I have a 10 month male Victorian X English Bulldog and a 3 year old female Great Dane X Golden Retriever both I have had since pups. Lately the bulldog started to nip and jump while I was taking him out, and the kids were playing. I have 4 small kids so I needed to stop this in it's tracks before this escalated to the point of having to give him up.

So we enlisted the services of The Canadian Dog Whisperer (www.canadiandogwhisperer.ca) owned and operated by a fellow named Bruce Warrington. He convinced us his skills and techniques are superior to that of a regular trainer and results are guaranteed. His fees were quite steep but he presented to be a low risk (money back) solution to what was becoming a high risk problem. So we agreed to have him give it a try.

First off I was instructed to assert supreme dominance over my dog. I am to grab his throat while poking hard with my fingers into his neck and choking him with his leash tied as a noose around his neck. Then pin him to the floor onto his side while yelling, "EH!!". I am to do this several times a day. The whisperer calls it the "alpha roll".

This was the first step and I was having problems getting the dog to submit to this! I am a 115 pound woman. The whisperer's response (a man Over 200 pounds) was that a woman is lower in rank in a 'pack'. A menstruating woman is ranked lower yet, so I must work that much harder for the dog to perceive me as the 'alpha bitch'.I practiced as prescribed with my dog, my dog grew increasingly agitated and he resisted with all his might. His strength against mine was not allowing me to overpower him. We were not off to a good start! I explained this again to the trainer, and his reply was to the effect 'you need to handle this dog with even more force" so I tried again. This time the dog bit my hand and drew blood. This is the first time he ever did this! For my own sanity I stopped, and it took a week for the dog to settle down and relax around me. This was 'whispering'?!

So I contacted the trainer again with my concerns. Again he said all I needed was to crank it up more, so I asked for a refund. He had only been here in person twice and if he didn't understand by then, he never would. He just said he needed to witness the aggressive response to even consider a refund. The way the dog reacted to these training methods was frightening, the bite still really hurts, and my relationship with my dog has become strained and unpredictable. My young children and I are the ones who have to live with the consequences. Anymore aggression like that, and the dog would have to be put down.

We went with this fellow because the name 'dog whisperer' had me thinking he had a unique gentle. stress free approach that was more appropriate to our household and our situation. My husband works shifts. He can't be around here to do this. This is turning out to be a more stressful situation then I ever expected.

We were hoping he would have had a bigger bag of tricks for the money he was charging. We're really hoping this fellow does the right thing and come through with his money back guarantee so I can find a solution that is more appropriate for out situation. I'm sure these methods could give great results for other folks bigger in stature and/or a less stubborn dog.