Q. How Many Hours Per Day Are Spent Training?

A. The dogs arrive on the morning of the first day, and have their first training session that afternoon, once everyone has had a bit of time to settle in. They are then normally trained twice a day for the following two days. They then have a brief training session on the morning of the fourth day, then they have their test. Each training session can potentially last for three hours, though the dogs are NEVER worked for that long.

With my clients and their dogs, this is broken up with short bursts of training, then a conversation period with the owner to discuss what they just did and how well they did it, then another burst of training, then more discussion, and so on. So of the three hours, the dog actually probably only works for an hour/an hour and a half, though all of this can be affected by the dogs ability and interest, and of course, by the weather. The session is normally ended with either a period of play, or a walk for the owner and dog, depending on ability.

Then, every day in the afternoon, prior to the last daily training session for the dogs, there is a master-class for the owners, which lasts around two hours. Each day that class is taken by a different trainer, and will cover different subjects, such as neutering, diet, exercise, mental stimulation, grooming, choosing a training class and furthering their education after Borstal. And EVERY dog that I trained with, whether you saw it on the show or not, had toys and/or food used in it's training every day that it was there.Even Bis, the Kelpie had pieces of chicken pushed through his muzzle.

Q. How can I get my dog onto the series?

A. You can email DogBorstalEmails@bbc.co.uk, or call 020 8752-4875.

Many people think that going onto Dog Borstal is a quick way to get a miracle cure for their dogs behaviour. For every 1 hour show that you see, there are over 300 hours of filming. THERE IS A LOT OF WORK INVOLVED. You have all seen the emotional owners, trainers and dogs. So if you want a quick fix, my advice would be to rehome the dog to someone who is prepared to spend time putting right the behaviours that you probably created or allowed to happen.

If you want to really work at putting your dog on the path to good behaviour, perhaps you should join a local reputable dog training class. If none of the above works, perhaps you should consider Borstal. But please treat it as a last resort.

Q. Are the cases all real?

I read somewhere that perhaps the cases weren't real, and that the dogs were trained to behave badly for the show. Is this true?

A. That's ridiculous. Who would want their dog trained to carry out such bad behaviours just so that we can attempt to put them right again. Anyone who has the time to think up something like that needs to get a hobby.

All of these people are pet owners who want a problem resolved with their dogs. A couple of them were people who wanted to get on television, and used their dog as a platform for that, but it is very difficult to weed those people out, since they can be very convincing.The rest were genuine people with genuine problems, the vast majority of which worked really hard to improve their relationship with their dogs, and it is quite insulting for someone who doesn't know the facts to spout such drivel.

Q. Who is the head-TRAINER AT DOG BORSTAL?

A. There is absolutely no hierarchy between the trainers. We are all individuals doing our own thing, and although we may come together to discuss ideas, and bounce thoughts off of each other, none of us has any authority over any of the other trainers.

Q. Can I use a rattle bottle on my dog to deal with his aggression to people?

A. NO! A rattle bottle, or indeed any type of punishing equipment should NEVER be used without a professional looking at your dog and his behaviour.

There have been many cases where the inappropriate use of such equipment has made the dog much, much worse, and turned an assertive dog into a biting dog, with the bite directed at the person who used the punisher.

The rattle is NOT A MIRACLE CURE! Those of you who think that it is a quick fix, and that simply shaking a bottle or can with stones in it will stop the problem are in for a shock. On Dog Borstal, we do so much assessment of the dog and preparation before any form of punishment is used that you do not see, and if you don't know how to do this, you could find you make your dog much more of a problem. The sad thing is that even despite reading this, some people will still be foolish enough to give the rattle bottle or cup of water in the face a try. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Q. Rob, why is it that when people come onto the show with a whole series of problems, we only see one or two of them being tested. Do the rest not get done?

A. All of the problems that people come with are tested (at least with me) in a way that directly relates to the problem that they have. So if the dog doesn't like dogs, doesn't like people and hates traffic, I will set a test to include dogs, people and traffic. However, in order to fit as many different things into the program as possible, each trainers test is almost always cut to some degree in the edit. So I may test the dog against four other dogs, but you may only see two of them. Sometimes whole exercises are cut out. Unfortunately, we have no say in which ones stay or go.