It's Me or the Dog

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Animal Planet's show about owners of problem pets seeking the advice of expert trainer Victoria Stilwell. It's like Supernanny for dogs, which is no surprise seeing as it's produced by the same company.

The show's official webpage can be found here.

Tropes used in It's Me or the Dog include:


  • Big Friendly Dog: Victoria frequently winds up showing that even "vicious" dogs can become these if properly cared for and trained, especially pit-bulls, who at their worst are Angry Guard Dogs and at their best are Big Friendly Dogs.
  • Cute but Cacophonic: Some of the dogs she works with are extremely loud, to the point of driving their owners (and their families, and neighbors) bonkers. More often than not the dog makes so much noise due to insecurity and nerves.
  • Dogs Are Dumb: Averted, and one thing Victoria tries to teach owners is that their dogs are a lot smarter and able to learn new things than many people give them credit for.
  • Dog Walks You: Owners of larger dogs featured on this show frequently have this problem until Victoria demonstrates how to properly handle their pet when on a walk.
  • Eye Take: Victoria tends to be pretty deadpan, but when some things go beyond even her ability to comprehend she will frequently give these to the audience.
  • The Mean Brit: Victoria can come off as this, but she only invokes the mean part when anvils need to be dropped.
  • Mister Muffykins: Victoria gets called in for quite a few of these. More often than not, it's more a case of bad dog owner than bad dog, since many of them erroneously think their animals are too small to be a real problem if they fail to properly train them and just allow them misbehave without correction.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Victoria sometimes has to lay some harsh truth on dog owners who just don't get it.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: During the New York season, Victoria would sometimes share Kit Kat bars with the owners as a reward.
  • You Fail Animal Care Forever: Victoria frequently ends up chewing out owners for feeding their dogs things they should not be eating or engaging in patently unsafe practices.