No, NG hasn't pulled the show despite the lawsuits. He's still marketable. How many people who watch the show know, or care?
In dog training circles it's common knowledge but then so are his methods.
There isn't anything technically WRONG with considering a dog a family member.
The problem begins when the dog is not respected as it is, a dog. With all the good things dogs are and what they NEED to learn from humans.
They need rules, structure, information and teaching. Dogs have no gene for house breaking. That's a human concept and we have to TEACH it, somehow.
When they go untaught, or worse, allowed to rear themselves, do the thinking and leading then YEP all heck breaks loose.
People should think. People should train. People should respect dogs, for what they are - generally better than us.
Why can a dog in one house sleep on the bed and have no problems. In another home the dog sleeping on the bed is a screaming spoiled tyrant?
Because in the home with no problems often there are other rules, structure and exercise and in the problem home there isn't.
Humans teach dogs things when they're paying attention. More often they teach dogs when they AREN'T.
What the marketable Mr. Milan is doing is helping people who weren't thinking and weren't paying attention to what they did with their hands and their mouths and their time to THINK about what they praise, what they pet the dog FOR and when, to exercise and otherwise consider the dog as a creature with needs, for leadership and for direction and for thought.
Aka, grow a brain. It'd be nice if we didn't need someone who has some poor methods and some bad advice to reach people who haven't much thought before about actually training the dog/s they live with.
He's worth way too much money for them to let a little thing like lawsuits get in the way.
And like the Monks, the harm he does is arguably outweighed to some minor degree by getting some people to think and train. What is four or six dogs over the hundreds he may have kept out of shelters?
Though I doubt the people with injured and dead dogs feel that way. It's the truth.
Dress the dog up, let it sleep in the bed. Talk baby talk. It would make me barf but it's not harmful - IF you also teach, lead and train and respect the dog as a dog then do as you please.
What's wrong isn't inclusion. It's denial of the dog the respect it's owed and the leadership it needs because it IS a different species.
There are better methods, better teachers and cleaner paths to leadership out there if anyone is interested in them please GO FOR IT.
Shiela Booth writes an amazing set of books that is started out for competition obedience but they totally rock as leadership and positive training books like few others. There are others, it sounds like others here know some of them.
Pat Burnham wrote "Play Training Your Dog." Yes, play works, works well.
After all leadership is about cooperative training, and play is an ultimate cooperation.
A good place to explore clicker training is:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/
Anyone can offer you a METHOD. Some are good, some are bad, some so-so.
If you can find that trainer, or book or web group that will not just tell you what to do, or what to think, but WHY things work or don't and teach or don't, THEN you have the tools to be your own trainer and you don't need anybody's method.
Then you see a new method and a new trainer and you take only the tools that have value to you.
Avoid the KOOLAID.
Take only what does no harm and makes sense.
