Stupid & Dangerous advice
There is lots of bad advice coming from trainers, whether by book, video, class and the internet. There is a website out there that advertises that they are miracle workers and they can train your dog etc….
It is called Kingdom of Pets by Daniel Stevens, I signed up for it just to see if I could learn something…I am appalled and shocked at the bad advice they are giving out. I usually just pass it off to just another uneducated trainer, but this weeks posting about aggressive dog is downright stupid and dangerous..first I want you to read it and then if you know my methods you will see what is wrong with it…after you read it you can see my thoughts on it.
Biting Dog: The case of the Biting Border Collie
By Daniel Stevens and Martin Olliver
The
thing about 2-year old Finn was – he had quirks. And by quirks I mean
he had a habit of snapping at the hands and feet of strangers.
Exercise
eh? Well – Finn was a happy, healthy, super-fit Border Collie and his
two owners were happy, healthy, avid runners – it looked like a perfect
match and it should have worked out just fine.
The
people at the shelter said’ “Give him enough quality exercise and the
problem will probably go away.” Except that it didn’t. Finn was
starting to display the same behavior in public.
It
wasn’t that he was clamping down in a proper bite, and he wouldn’t
break skin, he would only snap and recoil quickly… but this was still
a serious problem that could escalate if not dealt with urgently and
appropriately.
The owners were told to stage ‘safe’ scenarios where this behavior could be
displayed and corrected on the spot. This involved two pieces of equipment:
The Equipment
1. A Gentle Leader® head harness or a check collar / lead (we suggest
you try them in that order if you have not started training with one or
the other already).
2. A muzzle. This is necessary in the short term (especially given that
one of us was posing as the “stranger” in this case!).
The Procedure
With the muzzled dog settled by a “Sit” command, the stranger was
introduced to the scene with his hands concealed – one behind him, one
in a pocket. When he exposed a hand, and the dog responded as expected,
the owner delivered a short sharp correction to the lead along with a
harsh “AH!” Timing was everything. When the dog returned to a settled
Sit, he was warmly praised.
You may have to manually correct your dog’s body position at first, but
eventually he will respond to the lead correction and then will only
need a verbal command. This could take many repetitions and anywhere
between 2-8 weeks to break the habit completely. But it is well worth
the effort.
In his case Finn got the point fairly quickly and learned good
behavior. His owners were firm, as they were instructed to be, and –
best of all – no dog trainers lost fingers in the process!
All the best,
Daniel Stevens and the Secrets to Dog Training Team
“Secrets to Dog Training – STOP Dog Behavior Problems!”
So…have you figured out what is wrong.
1) The gentle leader is one of the worst things out there for dogs and was never designed to be used as a correction device. They suggest you use it to correct your dog and they way they suggest using can cause PERMANENT neck and spine injuries. This not only is wrong on a training level but also is dangerous for the safety of your dog.
2) When you correct a dog for trying to BITE someone and then they go back into a sit…you never praise them or you are praising the dog for trying to bite….idiots….
I say this because alot of trainers do not understand basic canine behavior and they are not only not correcting aggressive behavior but they are endagering the lives of dogs and the general public.