Plan To Train Your Dog? Adoption Denied

Rescues & Shelters:  Plan to Train the Dog you Adopt?? -- Application Denied

Trainers:  Aggressive behavior -- Don't Train the Dog.  Just Rehome.  Or Better Yet Kill the Dog.

 

You would be outraged if that were common practice.   But the truth is, they are putting down dogs that have potential to be perfectly trained dogs.    And doing it in the name of all positive training.   

Daily practice around this country in many towns, including ours, denies adoption of dogs to potential adopters who are willing to get them trained.   Dogs with common, fixable issues die every day because to fix them would require using a training method that is not a treat or clicker.   Dog’s that show any sign of aggression, even if it’s rooted in fear, lack of socialization, or shelter stress are killed because the all positive trainer can’t fix it with a treat and affection.   So it’s better to die than to let a trainer like me correct them.  We’re not talking full on aggression – but common issues.

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Last year, I went to a trainer’s conference and was completely distraught at the message of many trainers there.    Upon posting my blog, someone I know personally, began a campaign to beat me up through social media.   Floods of all positive trainers rallied to condemn my point of view.

Truth be told, I was rattled to the core.  Despite how totally hateful my “all positive peers” actually were,   I explored many resources in an effort become a convert to all positive methods.  But I failed.  I have looked for videos and information demonstrating PP success with the kinds of dogs I see every day.  I can’t find it.  At least not with long-term success and efficient results.    

Gosh, what the heck is wrong with me that I can’t figure out how to be successful without correcting a dog or without using training tools for some dogs?  Surely, I ought to be able to do it too.

Wrong.  I truly was spending time on a losing effort.     And still there are frequent recommendations to kill dogs who need training that corrects behavior.  

Thankfully, though I have found several other like-minded, experts in their field who believe using a balanced approach to training saves lives. 

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I meet dogs and handlers every single day struggling to coexist together.   Dogs that are miserable to walk, stressful to live with because they are simply out of control.   Owners struggle with common, fixable issues.   Some  dogs may have signs of biting, separation anxiety, dogs that are scared of their own shadows, dog fighting, peeing in the house and so on  -- but in most cases it can be fixed.  

And at least a few times a week, someone contacts me about a dog that someone else has told them needs to be rehomed or put down.    This is not an occasional problem anymore.   It’s becoming much more frequent.    

If our goal is a no-kill nation, and a home for every dog –  we have to make some changes to attitudes and opinions.  Take a very close look at those you support and follow and when you find yourself appalled or outraged, take action.

Owners just want to fix the dog they love.  In most cases, they don’t really care about agility, championships, or other high performance sports – they just want a family dog that is calm and happy in their home.  

Owners are stressed.   Financially impacted.  And sometimes at risk of someone getting hurt or of losing the dog.  Literally, ending the dog’s life – because who the hell else is going to take your dog with issues? 

So yes, too many shelters and too many rescues are killing dogs because they refuse to allow the dog to be given a correction (aversive:  verbal no, touch, leash correction, bark collar, pet corrector, use a prong collar or ecollar) or with a trainer who can actually fix the problem using these tools.  Without pain, without stress to the dog, without unnecessary financial costs and without significant time.

Dogs are being denied adoption to great families who are willing to train a dog – because the owner has said they will work with a trainer who may use a training tool to end bad behavior (prong or ecollar).     I see it more often than I can stand, and I am finding a very large number of balanced trainers who are seeing the same thing all over the country.  

Owners struggling.  Dogs are dying.  Some problems are just not being fixed with affection and food.   If you can make it happen with a marker and a treat – do it and rock on with absolute accolades from the balanced trainer community.   But, in many cases some trainers either refusing to take the dog on at all or suggesting the dog be put down.    

Some owners kill their dogs without hope because a vet or trainer gave them none.  Some owners refuse to give up and continue to seek help – thank goodness.

My findings are that there are a number of excellent trainers with many years of experience and 1000s of successful rehabs that believe what I believe.  They are seeing the same problems

Help is available. 

Sometimes, to fix a broken dog, you have to communicate with them in a new way.  You must give a correction that they understand.   A way that creates a new response.    Treats and love alone are not going to fix aggression.   Treats are not going to fix a reactive dog dragging their owner down the street to attack another dog.  Treats are not going to fix Separation Anxiety.    These issues can be corrected without stress or pain to the dog.   It’s done daily by really good trainers and committed owners.

What’s worse?   

• A correction to a dog using prong or ecollar that is quick, uncomfortable but not painful (yes, I’ll prove it to you and give you a list of referrals) and effective almost immediately    - OR – Your kids being at risk?  
• Financial burden because they are eating the couch?
• Injuring people (someone else’s pain) because you don’t want to correct the dog?
• Vet bills because they are hurting themselves (pain) or emotional stress (also pain).   
• What about your stress?  Lack of sleep?  Fear of what if?  Giving the dog away? A dead dog?

I invite you to listen/read and do your own research.   If you are struggling with a dog with bad behavior or want reliable off leash training for your dog – consider proven methods that work.  
In most cases, your problem can be fixed.     

I BEG you – before you consider the death of a dog or rehoming a dog you already own or another day of struggling with problems  – go talk to a balanced trainer face to face.   Get a demonstration.  Get help.  You have everything to gain.  You have nothing to lose with a consult.

More from experts in the field of aggressive dog rehab:

Tyler Muto: 

http://connectwithyourk9.com/positive-reinforcement-vs-corrections-part-1/

Jeff Gellman:  

http://whatwouldjeffdo.libsyn.com/what-would-jeff-do-12-21-2013

http://whatwouldjeffdo.libsyn.com/what-would-jeff-do-7-7-

Leerburg: 

http://leerburg.com/flix/player.php/1114/The_Problem_with_All-Positive_Dog_Training/  

Other

http://www.tsurodogtraining.com/plan_b.htm     
http://www.balancedtrainers.com/    

     

Just keep digging if you need more info…..   True, there are two camps.   I will always land in the camp that saves dogs.  I'm still open to having my mind changed if you have the results and shared knowledge to back it up....

Notes from a Postivie Trainer's Conference

I just returned from a Dog Trainer’s Conference. I won’t name names, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure it out, if you really want to know. I must tell you that I had some pretty significant concerns and I want to share them with you. There are some things you as a pet owner, seeking a trainer should understand.

Within the organization there is a sub-group typically called “All Positive” or “Purely Positive”. As I listened to what was being said, as well as what was not being said, there was a pretty clear message: never correct a dog and avoid aggressive dogs.

I went to this conference specially to learn how to work an aggressive dog using all-positive methods and clicks and treats. Seriously, I wanted to figure this out. In forums online where I have expressed questions about being stuck, I was railed upon and told either a) I was moving too fast, b) the dog didn’t understand or c) I was stupid (well, they didn’t quite say that but sure inferred it )

There was a distinct absence of session related to aggression and reactivity. I found this most curious, since this seems to be one of the primary calls I get daily. I started listening a bit more carefully and asking a few very careful questions.

Some of these folks typically run from aggression & reactivity and in some cases don’t experience it at all. Many of these folks are breeders, service dog trainers, competition trainers or show-dog trainers. The select their puppies very carefully and then put them in to training programs with the end in mind. When they do encounter aggression, they would often rather euthanize a dog than to try a method that even approximates a correction or +P / Positive Punishment.

That’s right – some of them will counsel you to get rid of your dog or even to put your dog down before they would ever consider a prong collar or an ecollar. Some of them won’t even consider a martingale! And some, won’t even consider any sort of verbal “no”, or touch at all.

I even had one trainer tell me it would be such a waste of time to spend on an aggressive dog since there are so many others that could be trained during that time, and shelters are full of non-aggressive dogs. You must be kidding me – right? Well at least she got the shelter part right. But what if it’s your dog showing signs of aggression? You're scared, heartbroken, and typically overwhelmed by what to do next.    Are you ready to put him down before you would consider trying training method that is a bit more correction-based that treat-based? Remember, I attribute my own Great Dane’s life to an ecollar.

Do I use prongs and ecollars on every dog I train? Absolutely not. Not even almost. In fact, I don’t even use it on Vinnie anymore. We’re past that now. In the year and ½ since I opened my own business, only 4 dogs have gone to ecollar and that was at their owner’s request.

This whole thing makes me sad. I look back at a number of dogs I have known over the 13+ years I have been doing rescue and I think how many of them would not be here if we hadn’t used some form of correction when treats and other rewards were failing. Vinnie would not be here today if some of these trainers had been his evaluator.

So, as I sat there truly troubled, and really trying to understand the founder made some interesting points in his lecture and closing remarks.

• A dog is not trained unless and until s/he can perform the requested skill at distance, without food, without a training tool, and under distraction. (That’s always been my goal for training dogs)

• You cannot train a dog with only positive methods. There must be a consequence (punishment). Consequences should not be those that inflict pain and fear. (I agree – and know for fact that used properly or certain dogs with certain temperaments, prong collars and even ecollars meet this criteria)

• How can trainers call themselves “All Positive” when in fact they speak with hate, anger, hostility and overall negativity to anyone who has an opinion different than their own? It is hypocrisy to claim to be all positive and yet not be able to educate and communicate with their human peers and clients. (My favorite remark)

Now mind you – he is probably never going to support an ecollar on any dog. And of course we agree that no dog should be hit, intimidated, screamed at, or otherwise harmed. But he is saying something very important and controversial in his own organization. All-Positive doesn’t always work and may have been taken too far towards treats and clicks only.   He's open to the fact that a type of correction may be needed. (Gasp!)

While there are many common solutions and scientific studies supporting behavior – each dog is unique. Training is not black and white. For every average there is an extreme. No method is 100% for every dog, handler, or scenario. We must figure out what is going to work for the dog and the owner.

A good trainer is open-minded and well versed in all methods and can apply the best of all things to solve the problem with your dog.

Certainly we need to exhaust all options before we start talking euthanasia, IMHO.

So with that in mind – Happy Gotcha Day Vinnie 10/30/2010

The K9 Coach
http://www.thek9-coach.com
980-339-8064