Lightflow's Profile
Reviews
BOOK
Charlotte's Web
February 13, 2015
A wonderful book that many miss the strength of
Children typically do not understand the permanency of death until they are around 8-10 years old, the majority not understanding this until 10. Charlotte's Web is not a cute child's story, but a coming of age story, as Wilber and Fern both grow from childhood to adult. The great sacrifice is given to Wilber to bear as he loses his beloved Charlotte. This is a wonderful book, but the impact of loss, the understanding of interest turning to boys for Fern, the idea of life growing and continuing on even after death and after the loss of childhood, they're LOST if you read before your child hits that developmental stage.
1 person found this helpful.
August 23, 2017
Parents need to understand this is a work of fiction
This is a compelling and heartbreaking movie, but because of the historical inaccuracies I'm worried it's detracting from the real stories of survivors. It can cause confusing images when you watch such a compelling movie and then the actual history doesn't match up. Just the idea that one could dig underneath the fence raises so many problems.
June 14, 2013
Good positive role model and training methods.
There are very few women who have television programs like this one. She is using science and positive methods to fix dog problems. Her methods can be very confrontational to get the entire family on board, which is one of the reasons we don't watch her very often. Her methods though could safely be emulated by kids without fear of them hurting the dog or being in an increased danger of being bitten.
One thing to keep in mind, this show uses actual science. That means that things like domination and pack theory are not part of it, as most behaviorists would tell you that there is no such thing as an alpha dog, nor any reason to bully a dog to listen to you. The best trainers use the least amount of force necessary, and that's what she does.
TV
Barking Mad
June 14, 2013
Wonderful show to teach kids how to treat animals
This television series focused on science based methods to rehabilitate problem pets. The methods shown on the program were safe for all ages to try, and focused on positive reinforcement and helping the animals without harming the animal. Unlike other programming that may encourage aggressive behavior that can lead to bites (like physically forcing a dog on the ground), this focused on teaching to think and then work to fix the pet. Asking first "what does this animal need" and "why is it doing this behavior" then "what can we do to gently teach it not to do that, while filling it's needs?" Overall a wonderful show for any child who is interested in animals.
When going to the zoo, you can walk around and point out animal enrichment there. This program helps show some of the ways to improve animal enrichment at home.
June 14, 2013
His heart is in the right place, but his methods are too violent and dangerous.
I rated this as 10 and up because the methods used in this program have been connected to increased aggression in dogs, and a higher likelihood of being bitten. Since children are quick to copy what they see on TV this program should not be shown to children too young to understand that what happens on the program is something they SHOULD NOT try to do. I guesstimate this age to be about 10, but each parent should make that decision.
Cesar Millan also is bitten several times on the show as well as very aggressive dogs being shown, and methods to confront those aggressive dogs that are not a good way if you want your child to avoid being bitten. Studies and reviews from experts have left them cautioning people to heed the television warning not to try this at home, and that the methods used can increase the chances of an aggressive response from your dog.
Some of the violent behaviors on this program include hitting, kicking, and choking dogs, as well as using electric shock collars, prong collars, choke collars, or worse the improvised choke collar where he threads the leash through the handle (this will not release like a normal choke collar will, choking the dog worse than if a normal choke collar was used.) Pushing the dog down, using things like a tennis racket to keep a dog back (ending in the dog bleeding), picking a dog up by the scruff or neck, or just using a choke collar where there is not an immediate release, are all abusive behaviors that you don't want your child to think is right to use on animals.
The good is that Cesar Millan shows that pit bulls can be trained and trusted among other dogs, as well as talking about the importance of exercise and training dogs. The bad is that he has no authority or training and uses non-scientific terms he makes up to give himself an air of authority. He also sells everything from books to supplies and food.