biology

It's Me or the Dog

It's Me or the Dog is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand It's Me or the Dog rather than just read about it. In short: It's Me or the Dog is an English television program featuring dog trainer Victoria Stilwell who addresses canine behavioral problems (which are often shown putting a strain on interpersonal relationships), teaches responsible dog ownership and promotes dog training techniques based on positive reinforcement. There was also an American television version of the show which ran for four seasons.

Key takeaways

It's Me or the Dog belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect It's Me or the Dog to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of It's Me or the Dog from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

It's Me or the Dog is an English television program featuring dog trainer Victoria Stilwell who addresses canine behavioral problems (which are often shown putting a strain on interpersonal relationships), teaches responsible dog ownership and promotes dog training techniques based on positive reinforcement. There was also an American television version of the show which ran for four seasons. The show currently airs in about 50 countries worldwide.

Beginnings British-born Victoria Stilwell was an actor who had built her sideline interest in dog training into a full-time business when she saw the first episode of Supernanny and realised that what she was doing with dogs was similar to what Jo Frost was doing with children. She contacted the producers of Super Nanny, British reality show producers Ricochet Television, who responded immediately, and production began on It's Me or the Dog. Stilwell said her motivation was to "highlight positive training because there are so many dominance trainers out there messing it all up". Stilwell acknowledges that training a dog on television is not the same as training without the cameras and crew.

Format

A similar concept to Supernanny (albeit dealing with dogs instead of children), most episodes begin with a brief interview with the dog owners on when they first met their dog(s) and how their ordeals began. Victoria observes the dog(s) and owners in their home and in a range of situations, including seeing firsthand how it disrupts relationships with other people. Once there is sufficient evidence of the bad behavior, she then spends two or more days teaching the owners how to create a better atmosphere for both dog and owner, and how to train specific behaviors. On occasion owners are taken to shelters or training centers to provide them with additional information. Victoria then leaves them to implement her training regimen on their own. After some time (usually several weeks), Victoria returns to evaluate how the dog and owner are progressing and, when necessary, dispenses more training advice. This format mirrors the format of Super Nanny. US Season 3, filmed in New York, took a looser documentary format. Stilwell sometimes implements a technique as soon as she sees a behavior rather than waiting until after the confrontation.

Series and success There have been three US seasons and four UK series of It's Me or the Dog so far, the first running for six episodes from 31 August 2005, and earning record ratings for Channel 4. The second series aired from January – March 2006, running for twelve episodes. The third series transmitted from October to November 2006, and was eight episodes long, which included two-hour long specials wrapped at each end; It's Me or the Dog – The Event and It's Me or the Fat Dog. In 2007, a special one-hour show at the Crufts Competition was shown on 13 March, and a fourth series of six episodes aired in July and August. In June 2021, it was announced on Victoria Stilwell's Facebook page and on the It's Me or the Dog YouTube channel, that a fifth series of It's Me or the Dog (UK) had been commissioned and they were looking for applicants. Victoria stated that they would be following all UK COVID-19 guidelines. The series premiered on the UK channel Really on 10 November 2021 at 9 pm and 9:30pm GMT. The series was also released for streaming on Discovery+ UK. Victoria Stilwell has also written two accompanying books, published by HarperCollins and titled It's Me or the Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet and Fat Dog Slim: How to Have a Healthy, Happy Pet. The first book has also been published in the US by Hyperion. Stilwell and her husband, Van Zeiler, have established a website titled Positively.com to raise awareness of the benefits of using humane training tools.

U.S. version The show premiered on Animal Planet in the United States on 16 April 2007. In this version, the first season consists of various British families and their dogs (including the It's Me or the Fat Dog special) while the second season has American dog owners. Animal Planet's second season premiered in the fall of 2008. In 2011, the show attempted a new direction with a New York theme which became US season three. US season 4, also filmed in New York, premiered on 2 June 2012. It included 10 episodes with one released each week. The show attempted a new direction where it focused more on the owners and their personality traits than on their pets. It included such episodes as 'The Castle Goes to the Dogs' with Matt Demar, a former rapper whose clubs later came under investigation for drug sales and his then-girlfriend Melissa Ballacchino, and another where a German Shepherd's owner taught his dog to bite trees. The USA version in the UK aired on Pick instead of on Channel 4.

Episodes (U.K. version)

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5

Series 6

Specials

Transmissions

U.S. version

International broadcasts It's Me or the Dog has aired on several networks around the world, including:

References

Notes

Further reading Stilwell, Victoria (5 September 2005). It's Me or the Dog: How to Have the Perfect Pet. Collins. ISBN 0-00-721907-5. Stilwell, Victoria (3 February 2007). Fat Dog Slim: How to Have a Healthy, Happy Pet. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-724920-6.

External links It's Me or the Dog at IMDb (UK version) It's Me or the Dog at IMDb (US version)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with It's Me or the Dog

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what It's Me or the Dog claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to It's Me or the Dog before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about It's Me or the Dog ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of It's Me or the Dog

In research: It's Me or the Dog appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses It's Me or the Dog in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: It's Me or the Dog is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2005 British television series debuts, 2005 English-language television series debuts, 2008 British television series endings, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for It's Me or the Dog outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study It's Me or the Dog in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what It's Me or the Dog means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain It's Me or the Dog out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is It's Me or the Dog in simple terms?

Why does It's Me or the Dog matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study It's Me or the Dog?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on It's Me or the Dog.