[Mrs.K]

It was on TV today (or was it yesterday? I think it was yesterday) and I was a little dissappointed. When they say that the Shepherd outs it really sounds like they do that naturally and that you don't have to train for that at all....

 

[Dainerra]

they say "in recent years, even white"

 

[idahospud49]

Love the color part... black and tan, all black and recently white!!! Yet many of the dogs they showed were *GASP* sable!!! What the officer said reminds me a lot of what my friend, who is K9 handler also said, you can't call a bullet back, but you can the dog.

 

[Jessiewessie99]

I like looking at the doggies. =)

 

[Greydusk]

Well to be fair to the show-it's made for entertainment, not like a GSD documentary. From what I remember they showcase a couple different breeds per show, so not a lot of time to go into the training of a specific behavior.

 

[Mrs.K]

Yeah, but saying "it takes a lot of training" would have been easy and could have been included. The way they portrayed it is that the GSD comes with a natural out and that is just not the case.
And the colors...yah, that was hilarious. Most of the dogs sable but they only come in black and tan, black and recently white LOL...

 

[AbbyK9]

I don't even watch Dogs 101 anymore. I was so excited when the first couple of episodes came out because it looked like they were going to profile the good and the bad of various breeds but when I saw the first couple of episodes, I was really disappointed.

In the episode with the Chihuahua and the Airedale, they do a segment on a Chihuahua who supposedly is a Service Dog for his owner who has Celiac Disease. Nice, right? Except then, they show the dog's "Service Dog ID", which is one of the fake ones from SARA that you can order over the internet *and* it says "Therapy Dog" on it. *FACEPALM* In the segment with the Airedale, they follow a dog/handler Therapy Dog team to an old folks' home - they clearly show the dog's TDI tag but the dog is on a choke chain the whole visit (which TDI doesn't allow) and is only sitting for petting because the owner is showing treats down his mouth the whole visit. XD

If I remember correctly, someone here said their (or their friend's) Dalmatians were used for a segment on Dalmatians, and they filmed them in a way that made it look like they were out-of-control, difficult-to-handle dogs. They even said that they're had to train and can be aggressive. Apparently, the person whose dogs they are competes them in obedience and they are very well-trained, well-behaved dogs!

 

[PaddyD]

Every dog has a stereotype and I think THAT is what Dogs 101 uses to 'educate' the public.

 

[Alexandria610]

I don't even watch Dogs 101 anymore. I was so excited when the first couple of episodes came out because it looked like they were going to profile the good and the bad of various breeds but when I saw the first couple of episodes, I was really disappointed.

In the episode with the Chihuahua and the Airedale, they do a segment on a Chihuahua who supposedly is a Service Dog for his owner who has Celiac Disease. Nice, right? Except then, they show the dog's "Service Dog ID", which is one of the fake ones from SARA that you can order over the internet *and* it says "Therapy Dog" on it. *FACEPALM*

I watch Dogs 101 not because it's 100% information on the breed, but because it talks about various aspects of different dog breeds, touching on some aspects of the breeds. Plus, who could resist cute dogs of different breeds?

As for that Chihuahua segment, it must have been a different show entirely. I have viewed that segment quite a few times, and that particular story you are referring to has never been in it. This is the Dogs 101 segment for the Chihuahua:

The show you are referring to may have been Breed All About It or another type show (though I have seen the Breed All About It segment on Chihuahuas, as well, and don't recall seeing anything with a 'service dog' Chi in it, but it definitely wasn't Dogs 101.

As far as the show Dogs 101 goes, I have only seen a few breeds somewhat inappropriately represented - but for the most part, it seems to be a decent glance at the breeds in the little time devoted to each breed.

 

[carmspack]

that was bad . von stevenitz .
the only good part was watching the puppies play
Carmen

 

[Chicagocanine]

Dogs 101 and Cats 101 are known for spreading a lot of misinformation. Unfortunately a lot of people believe them!
In Cats 101 for the Maine Coon segment they said you can tell a cat is a Maine Coon by the "M" on the forehead. Anyone who's had a tabby knows that ALL tabbies have the M, not just Maine Coons. Plus, Maine Coons can come in solid colors, like mine who is solid black-- or in other words no M. I have heard people saying that their cat is part Maine Coon because they heard about the M on Animal Planet. :crazy: The cat one also has shown cats of uncertain ancestry and said they are the breed being featured. For example one show IIRC the one on Bombay cats had a segment about someone's black DSH cat they got from a shelter and they were claiming was a Bombay. They did the same thing with a few other breeds as well.

As for that Chihuahua segment, it must have been a different show entirely. I have viewed that segment quite a few times, and that particular story you are referring to has never been in it.

Are you sure? I know another forum I was on, they were talking about this same episode and segment about the "celiac service dog"...
Here's a link:
Dogs 101 - Service & Therapy Dogs Forum

 

[Syaoransbear]

I watch Dogs 101 not because it's 100% information on the breed, but because it talks about various aspects of different dog breeds, touching on some aspects of the breeds. Plus, who could resist cute dogs of different breeds?

As for that Chihuahua segment, it must have been a different show entirely. I have viewed that segment quite a few times, and that particular story you are referring to has never been in it. This is the Dogs 101 segment for the Chihuahua:

Dogs 101: Chihuahua - YouTube

The show you are referring to may have been Breed All About It or another type show (though I have seen the Breed All About It segment on Chihuahuas, as well, and don't recall seeing anything with a 'service dog' Chi in it, but it definitely wasn't Dogs 101.

As far as the show Dogs 101 goes, I have only seen a few breeds somewhat inappropriately represented - but for the most part, it seems to be a decent glance at the breeds in the little time devoted to each breed.

It could have been Dogs 101. For all Dogs 101 episodes that are aired on TV they have a little story from someone who owns that breed that goes along with the episode, but when they post the episode online on their website they take that story out and leave just the 'facts'. That's why the show is so long but the online segments are so short. I like to watch it on tv, and when I went online to see videos of breeds that I liked I noticed they took those parts out.

Honestly I think they did a decent job on the german shepherd considering how many people are afraid of them. They could have totally demonized them.

 

[Alexandria610]

Are you sure? I know another forum I was on, they were talking about this same episode and segment about the "celiac service dog"...
Here's a link:
Dogs 101 - Service & Therapy Dogs Forum

Weird....maybe there is more to the segment that I have been missing each time it is aired that I happen to see it or on the youtube bit. Perhaps they removed it after having too many complaints haha. Who knows? I've never seen that particular segment of it, but to hear it makes me angry and sort of glad I haven't seen it - just makes Chihuahuas and Chihuahua owners (like myself) look worse and worse in the realm of dogs and dog ownership. I hate feeling like I have to constantly defend my dog

But anyway, back to the point of the Dogs 101 - I dislike the fact that the sable isn't even mentioned, either, on the GSD portion. I mean, come on! It's one of the most used GSD's out there (but that's probably biased because I have one).

 

[Alexandria610]

It could have been Dogs 101. For all Dogs 101 episodes that are aired on TV they have a little story from someone who owns that breed that goes along with the episode, but when they post the episode online on their website they take that story out and leave just the 'facts'. That's why the show is so long but the online segments are so short. I like to watch it on tv, and when I went online to see videos of breeds that I liked I noticed they took those parts out.

Honestly I think they did a decent job on the german shepherd considering how many people are afraid of them. They could have totally demonized them.

Ah, that would make sense - I've only ever seen it on the television maybe once or twice, and it's been a while. Thanks for the insight!

Yeah, I think they did well on it, too, helping perhaps promote the breed to the public that doesn't know much about them other than seeing them as something that can be 'dangerous' and 'scary' - it's easy to have high expectations of something and critique it when you know a lot about the subject and are passionate about it. Sometimes it can be hard to see things the same way you once saw them after you know more about the subject.

They did a similar thing with the Doberman Pinscher and the Rottweiler, and it made me happy to see that they didn't demonize them, either. It made them appear a little less frightening to the public than most see them as. Sure, they still went into the bite of the dogs and why the DP is a great 'guard dog' but all in all they could have completely flipped the dog into a demon that the public likes to stereotype it to be.

 

[SitUbuSit]

I saw this over the weekend. I thought it was OK. Agree that the puppies were the best part.

I thought it was a little strange that they used a long-coated GSD as the "model" GSD in between testimonials, not because I don't love coaties, but because many people have never seen a coatie and might be confused that most GSDs look that way when it's actually not a common trait.

I did like that they showed a black GSD. Lots of people don't know they exist.

They did get the part about "heavy shedding" right at least. LOL.

 

[AbbyK9]

The show you are referring to may have been Breed All About It or another type show (though I have seen the Breed All About It segment on Chihuahuas, as well, and don't recall seeing anything with a 'service dog' Chi in it, but it definitely wasn't Dogs 101.

No, it was definitely Dogs 101. I blogged about it right after watching, here --> Dogs 101 Dogs for Defense K-9

I have noticed that the segments posted online are MISSING the portion of each breed's profile where they show a little more about one specific dog from that breed. The segment about the Airedale that's available online is also missing the Therapy Dog portion where they follow the one specific dog into the nursing home.

 

[spidermilk]

Ooh, I have seen a lot of Dogs 101s but had never seen the GSD segment.

I agree that they are misleading. They have probably 2 minute at the end where they summarize the dog and probably 70% of the dogs they describe as "Easy to train, perfect family dogs."

I don't think that any of the dogs are as easy to train or own as they make it seem. I have never heard them mention the exercise or stimulation requirements of ANY dog breed.

At least most of the GSD episode focused on something GSDs are known for doing, some of the breeds just have a dog who happens to be that breed- for example one of the breeds just has a dog who got lost and traveled a long way to get home. Cool story, but it had nothing to do with the dog being the breed that it was.

 

[Chicagocanine]

I feel bad for anyone who uses Dogs 101 as their main source of dog breed information! I know there are people who do, and they are getting a lot of misleading and just plain wrong info.
I liked Breed All About It a lot better, although they may also have gotten some stuff wrong I think they did a lot better job in the segments where they feature people who actually own the dogs.

The thing about the "service dog" Chihuahua reminds me of a show I saw before on Animal Planet. It wasn't Dogs 101 I don't think, but another show. They talked to a woman whose Mexican Hairless dogs were her service dogs because they sit behind her neck and act as a heating pad. :thinking:

 

[CelticGlory]

They have said before (I forget the source from where I read it), but they have to do heavy editing to fit everything in such a short time period. From what I understand they do go through the whole history, etc. and than decide what would best fit (what would keep people watching for that short of a time) for each breed they feature.

I also know that many breeds have been featured on more than one show of Dogs 101, so if something was missed, they may talk about it the next time. I always thought it was weird to see the same breed talked about when they already did that.

 

[zyppi]

"generally healthy breed!"

Ask any vet... GSDs are notorious for health issues of all kinds

And #1 biter? Not sure that's accurate, esp. if one takes smaller breeds into account.

Great dogs... absolutely, but not for everyone.