these programs, you will get to put the CET stamp after your name. However, before enrolling in one of these classes, and fulfilling your lifelong dreams of becoming a CET, please watch this short video of Brad Pattison in action in one of his classes.
[Sadly, this last video has also gotten yanked from rutube.]
It is often difficult to find videos of Brad Pattison in true action because these videos keep getting yanked from their online sites. However, the fact that Pattison and gang feels the need to yank short ‘training’ class videos, says a lot about Pattison’s “training techniques”.
In the dog training arena, there is a fair amount of debate between the people who mostly support reward training and the people who mostly support aversive training.
Victoria Stilwell is a popular television dog trainer that uses reward training (It’s Me Or The Dog, which airs on Animal Planet) and Cesar Millan is a popular television dog trainer that has a greater emphasis on aversive training (The Dog Whisperer, which airs on the National Geographic Channel) .
So where does Brad Pattison fit in?
Bad Pattison seems to be a standard traditional dog trainer. He uses aversive dog training techniques and relies very heavily, almost exclusively, on leash jerks or leash corrections.
However, to differentiate himself from Cesar Millan, Brad Pattison further ups the aversive ante and not only applies physical aversive methods on the dogs, but also verbal aversive methods on the dog owners. This is in contrast to Victoria Stilwell who applies some aversive methods on the dog owners, and Cesar Millan who applies some aversive methods on the dogs.
Even the people who support aversive methods generally agree, that what was shown in the Brad Pattison video clip is not good ‘dog training‘. Anyone who trains dogs, owns dogs, or even just watches Cesar Millan occasionally, knows that the energy you use to interact with a dog is extremely important, and can greatly affect the dog’s behavior.
Performing leash jerks using angry or frustrated energy only teaches the dog one thing, and that is to blindly fear you. There will be little respect or trust involved. When angry, annoyed, or frustrated, your erratic behavior will only confuse the dog, and set back his learning process. It will also increase his stress levels, lower his quality of life, and weaken your human-canine bond.
In fact, such energy is also counter-productive for teaching humans.
Which teachers do you respect most? The ones who communicate with calm authority, or the ones who shout and act in an erratic fashion? The ones that positively encourage you or the ones that quickly lose their temper and publicly denigrate you?
Here is an eye-witness opinion of Brad Pattison’s dog training techniques –
I saw him first hand this past Sat., he was in Woodbridge and all I can say is this – “I don’t understand why anyone would follow his methods”. Someone once told me, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. So I had to see things for myself, and what a wake up call it was.
What he does to train dogs is not nice at all. In fact, he makes the dogs fear him. One even got away from him as it was tied to his leg. Now, that’s got to give you some insight or idea of what your dog is trying to say to you. Another dog got away from one of his CET trainers. Go figure, they don’t want to be abused or yanked all over the place.
Sorry, but this is not training at all. I have trained dogs for 5 years now and not one has tried to get away from me. They stay close to me and watch everything I do. I use positive methods without food just praise. …
~~[ Shadow – full comment can be found in the comments section below ]
I also caught the first episode of Brad Pattison’s In The Doghouse program and I must say that it was less than impressive.
On the positive side, there was no crazy, angry, frustrated leash jerking. Brad Pattison also briefly talked about the force of the leash correction and being careful not to over-correct the dog, which are both good points.
However, these brief interludes of semi-saneness were insufficient to combat the general negativity and lack of focus that characterized the rest of the show.
If there was to be a silver lining to this dark cloud, it is perhaps that more people will realize that aversive methods are not generally effective for teaching humans OR dogs.
As for Brad Pattison and his CET trainers, I will keep my dogs far, far away from them all. I will also keep myself safe and stay away from this particular cloud of nastiness.
** Special thanks for Calmassertiv for giving me the link to Brad Pattison’s video clip, and for alerting me to the airing for Brad Pattison’s show.
“What makes old Brad’s actions even more disturbing is that no one seems to be taking exception to his methods!!!”
Yeah – it is especially strange to me why anyone would attend his classes and endure his abuse – not just on their dogs, but on themselves. I suppose he presents a strong authority figure, and in that circumstance, the “intimidation” can enhance his sense of authority.
It would be great to hear from some of his supporters though. Maybe we are all missing something …
Most people who follow Cesar and use his techniques generally agree his techniques shouldn’t be seen as negative. They, like any good dog owner, don’t want there dogs to see them as negative or bad to be around. We just see it as the way a dog communicates naturally.
Shock collars are debated in the forum on his website. The reason I bring this up is because a shock collar is a negative stimulus. Like in the case of the tire-biting dog, though, it was nessesary to keep that dog safe. Shock collars are aversive, and some people on the site think they are just cruel.
Other things like certain collars can cause discomfort, and that is why I like using a prong collar; it mimicks a “soft mouth” or “inhibited” bite, and is much more effective than flat collars, chains, harnesses and more. The people on the site are very friendly and willing to give information. Stop by and ask a question if you want to see more people’s opinions other than mine.
No one present, I mean.
What makes old Brad’s actions even more disturbing is that no one seems to be taking exception to his methods!!!
Hello Calmassertiv,
Thank you for taking it down a notch. 🙂
“Your heart, unlike Pattison’s, is in the right place, but you do your message a disservice when you try to equate these two men”
That is very well said, my friend. It really was not my intention to equate Pattison with either Stilwell or Millan. As I explained to Alex above, my message is simply that as is shown by Pattison and Stilwell, using aversive methods on people, is not an effective way of teaching. Millan’s positive approach to people and much greater popularity I think showcases this well.
I also believe that the same is true for both teaching and controlling dogs.
If there are particular areas that you think I have misrepresented Millan or come across as being too harsh, please let me know, and I will definitely try to fix it.
“I appreciate your good intentions with this article as well as the opportunity to engage you in honest discussion in your blogs …”
I also appreciate your comments, participation, as well as willingness to both engage and listen.
Hi Alex,
You really are the voice of reason, and I always appreciate your calm and balanced comments.
“Please give me a definition of aversive”
An aversive method is simply a method that applies an aversive stimulus – i.e. something that a dog or human does not like. So for example, Brad Pattison scolding and ridiculing his student is an aversive method because it applies an aversive stimulus (scolding & ridicule) that people in general do not like. Victoria Stilwell often does the same thing with her clients – i.e., takes a highly aversive stance against them. As you see, aversive methods need not always involve pain, although in the case of Pattison there is certainly intimidation involved wrt. his clients.
This is in contrast to Cesar Millan who is extremely adept at using reward methods on his human clients. He is always calm, positive, and provides them with a lot of encouragement. I think this is one of the key areas of his genius, and is one of the reasons why he is so popular and successful with people. This is also beneficial to his clients, because they learn more quickly and have fun learning.
Indeed, experts in behavioral psychology say that reward methods are generally more effective even for cases of control. This is what B.F. Skinner said on this matter –
“controls are an everyday reality – traffic lights and a police force, for instance – and that we need to organise our social structures in ways that create more positive controls and fewer aversive ones”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/mar/12/highereducation.uk
I believe that the same holds for dogs – i.e. teaching and controlling their behavior can be more effectively achieved through positive controls. That is all.
This is not to say that aversive methods do not work, but merely that I believe positive controls are more effective. I also believe that they are easier to implement and contains fewer risks.
Hope that better explains my position. Always good to see you Alex, and hope you are enjoying your summer holidays 🙂
Shibashake, far from avoiding ‘personal attacks’, it was my intent to make as personal an attack on Brad Pattison as I could muster, a person who should be receiving anger-management training instead of scamming students of dog training. My frustration with your well-intentioned article, one seemingly aimed at that same target, was that it then jumped to superficial equation of his technique to that of the frequently Zen-like Cesar Millan, a person as far on the opposite side of the personality spectrum as one could ever find. Your heart, unlike Pattison’s, is in the right place, but you do your message a disservice when you try to equate these two men. I appreciate your good intentions with this article as well as the opportunity to engage you in honest discussion in your blogs and hopefully others will follow up on our mutual aversion to this “In The Dog House” punk.
This guy need to get balanced himself before he should ever be allowed to get near a dog. Anyone who is going to get mad at the owners and then take it out on a dog is a danger to themselves, the owners, and most importantly, the dogs.
Like you said, Cesar always emphasizes the use of calm/assertive energy, which this guy desperately lacks.
Please give me a definition of aversive. It seems like everyone has a different deffinition, and in the terms of dog training it seems very negative to you. As I’ve said before, I do not see Cesar’s techniques as pain, fear, intimidation, or discomfort-based. That is why I don’t like calling those techniques aversive. As long as one’s not using a threatening energy and not being overly harsh, I don’t find how they can be negative. Poking the dog doesn’t cause discomfort (I’ve tried it on myself and other people) it only distracts and, “snaps them out of it,” as Cesar says. Leash corrections can be a bit harsh at times no matter who is using the leash. That is why I don’t like using choke chains, only a prong collar. It doesn’t put so much pressure on the dog’s neck, and it mimicks a bite.
This man, on the other hand, seems very negative and ‘aversive’-based. Even being around a dog with negative energy is harmful to the dog.. and often times the owner. He seriously needs to be taken off the air, because frankly, he’s just a scammer.
The article above only skims the surface regarding this Pattison character. He isn’t up-and-coming, actually, he’s been around for several years, and even on TV in Canada since deciding to rip off the Dog Whisperer show back in 2007. He charges about $5000 for group classes wherein he then ‘certifies’ his hapless students as ‘certified’ dog trainers. In these classes no treats are allowed at any time for the dogs, ever. He sells a $25 collar and a $25 leash from his website, and it or one just like it is required equipment for the class. The lady in the video clip referenced in the article above is scolded for not having bought his ‘approved’ leash, but one can clearly see that there is nothing wrong with the leash that he misuses as part of his abusive treatment of her helpless dog. The guy is flaming nutjob. His disgusting, pedantic, grating obnoxiousnous comes thru right away when one watches him behave with the owners on his rip-off TV show. The above article’s mentioning of Cesar Millan in the same breath as this malodorous putz is inexplicable and certainly unwarranted. While the author should be commended for on-balance coming out against this Pattison clown’s technique, the attempt to slur Millan by some supposed similarity between the two is ill conceived and inappropriately placed. Drawing attention to Pattison’s violent approach to his clients and their dogs should have been the sole purpose of the article. The author’s misplaced (and frankly, disconcerting) attempt to dilute the main point of the article by including cheap pseudo-intellectual shots at Millan serve only to destroy the author’s credibility, something Millan posesses in great quantity and which Pattison posesses no more than a common street thug.
Dear Calmassertiv,
I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with the article.
I mention Cesar Millan and Victoria Stilwell because they are popular television dog trainers and would provide interesting contrasts to Brad Pattison.
In the article I simply point out factual differences between the training styles. Millan has a heavy emphasis on calm, assertive energy which is a positive aspect that Pattison does not show in the short video clip. Millan also uses aversive methods, including leash corrections, which are also used by Pattison. Stilwell also uses verbal aversive methods on the dog owners, similar to Pattison, but she does not use them on the dogs.
If you do not think that any of these points are factually accurate, then please let me know and I will correct them.
This article also expresses my opinion on the different dog training styles, and I am simply sharing that opinion on my blog.
As you know, I have no problems with dissenting opinions and am always happy to hear other sides of the issue. But it is best to stick to the issues and stay away from personal attacks.