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Famous Dog Trainers
Who are some of the famous dog trainers who helped shape the field of organized dog training?
Winifred Strickland
Ms. German Shepherd of Obedience
Winifred Gibson Strickland who was affectionately known as "Ms. German Shepherd of Obedience", worked with her favorite breed, the herding group's German Shepherd. This famous dog trainer began obedience competition in 1940's, and retired in 1955. Also an AKC judge, she earned many championships and titles.
Ms. Strickland's training techniques used both praise and punishment. Praise was a very important part of her dog training work, and she was responsible for the shift in the movement towards more humane training methods.
Negative Training
And Punishment Techniques
In 1958, Milo Pearsall's "Dog Obedience Training”, was published and was billed as a more gentle approach to training. However, he used punishment as a way to correct problem behavior in dogs. He was perhaps, most famous for his dog training seminars and clinics.
William Koehler, a high profile trainer, worked with dogs in Hollywood, and had a military police dog training background. In 1962, he published the “The Koehler Method of Training”. His training methods emphasized negative training and punishment, and often involved using a "choke chain", or chain training collar, and other unpleasant training techniques.
Barbara Woodhouse
The "Lady With the Dogs"
Perhaps one of the most famous dog trainers was Barbara Woodhouse. She was born in Dublin, Ireland and raised in England. Her training experience began at a young age when she started with ponies. After college she opened a riding school, became a dog breeder, and ran the Sandfield Dog Boarding kennels until 1960. 
In the 1970's her dog training made her a household name. She became well-known in 1980 at the age of
70 with her popular British PBS television show "Training Dogs the Woodhouse
Way". Her book “No Bad Dogs” was a bestseller and highlighted her simple, effective training techniques.
1980's and Beyond
The Power of Positive Dog Training
Finally, our look at famous dog trainers brings us to the 1980’s and 1990’s. Many say it began the trend towards positive reinforcement in dog training. Dr. Ian
Dunbar, a veterinarian and animal behaviorist, was one trainer who helped introduce positive dog training methods.
He wrote books, videos, TV series, and stressed the importance of training pet dogs. He was also credited
with developing positive motivational training which inexperienced owners could use.
Karen Pryor, a behavioral scientist and animal trainer,
began her training career at Sea Life Park in Oahu, Hawaii, training dolphins to perform in aquatic shows.
She published "Don't Shoot the Dog" in the '80's and brought operant conditioning to the masses. Requests for training lectures followed, and in 1992 she became personally involved in dog training.
Her training methods utilize "clicker training" to teach new behaviors, and her work with positive reinforcement techniques has changed the field of dog training for the better.
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