Dog behaviourist Victoria Stillwell joined us for a webchat and gave you some advice on how to have the perfect pet. Read the full transcript here.

Chat Ed : Good evening everyone. Tonight we are going to be webchatting with dog behaviourist Victoria Stillwell from It’s Me or the Dog! Victoria is an actress-turned-dog-trainer whose expertise has seen her start training schools in both Britain and the United States, and helped her become the behaviourist in our new series It’s Me Or The Dog where she takes horrible hounds and turns them into perfect pooches… here she is…

Victoria Stillwell : Hi everyone, wow nearly 3000 of you! Hope you enjoyed the show this evening, I’m ready to take your questions.

ME!!!!!! : my dog is ded cute!!!!
Lisa Welsh : great show
xchikx : could you train a cat
Jules : very instructive :)
hi my dog always men : hello
drew : its too short

Victoria Stillwell : I've trained a couple of cats, but they are very independent and I have enough on my plate with the dogs!

m0neyballs2 : my dog keeps barking in the night i need help please!! Can’t stop her
courtney howard : why does my dog bark all the time?

Victoria Stillwell : Why is she barking do you think? Barking is a very important method of communication. Dogs bark for different reasons. Some of those reasons are: to notify owners of someone else's presence, to get attention because they're bored, or to communicate with another dog they can hear in the distance.

Crabbers : hello victoria. we're looking for the best way to toilet train a puppy. any good tips to stop him pooing in our front room?!!!...

Victoria Stillwell chuckles
Victoria Stillwell : Yes, they must have a safe area where they can go when you are not there to supervise it. House-training is a very long and involved process and for the best advice I would buy my book called ‘It's Me or the Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet’. There's a whole chapter in there about house-training your puppy.

Judie : I have a chocolate labrador who has the run of the garden but I would like to teach him to poo in just one place. How?

Victoria Stillwell : You need to take it on a lead down to the area when you think it's going to poop, for example after it has just eaten or when it wakes up in the morning and just hang out in that area then, when the dog eliminates, you make a big fuss and you carry on doing this for about two weeks. Every single time the dog is let into the garden you take it to its spot. While the dog is pooping, use a command like 'Hurry up' and after a while your dog will associate 'Hurry up' and that part of the garden as the place to poop. Then you obviously take the dog off the lead and encourage him to go to the poop place. Always praise.

kittelle : How do the dogs obey you so quickly
will_has_a_house : Where did you learn to do what you do, and how long have you been doing it?

Victoria Stillwell : I've been training for 10 years. Training is all about communication and because I use dog talk in the form of body language and vocal communication they understand very quickly. Then, because they realise that good things happen to them when they repeat behaviours I like, they are more eager to offer the behaviours.

stella2 : What type of qualifications and experience do you need to become a successful dog behaviourist?

Victoria Stillwell : Stella, there are courses now that you can do in Britain, but they are all very new and there's no real accreditation. You need to become a dog trainer, anyone can set themselves up as a dog trainer. I learnt by reading, going to seminars, seeing how other behaviourists worked, studying hard, taking a course in California. But mostly I learnt working with the dogs in the rescue shelters because it doesn't matter how much you study the real learning comes from the dogs themselves.

Smink : I'm thinking about getting a Rhodesian Ridgeback - do you know much about them as a breed. I hear they have quite a reputation...

Victoria Stillwell : You need to be very firm but fair with a ridgeback. They are highly intelligent, powerful dogs. They were known as the lion dogs because they were used to hunt lions in Rhodesia. Make sure if you get a puppy that you train from 8-weeks old and show that puppy that you are a leader at all times in all situations and that to get everything good the puppy has to look to you. So make him work for all the pleasurable things he has in life, such as praise, attention, toys, petting, food etc. The more you train your dog the more confident it will become and confident dogs have no need to be bossy and are relatively calm.

Jamie : How many dogs do you actually have? and what type of breed are they?

Victoria Stillwell : Jamie I have had foster dogs because I work in rescue shelters so I get the dogs that are about to be put down and I house them in my home, rehabilitate them and then find new homes. Over the last 5 years I've had 40 dogs and all of them have gone to good homes.

Shez : My 2 dogs jump on people when they arrive and lick them from head to toe!!
Andy123 : Hi Victoria, Is there anyway I can stop my dog from jumping up at visitors when they come into the house?
sam bradshaw : how Can i get my dogs to stop barking, licking and jumping up when people come to the door

Victoria Stillwell : You must turn your back, don't talk to it, don’t look at it, or touch it. If the dog comes round to your front again and jumps, you turn your back again Keep doing this until your dog gives up and has 4 paws on the ground. Do this everyday until the dog no longer jumps up on you because remember even if you give your dog negative attention by telling them to get off when they jump up you are still rewarding the jumping up with attention. Tell all your visitors to do exactly the same thing. After a while your dogs will find out that they get attention with 4 paws on the ground and not when they jump up, therefore the jumping up will go into extinction and will stop over time.

blues_chic : how do u get a dog socialised with other dogs so that they wont try to attack other dogs whilst out walking???
Lisap : Advice please, we have an ex rescue German Shepherd who a very aggressive with other dogs she attacks!
Timmy : mine does that too
Woolies2005 : my dog chases cars
kirsty sale : mine eats poop

Victoria Stillwell : You have to socialise a dog when it's a young puppy, from 8-weeks old. If you don't socialise a dog with other dogs by the time it's 16-weeks old you have lost a vital window because during that time puppies love to investigate and if they have pleasurable experiences with other dogs and learn all the rules of doggie etiquette from other dogs before they are 16-weeks then it's very unlikely they will be bad with other dogs unless they have some sort of traumatic experience. As soon as the dog reaches 16-weeks this primary socialisation window begins to close - the reason is that in the wild this is the time that the mother begins to push her puppies away from her. The puppy has to have a vital fear mechanism in order that it doesn't go up to everything and possibly get attacked. Therefore from 16-weeks old a puppy learns to fear things and is left reticent to go and greet people or dogs that it hasn't been exposed to. Early socialisation is key.

silkfunkydiva : Do you think all male dogs should be castrated and if so why?
scarlett : is castrating my dog the best option to calm him down?
vicky : wat does castration do please?

Victoria Stillwell : If you are having a problem with your male dog, such as humping or any other kind of dominance or sexual related behaviour, then there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't get them neutered. It's easier for the dog mentally and physically. However if you have no problems with your dog and there is no chance of it getting loose and impregnating a female then there is little reason to castrate. However there is a huge pet over-population problem in this country so in order to lessen the number of dogs that are put down due to too many dogs and not enough homes I encourage people to neuter their dogs just in case there is a chance that they escape. I always advise people to consult with their vet before having the surgery done.

Nina : When i am out during the day my dogs destroy my sofas, i never catch them in the act and they are unaware of what they are being scorned for on my return, how can i break this cycle, it is every day. help!
angelaakita : mine chews 2
lees angel : mine ate my DVDs

Victoria Stillwell : If you go out to work all day, I presume it's 9am-5pm, that means that your dogs are alone for 8-hours doing nothing. If you were alone 8-hours a day doing nothing, you would get bored and find ways to find stimulation. This is what your dogs are doing. You need to break up the monotony of their day by hiring a dog walker to take them out in the middle of the day. You cannot blame them for chewing your sofa.

Amy Kath : Please help!! How can I get my boxer dog to return when he's off his lead??

Victoria Stillwell : You have to perfect the recall i.e. the 'Come!' command in the house first before it will work outside. Start from 3-feet away to 6-feet to 12-feet and then gradually get to where you call him from another room in your house and he comes to you. Each time he comes to you he gets a jackpot reward e.g. fresh chicken and he only gets fresh chicken when he comes to you. Practice this in the garden and after about a month take it out to a bigger area. Put him on a long line by using an extendable lead or training lead and let him think he has freedom then practice your recall when he's still on the training lead. Each time he comes back to you give him fresh chicken and send him away again because dogs get very wise - they know that the owner only calls them when they want to take them home. You're telling him that coming back to you is being fabulous because he not only gets a reward but he gets to go and play again. Never ever be angry with him if he only comes back to after you've called him a hundred times because why would he want to come back to you if you're unpleasant to him? You have to be a good actor. After a while, let him off in smaller spaces where there are no dogs around and perfect the recall then take him to an area where there are other dogs. Let him go and greet other dogs and when there is a lull in the action call him and run away in the direction that you want him to come. You'll be doing this every time you teach a recall.

tree : hi I have a springer and she is very lively can u give me any advice on how to tire her
Mandy Simpson : My English Springer Spaniel is hyper active so how can i calm her down?

Victoria Stillwell : Springer's are notoriously energetic and that's because they're used to running around in the field all day. Make sure she gets adequate aerobic exercise; not just on the lead but allowing her to run for an hour a day. Stimulate her mentally by doing obedience training. Mental stimulation is a lot more tiring than physical stimulation. Buy interactive toys such as treat balls, buster cubes, giggly wigglies and toys that she can really get her energy out on. But unless she is running around in the field all day you'll never really be able to tire her out 100%. Good luck!

carol_flanagan : MY DOG EATS ITS POOP
davey : please answer how to stop our 9-month-old Jack Russell eating his poo

Victoria Stillwell : Aaah! OK... Look at his diet and see that he's getting adequate nutrition. Add a product called Forbid to his food, this makes the poop nasty to eat. Keep a big eye on him whenever he goes to the toilet and pick up the poop immediately. If he poops while you're away he might eat it out of boredom so the Forbid is a good way to go. However, if that doesn't work consult your vet, get a full medical check up to make sure that he has no health problems and talk to your vet about what type of nutrition your dog needs Eating poop is quite common and pups and mothers do it when their puppies are small in order to keep the den clean. It can become a habit very quickly. Therefore you have to control it. Try and find out when he is most likely to poop by feeding him regular meals and don't leave the food down for him all day.

hi : ive hit my dog. How do I undo the damage?

Victoria Stillwell : It's very hard but just make sure that from now on you use appropriate punishment and not violent ones.

yenrab : Have you ever been bitten badly?

Victoria Stillwell : No yenrab, I've never been bitten. That's because I respect all the dogs I work with and I read body language so that if I work with a potentially aggressive dog then I can tell when it's going to bite But I'm under no illusion that one day I will be bitten!

Lyanda : my dog is totally obsessed with me and follows me everywhere. How can I reduce this?
Robert : We have a Border Collie/Spaniel, He is fine apart from he needs to be next to me ALL THE TIME

Victoria Stillwell : You have probably over-bonded with your dog. You have to cut back on the attention that you give it. Make it less dependent on you, I call it independence training. Go into a room and shut the door behind you for a while then, when the dog wants to come to you for attention, don't do so until you are ready.

emily : THANK YOU VICTORIA....your show is brilliant!
Bev : Awesome show!
m0neyballs2 : Bye victoria!! you helped a lot!!
PAOLA : Thank you Victoria
andyy : bye
whitetiger : bye.
chid : thanks

Victoria Stillwell : Thanks for watching the show and logging in it's good to see that so many people are passionate about their animals.

Isy : Thanks Victoria!

Victoria Stillwell : Good luck to all of you. Keep watching, buy the book and enjoy being dog owners.

akk : bye
anj : thanks
Caroline1978 : bye

Victoria Stillwell leaves the room

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