# Why, Animal Planet? Why?



## Mrs.Brisby

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChykWD-1FZM I don't even know how this is considered legal! I can't even begin to imagine what they did to these rats after they were finished with them.They're obviously domesticated. I hate the fake squeaking. I hate it when he roles over top of them as they're falling from the ceiling. I hate it when he throws them around and picks them up by their tails. This guy is a joke! I can't believe people actually believe his "Animal Savior" routine. Come on Animal Planet! Your shows are supposed to educate people not fill their heads with lies.


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## Aeyna

That's just so bad. And rat's can't even have peanut butter. I read online awhile ago that they don't have enough saliva and they will choke on it. Those are all young domesticated rats, and I've never heard squeaking like that. All of the commentators seem to focus on how at least he's not killing them, but really, Animal Planet used to have good educational shows. This is just horrible.


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## Enchilada

Animal planet has definitely gone down hill. Its depressing so see rats shown as such pests, they're such sweet creatures. Shows like this give them a bad name.


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## Mrs.Brisby

Aeyna said:


> That's just so bad. And rat's can't even have peanut butter. I read online awhile ago that they don't have enough saliva and they will choke on it. Those are all young domesticated rats, and I've never heard squeaking like that. All of the commentators seem to focus on how at least he's not killing them, but really, Animal Planet used to have good educational shows. This is just horrible.


 It amazes me how ignorant some of the commenters are. If it was an infestation of "wild" hamsters falling out of the ceiling and being smacked across the room people would probably care more.


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## Mrs.Brisby

Enchilada said:


> Animal planet has definitely gone down hill. Its depressing so see rats shown as such pests, they're such sweet creatures. Shows like this give them a bad name.


 Pretty much all "Educational" television has gone down hill.


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## MaryLiz

Ugh I agree. I watched one episode of this guy... he was getting a snake out of a horse stall and being from Kentucky myself, I can tell you the logical fix to that problem would have been to let the horse trample the snake (it wasn't even a venomous snake, trust me a horse knows how to take care of that), but instead of removing the horse from the stall he was running around screaming and hollering, which is a very good way to get kicked by a scared horse >_>

Half of Animal Planet's shows aren't even about animals any more... Tree House Masters, and then this new Pool Master thing or whatever it is. And Tanked... don't even get me started. I don't know anything about salt water aquariums but every time they set up a fresh water aquarium it pisses me off royally and makes me want to write to Animal Planet... not that it would do any good. They always way overstock their tanks and put fish together that cannot survive together, so I'd be willing to bet they aren't putting the right saltwater fish together either.

The fact that this Wild Man or Turtle Man or whatever is from Kentucky just makes me want to scream WE DON'T ALL ACT LIKE THAT PLEASE DON'T WATCH THIS NONSENSE! >_>

That being said... we had a rat infestation in our barn once when my grandfather and mother still had horses... and they looked like pet rats XD They were black and white and grey and white and PEW. And the mice were multi-colored too lol No idea where they came from or why they were colored like that.


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## abratforarat

Oh, awful! How awful! I can't believe this!


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## Mrs.Brisby

MaryLiz said:


> Ugh I agree. I watched one episode of this guy... he was getting a snake out of a horse stall and being from Kentucky myself, I can tell you the logical fix to that problem would have been to let the horse trample the snake (it wasn't even a venomous snake, trust me a horse knows how to take care of that), but instead of removing the horse from the stall he was running around screaming and hollering, which is a very good way to get kicked by a scared horse >_>Half of Animal Planet's shows aren't even about animals any more... Tree House Masters, and then this new Pool Master thing or whatever it is. And Tanked... don't even get me started. I don't know anything about salt water aquariums but every time they set up a fresh water aquarium it pisses me off royally and makes me want to write to Animal Planet... not that it would do any good. They always way overstock their tanks and put fish together that cannot survive together, so I'd be willing to bet they aren't putting the right saltwater fish together either.The fact that this Wild Man or Turtle Man or whatever is from Kentucky just makes me want to scream WE DON'T ALL ACT LIKE THAT PLEASE DON'T WATCH THIS NONSENSE! >_>That being said... we had a rat infestation in our barn once when my grandfather and mother still had horses... and they looked like pet rats XD They were black and white and grey and white and PEW. And the mice were multi-colored too lol No idea where they came from or why they were colored like that.


 I've read that it's pretty rare to find those sorts of colorations in the wild. Do you think somebody probably just dumped their rodent collection and they happened to take refuge in your barn? Even if the Turtle guy did happen to find an incredibly rare colony of colorful rats there is no way on earth any wild creature would walk across his foot and munch on some peanut butter after being punched out of a wall. On a lighter note, the idea that someone somewhere has actually tried to capture a bunch of real wild rats using the peanut butter tarp method is kind of funny.


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## MaryLiz

Mrs.Brisby said:


> I've read that it's pretty rare to find those sorts of colorations in the wild. Do you think somebody probably just dumped their rodent collection and they happened to take refuge in your barn? Even if the Turtle guy did happen to find an incredibly rare colony of colorful rats there is no way on earth any wild creature would walk across his foot and munch on some peanut butter after being punched out of a wall. On a lighter note, the idea that someone somewhere has actually tried to capture a bunch of real wild rats using the peanut butter tarp method is kind of funny.


We were never really sure where they came from. There were too many of them to have been just someone's dumped rodent collection unless someone was a serious hoarder XD It was a pretty serious "infestation" as far as having mice and rats goes, because at the time there was feed for horses, pigs, and chickens, so there was lots of stuff for them to feed on and I guess the presence of all the larger animals kept most snakes away. They were a booger to get rid of. We always kind of assumed maybe someone had turned pets or feeder animals loose (maybe a good sized number) and they may have taken refuge at the barn and then multiplied with wild rats. I'm not sure how viable that would be but it was pretty bizarre. I agree, no wild rat would just casually walk across his toes even in those kind of numbers... as "pet-shop-like" as the ones we had appeared, they would scatter, climb the beams, do anything to get away from you when you walked in. Oh my, the outcome of that would have to be less than promising, but probably comical on the would-be trapper's part XD


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## FallDeere

-sigh- Well, either this is staged or someone's pet rats got loose and populated that house. For the record, that can happen even without starting out with a huge collection. Ever seen the Hoarder's episode with 2,000 rats? The guy started out with three that got loose. Doesn't take long for rats to reproduce, lol.

Judging by these rats' behavior, however, I agree this has to be staged and these are pet rats. Someone in the video's comments pointed out that real wild rats wouldn't be in the middle of the room. Just ask Rat Daddy: even a half-wild/semi-feral rat wouldn't do that. These are 100% domesticated, not even feral.

I actually kinda enjoyed watching a few episodes of this show, but that was because (naive me) assumed the guy knew what he was doing and what was shown was at least semi-real. Now I think he's just a phony.

Animal Planet has done nothing but disappoint me lately. There was a feature spewing lies about wolves (my favorite animal) and shows that have nothing to do with animals. I do like the show Treehouse Masters, but it doesn't seem like it belongs on Animal Planet. I like seeing the tanks on Tanked, but even fish-ignorant me knows that how they treat the actual fish is questionable. They gave alligators to a family once... I mean, the alligators would be taken care of by someone else and replaced when they were too big for the tank... ugh.

My favorite show at the moment is My Cat From ****. It's the only show I consider legit at the moment... I hope I am not being mislead. I've learned a lot from that show and plan to use what I've learned when/if I get a cat. I haven't really given any other shows a real chance, though, so I don't know if there are any other "good" ones.


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## rainbowrats

Currently seething with anger about this obviously phony stunt, really. How can you seriously think a group of prey animals would eat calmly when two men are screaming and running around like idiots right over them?


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## rainbowrats

Just send a looooong email complaining about that bull****...


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## PaigeRose

FallDeere said:


> My favorite show at the moment is My Cat From ****. It's the only show I consider legit at the moment... I hope I am not being mislead. I've learned a lot from that show and plan to use what I've learned when/if I get a cat. I haven't really given any other shows a real chance, though, so I don't know if there are any other "good" ones.


Jackson Galaxy is an amazing human being and I hope that his show doesn't get ruined by the other BS on Animal Planet. I grew up watching AP and all of their amazing shows. I loved Animal Cops and Emergency Vet as well as anything Steve Irwin was involved with. Its such a shame that their shows are completely BS now... Lets just hope they dont ruin MCFH...


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## CleverRat

They probably bought the rats from a pet shop or 'borrowed' them from some place that breeds rats so they could film this stupid skit. Hopefully, when they were done they returned them or something. If they were wild rats they definitely would have killed them when they were done.


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## Charlottesmom

FallDeere said:


> My favorite show at the moment is My Cat From ****. It's the only show I consider legit at the moment... I hope I am not being mislead. I've learned a lot from that show and plan to use what I've learned when/if I get a cat. I haven't really given any other shows a real chance, though, so I don't know if there are any other "good" ones.


That is the one and ONLY show I watch on AP these days. Though the fake cat hissing sound effect is grating on the nerves sometimes.


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## Batman

I remember seeing that episode and i was like that is not how you handle them what the ****.. I was so mad ugh anyway the only shows i watch are my cat from **** and finding big foot (don't judge me lol)


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## FallDeere

Fake hissing?  I don't know much about cats, so I guess I don't know how to tell when fake cat sounds are added... unlike when they add fake rat sounds.

I'm glad to hear that other people like that show. With the way Animal Planet is going, I was wondering if I should write it off as another show full of junk.


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## Charlottesmom

My husband and youngest son are ADDICTED to Finding Bigfoot so no judging from me!


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## Charlottesmom

FallDeere said:


> Fake hissing?  I don't know much about cats, so I guess I don't know how to tell when fake cat sounds are added... unlike when they add fake rat sounds.I'm glad to hear that other people like that show. With the way Animal Planet is going, I was wondering if I should write it off as another show full of junk.


The hissing is just a stupid sound effect they use between scenes, they don't even show a cat, it's just mildly annoying when they do it ten times in one show. The show itself is very good.


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## FallDeere

Ah, gotcha.

Finding Bigfoot is kinda cool, but it depressed me because I know they won't actually find bigfoot... If they did, it'd be all over the news before the episode came out so... yeah. I watched it for a while and then quit.


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## Lesti

Yeah, I have the PETA app and they've been posting lots of stuff about 'turtle man' recently. That show is crap. On animal planet I usually just watch MCFH and Animal Cops. Pitbulls and Parolees is also really good (I was filmed and I'll possibly be in the show! ) and I'll occasionally watch Tanked. I personally don't like Finding Bigfoot much, but I watched the episode where they were in our home town (the blue mountains episode). That was pretty big because we're a really tiny town, and the only thing people come here for is wine.


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## Batman

I watch it because I have a girl crush on renee and bobo haha but it does depress me when they don't find bigfoot sighs


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## Sheldon

Ignorant hillbilly ******* mother fudger... steam. Steam out of my nostrils.


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## Hey-Fay

I am *OUTRAGED*. I used to have a little respect for Animal Planet but not anymore. I'm still so mad I'm shaking. If thoughts could kill let me tell you he'd be taking a _*permanent *_dirt nap.


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## PaigeRose

AHH PITBULLS AND PAROLEES! How could I forget! I am OBSESSED with that show! But I watch it online or ondemand or netflix, hardly actually on Animal Planet lol.

Yeah sometimes MCFH has its cheesey moments but thats what the drama is about... The info and Jackson Galaxy himself are very genuine, I watch his youtube videos. I just pray that it doesnt go in the direction of that hack Caser Milan... sigh.

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## Batman

Jackson basically tells you ways to improve your cats mood. I wanted my cat to go on there and I sent him a video he said my cat was mean enough to even consider, but he did give me some advice on how to fix my cats problem which was cool, and did work. 

That is not the only epi of turtle man with rats there was one where there were rats in a car in the woods and he was picking them up by their tails


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## Charlottesmom

PaigeRose said:


> AHH PITBULLS AND PAROLEES! How could I forget! I am OBSESSED with that show! But I watch it online or ondemand or netflix, hardly actually on Animal Planet lol.Yeah sometimes MCFH has its cheesey moments but thats what the drama is about... The info and Jackson Galaxy himself are very genuine, I watch his youtube videos. I just pray that it doesnt go in the direction of that hack Caser Milan... sigh.Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Don't even get me started on Ceser Milan, my mom was one of his deciples! The guy is awful....


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## Charlottesmom

Batman said:


> Jackson basically tells you ways to improve your cats mood. I wanted my cat to go on there and I sent him a video he said my cat was mean enough to even consider, but he did give me some advice on how to fix my cats problem which was cool, and did work. That is not the only epi of turtle man with rats there was one where there were rats in a car in the woods and he was picking them up by their tails


That is very cool that her gave you advise, even though your cat wasn't he11ish enough.


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## FallDeere

Why is he so bad? I've always heard he wasn't good, but never why... Also, did any of y'all ever watch "It's Me Or The Dog"?


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## Batman

I love its me or the dog and I actually met with victoria and that cesaur guy I like them both, and both their techniques work it just depends on the dog although they don't agree how each other train dogs lol. 

It was cool of him I thought my cat was evil till I seen some of them, but im like omg they make my cat look like an angel haha I wish they had a rattie behavorlist show on animal planet that would be awesome.


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## PaigeRose

I love Victoria of Its Me or the Dog! Her techniques focus on behavior shaping and positive reinforcement. Casar Milan's technique is called "flooding" and he also works on positive punishment. He has no real schooling just "experience" from working in dog shelters. He knows nothing of canine behavior or psychology at all. He operates on the outdated "dominance theory". Dogs do not follow "one alpha" as most people believe. If any of you have read/followed/participated in Rat Daddy's Immersion, its the same thing. You do not need to bully your rats or dogs to "obey" you. 

Check out this article : http://beyondcesarmillan.weebly.com/mary-harwelik.html
The author is someone who they call a "cross-over trainer". They once believed in the dominance theory and used it to train dogs. After seeing how positive reinforcement worked better and made for a happier dog, a lot of the older dog trainers "crossed over" to the newer theory. This article explains what and why Cesar's "techniques" are outdated. 

Also, if you haven't seen this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ihXq_WwiWM
WARNING: SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC -- Cesar floods a food aggressive lab to force her to "submit" to him. It's his "worst bite" to date. They show him getting bitten, kicking the dog, and bleeding. THIS AIRS ON TV, I've seen the full episode (which is also available on youtube and worth a watch)

I could go on and on and on about how much I can't stand him or his "rehabilitation". When I was younger, and when his show first came out, I thought "huh maybe he really is onto something". I watched as much as I could and I also watched other training shows, such as Its Me or the Dog. After taking ONE psychology class in high school, I realized what a complete hack Cesar was. I often had questions after watching his shows, rewinding and playing back pieces to see if I could pin point any use of real behavioral psychology. There was none, I don't know how Cesar can even call himself a dog trainer. 

A few months ago I worked at a dog boarding facility. I worked there for a total of 3 weeks because I couldn't stand how the manager acted around the dogs. I had no problem with him as a person, but he acted like a Cesar disciple, especially when the dogs were running together in the pens. It was clear he was a believer in the pack theory. While the problems most of the dogs had couldn't be fixed quickly, I watched him try. There was one dog, a pit bull named Minnie, who clearly had been abused by a man. All of the guys she would distance herself from and bark at for the entire 4 hours she was at day care. The girls she would come up to, sit with, wag her tail, bring the ball over so she could play, etc. The manager made a point to keep her out when all the other dogs were back in the runs. He would stand in her face, force himself closer and closer to her. She would do everything in her power to get away- including jumping the 5 ft plastic white fence. When the manager was with the "pack" of big dogs, he would often make that "CHHT" sound and tap the dogs with his foot or hand. To get them away from the fence he would spread himself out and poke any dog that came near. 

I couldn't stand watching him do this every day and how STUPID he was acting. He thought he was some hot-shot with the dogs. Again, he had no real background in psychology, only that he had worked for the boarding facility for 5 years and obviously watched Cesar Milan religiously.

Sorry for the long post, but I really wish more dog owners were educated on the topic.


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## Mrs.Brisby

I still don't understand how people can use positive punishment on dogs (or any living thing). Even Skinner pointed out that while positive punishment did eventually result in the desired behavior it also led to a host of unfortunate side effects. He also wrote about how the animal was more likely to forget the desired behavior if taught with positive punishment rather than negative. I never liked Ceaser. I watched the episode with the food aggressive labrador and it made me so mad. I've only seen a few episodes but it seemed like he would pick one person in the family to be the "Alpha" and it was always the father.


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## Batman

I don't train my dog like ceaser does because some of his techniques are full of crap. My dog is food driven so me training him with treats and positive renforcment is what worked for me. I didn't beat him or force him to submit it took patience to build that trust kind of like how rats do with trust training,

But as a puppy I started working his little puppy brain to where hes like okay so if i listen I get this kind of treat


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## rileys-mom

These don't look like wild rats. I'm inclined to believe they were probably feeder rats used to stage this episode.


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## Mrs.Brisby

rileys-mom said:


> These don't look like wild rats. I'm inclined to believe they were probably feeder rats used to stage this episode.


Yep. They're definitely feeder rats. It's sad because a lot of people who aren't so knowledgeable about animals watch these shows and then think it's okay to handle them in such a cruel manner. I can't watch a single episode of Call of The Wildman without thinking "Where did that animal really come from?".


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## FraternalSuns

I saw hoodeds, berkies, doves, babies, newborns, etc. Poor sweethearts....


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## PawsandClaws

There is a group on FB called Beyond Cesar Milan which I love. All the members believe in positive reinforcement of dogs and it is a great place to gain some knowledge on the matter. They frequently discuss choke collars, e-collars and the debunk the dominance theory. A lot of them are animal behaviorists, vets and R+ trainers so there is a large discussion of dog psychology as well. I would highly recommend it. As to my personal opinions on Animal Planet shows - I absolutely hate them. There was a time when Animal Planet was a great place to be if you were an avid animal lover and wanted to get more information. Currently, it is a black hole of MISinformation and dramatization without any real benefit to expanding the public sphere. I do not value how they treat animals for entertainment and I certainly do not value the 'knowledge' that they share as based on science and animal psychology when that does not even come close.


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## crazyratgirl101

All TV that I used to love as a little kid is gone. I remember watching The Crocodile Hunter, Mutual Omaha's wild kingdom, Its me or he dog, GOOD SHOWS. All the shows on animal planet are not even about animals.They also have a exterminator show, i think it's called Rat Busters. Right when I saw the name I turned the channel as I knew it would be full of myths about rats.


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## MissSix

Animal Planet has gone so far downhill... When did that start? 
I remember I used to love watching the documentaries about sea life and stuff. It was fun. Now I never see shows that are worth anything, and shows that have nothing to do with animals! 
We need some shows with actual animal experts that really love the animals they study. It would be great if there could be a show about spiders that shows just how beautiful they are, instead Animal Planet continues to fuel people's fears with their BS programming.


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## crazyratgirl101

They need a show called "animal myths" that debunks all the myths on things like snakes, spider, and of course rats. Every channel has gone downhill. Just look at Disney, Nick, and Cartoon Network. I remember the nice shows when I saw in elementary school like drake and josh, that's so raven, suite life of zack and cody, rugrats, now Disney has these dumb, inappropriate shows like Shake it up and Liv and Maddie. Total garbage.


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## MissSix

Also in response to the Ceasar Milan video... 
How the **** is riling up an already agressive dog supposed to fix the aggression? As soon as the dog calmed down that should have been the time to let her get back to her food. All that dog learned was that she has every reason to be aggressive about her food! 
He really just teaches dogs that they need to fear their humans. His whole positive punishment routine is more to satisfy the punisher than to teach the dog. 
We had a food aggressive dog, though not nearly as bad as the dog in the video. We spent weeks just feeding her by hand until she started to associate us with food. It's way more effective to change behavior by reward and affection.


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