This is what everyone is missing in this thread. Your average housepet does not need to be trained with these methods. THAT is what everyone is getting so riled up about. Dogs with an tendency towards being constantly over-amped, which is a trait well-suited to military/police dogs, *might* do just fine when being constantly manhandled like this, whatever. But the majority of dogs, on both this board and in real life, are not suited to this type of punishment and do respond negatively. Now if all you're looking for in a dog is a push-button robot that never thinks for itself, then yes, go seek out trainers like Richling. You'll have a dog that will jump on a hot grill when you tell it to, but you will also miss out on the spontaneous behavior that makes owning dogs so rewarding. There is such a difference that it's impossible to write about it, because everyone thinks "Oh, my dog does that now."
IliamnasQuest would be a good person to point towards this thread.