Ian Dunbar educator, rated 8 for enthusiasm

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Ian Dunbar is renowned dog trainer Jean Donaldson's hero, and therefore also mine, since I am a devoted student of Donaldson's methods. Dunbar's philosophy on dog training is that dogs will learn if we communicate with them in terms they can understand. In his opinion, it is our communication that is muddled and emotional. Dogs tend to react in a straightforward manner based on their needs, instincts, and learned behaviors. In terms of sheer volume of well-supported scientific information and anecdotal evidence, Dunbar is arguably an expert on dog behavior and training. If his students possess the patience and curiosity necessary to wade through the complexities of dog communication and the time it takes to cement a learned behavior in a dog's mind, Dunbar's methods will work, and work well. The problem is that most people don't have the patience to see such a task through to completion. Most owners and trainers want quick results. They have jobs to do and money to make. Dogs don't see the world in those terms; so if training comes down to a waiting game between dog and handler, dogs often outlast their humans and continue their undesirable behaviors. This scenario is not thrilling or controversial. Waiting is by definition tedious and unenjoyable, so Dunbar's message of patience often goes unheard by the majority of pet owners, who prefer to watch Cesar Millan go nose to nose with an excitable pit bull than sit around watching paint dry while their dog learns how to relax in his crate. Unfortunately, the reality of dog training is often the latter, at least training that produces lasting positive results. The quick-fix method works about as well as most quick-fix methods: poorly. Dunbar is at the very least the veterinarian I would love to have care for my animals. His calm demeanor eliminates a host of potential issues in the sterile exam rooms of a vet clinic. As a trainer, he is the slow and methodical alternative to Cesar Millan's confrontational puffed-chest urgency. While this makes him an excellent ally for troubled dogs, it most likely will never make him a television star. In order to do that, he may need to introduce fireworks into his act, or at the very least sleep around. Otherwise, there's just not enough scandal surrounding Ian Dunbar to make a hit reality show.

Jennie Friedrich comment

Ian Dunbar is a clear, if unimpressive, speaker. He is an older gentleman, soft-spoken, and he speaks with a British accent. I say this not to detract from his style, but to try to elucidate why he might not have the following that Cesar Millan enjoys. He appears more formal in his presentation, though he punctuates his message with humor and a pervading kindness that is hard not to appreciate, especially when he talks about the abuse that dogs endure in the name of "dominance" or "punishment." His compassion is evident and frankly makes me want to put myself up for adoption in the hopes of joining his family. The way he describes his treatment of the household pets (including ample rewards, treats, massages and playtime) sounds pretty posh to me. What he lacks in comparison to Cesar, however, is the urgency, the insistence that something must be done and it must be done NOW! Dunbar is not a ringmaster, orchestrating several acts at once and holding thirty dog leashes (or none at all, trusting all of his "pack members" to trot along behind no matter what distraction may come along). Dunbar might argue that this is an unsafe practice, a publicity stunt meant to showcase the talents of the handler rather than providing a safe environment for the pit bulls and other "dangerous" dogs who would most likely fall into the wrong hands (fighting operations or high-kill shelters) should they stray from the pack. Dunbar is at the very least the veterinarian I would love to have care for my animals. His calm demeanor eliminates a host of potential issues in the sterile exam rooms of a vet clinic. As a trainer, he is the slow and methodical alternative to Cesar Millan's confrontational puffed-chest urgency. Unfortunately, that calmness doesn't translate into thrilling television, not to mention the price of his videos, which can be as high as $80 from some retailers. Accessibility and easy answers are not Dunbar's strengths. Animal behavioral science most decidedly is.

Jennie Friedrich comment

Hailed as "the anti-Cesar Millan," Dr. Ian Dunbar is a veterinary behaviorist with years of professional training in both veterinary medicine and dog behavior. He champions a reward-based training approach that works to lure dogs toward positive behaviors by associating those behaviors with things the dogs already want, like treats or attention. This approach is statistically less dangerous than one based on dominance, but it is also slower to yield results and is decidedly less flashy than Millan's instantaneous on-screen transformations. Dunbar explains the value of his approach using an anecdote in his Dog Aggression: Biting video. He talks about a man who punished his dog by physically beating him. Before the man commenced his punishment, he put his keys in his pocket. After a significant period of time (days? weeks? I can't remember), the man went downstairs and his dog followed him. At one point, the keys jingled in the man's pocket and the dog attacked him. The man was bewildered at this "unprovoked" attack, his own memory not retaining the traumatic incident that was cemented in the dog's mind. Though dogs are relatively simple in their reasoning and brain capacity, they often catalog things humans consider insignificant, "Pavlov's dog" triggers that can drive a dog to cower or attack. These are the kinds of triggers Millan's methods may be creating and concealing. The cornered dog may feel threatened in the moment, but a dog may retaliate should that trigger resurface in a different situation (perhaps with a child, another dog, or the same human in a more vulnerable position). This is where Dunbar's methods are undeniably safer in the long run. The statistics regarding dangerous repercussions of reward-based training are negligible, hovering around two percent. The argument against reward-based methods is that they aren't always as effective as dominance methods. The aggressive dog may remain aggressive, for instance. So far, most veterinary behaviorists agree that this is a lesser evil compared to the likelihood of unpredictable aggression in a dog that has been cornered or intimidated. The masses may follow Cesar, but the science (and scientific community) are solidly in Ian Dunbar's pack).

Jennie Friedrich comment

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