I’ve posted videos to different facebook groups, mainly balanced, only to be torn to shreds because of varying opinions from owners and trainers alike. You need thick skin to be in these groups and opinions don’t bother me. The youtube video at the bottom of this writeup is no exception. I labelled the video “leash aggressive dog” because that’s what the owner said. The dog is fine at daycare but not in dog parks or on leash. Trainers say I’m dangerous, going to get my dog killed some day, along with many names I won’t repeat here.
I meet people in public with problem dogs all the time, and I always offer assistance. They see Monty is calm and easy going, typically the answer is yes. When this owner seen Monty coming around the corner, she pulled the dog away – but of course, it’s easy to see that the Malinois cross is friendly and Monty went over to say hello. He knows when dogs have an issue.
The Staffy cross was human friendly, I met her first and got a face wash from her. I called Monty over, spun him around and presented him bum first, let her have a sniff – because that’s what dogs need, and it’s number one for calming a dog. A calm dog is a thinking dog, the brain is engaged – and that is the dogs very problem – she goes from zero to max in seconds. She got along fine with Monty, sniffed and hung out. We went for a walk around the store and ended up back in the same spot.
Monty didn’t hold back the second time around, he went straight in for affection from the pet store employee and as you can see, the Staffy got off her owners lap and sniffed Monty. All good. The Staffy was able to meet a couple of older dogs, all good – owner was impressed at how well she was doing – and she was appreciative over what we did to take her dog off guard. She was also appreciative over me going to meet her Staffy, many people avoid Pits simply because of what they are and it’s not fair.
How is helping people a bad thing? We do this all the time. I won’t put my dog in harms way, and he’s never been hurt helping other dogs. Trainers tend to assume that a small dog isn’t capable – but Monty is a dog, he knows how to dog. He doesn’t care about size, breed, gender or colour, it’s just another dog to him – and that’s something that we can all learn from dogs.
You see, Monty knew this Staffy wasn’t aggressive, otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone near. When I take him to dog aggressive cases, Monty tells me everything I need to know about the other dog. If Monty is on edge, that tells me that the other dog isn’t relaxed. If Monty is having a nap, he’s not too concerned about the other dog.
Robert Hynes Dog Training
Serving Edmonton, Alberta and surrounding areas.
admin@roberthynesdogtraining.com