1) I adore Cesar.
2) His methods WORK. Tiger was a dominant stubborn biotch when I first got her, and now she's pretty much the best behaved dog anyone has ever met (yes, I'm patting myself on the back here
).
3) HUGE advocate for crate training here as well. Dog are den animals. They like to have their own space where they can go to and feel safe and secure. Growing up with dogs, we always crated so it was a natural thing for me to do. I look at it from the view point of giving the dog their own room. Tiger was a force to be reckoned with if left alone in the house (she's much better now, but we still crate her when we're gone for more than 3 hours), and she also has mild separation anxiety and would get herself into trouble over the stress of being left alone. Putting her in the crate ensured that yes, our possessions stayed intact, but also that she couldn't get into anything and hurt herself in any way. Now, she technically has 3 beds. 1 in our bedroom, 1 in the living room, and her crate in the spare bedroom which is always left open. When I first got her I lived in an apartment and her crate was up against the back of the couch. I would often find her in there chewing on a bone or a toy, just cuz she liked being in her crate.
Now generally, using the crate for punishment is looked down upon (I've gotten into more than my fair share of arguements over it in the past). However, I see it the same as sending a child to their room when they've done something wrong. It also depends on the personality of our dog. For Tiger, being kept in a room away from us while we're home is the absolute WORST punishment we could ever give her. She is extremely attached and is always in a room with one of us. So by essentially telling her "you can't be with us because you've been bad", it gets the point across that whatever she did was wrong and she shouldn't do it again. It's been months since she misbehaved bad enough to warrant a time-out in the crate.
The single most important lesson you will learn from Cesar, is that YOU are in charge. NOT the dog. YOU (and ALL humans in the house) are higher up in the pack order than the dog is. The dog must listen to, and respect, even the smallest human member of the pack. Everything with him is all about the calm assertive energy. And that "tsk" kinda sound he makes? TOTALLY FREAKING WORKS! Lol!
I adore Shiba's, I think they are so gorgeous. One of the apartments in Jordan's building when we first met had a Shiba who would sit quietly on the balcony all day while his owners were gone. I really really wanted one for the longest time, and then one of Jordan's friends got one (a female). Unfortunately, she's absolutely insane and not well trained. I know it's an individual dog and owner situation, but it's kinda ruined the breed for me a bit. That, and I despise dogs that shed like crazy. I barely keep my house clean as it is, let alone all the vacuuming that comes with a shedding dog, lol! And oh boy howdy do they shed! LOL! We even had an Old English Sheepdog growing up! I'm not sure how my mom handled it. Besides, I have such a strong emotional attachment to pit bulls, I'll probably never own another breed for the rest of my life, lol.
Sorry for writing such a novel, lol. I'm a smidge passionate about dogs and training and such.