If you can’t understand a problem, there isn’t much chance in fixing it. People aren’t being given understanding of their dogs behaviours anymore – they are being pushed to use tools, protocols, control and management and punishment. And we have the nerve to call this dog training? I made a post in another group yesterday and the result was being flooded by PM’s. 30 people contacted me asking for more – then I got banned from the group. People are desperate for help, and they can’t find it.
I’m just going to say this, dogs are easy – it’s people that make them difficult. It’s moreso people standing in the dogs way because they are afraid of what the dog is going to do to the public. And it’s your fear that keeps the the dog in that position – because training is telling you to do it because your dog is a liability and always will be in their eyes. The dog is picking up on your fear and reacting to it. People are on a merry go round of fear and insecurity – neither have confidence in the other. Everything is a big deal.
When coopers owners realized I was meeting their dog in the back yard one on one, they are really scared that Cooper would attack. And that is the entire problem out of the gate – people treat him like he’s aggressive because they believe he is – the owners were made to be afraid and that’s not fair. Cooper isn’t aggressive, he has no confidence. This is his life, this is his day to day. Someone needs to get him out of that dark space he’s in – but he’s living under control and management because training failed him – trainers were afraid of him.
I meet dogs like this one on one – Why? To remove as much as possible the things he will react negatively to – the things that he will show aggression to protect. A dog showing aggression doesn’t make an aggressive dog. I don’t want to force a dog to show aggression, don’t want to put him in that situation. Getting a scared dog to show aggression is easy – getting the real story is the trick. For that, you can’t have any fear of them.
This is the original assessment, my gopro died unfortunately and didn’t get it all.
I met Cooper in the back yard, the poor dog pooped himself out of fear and he’s peeing on the back door while jumping up and down. Now, many have ripped me for “flooding the dog”, trigger words. First of all, I have no fear of dogs because they are pretty easy to understand. Secondly, I’m walking into a back yard unannounced, hands behind my back, not chasing the dog, I’m not trying to wrap a catch pole around his neck. We are having a conversation, nothing more. I didn’t see an aggressive dog, I see a dog that doesn’t know how to be a dog – I see a scared dog that nobody trusts. That needs to change.
Now people say meet him on neutral territory, have the owner bring him out. That’s the worst possible thing to do. I know the dog is scared – the vast majority of them are. Now, had the owners brought him out – the dog will be scared anyway but now, we are going to put the dog into a situation where a scared dog is being forced to show aggression because he is scared and protecting the owner? This is setting the dog up to fail, period. I see this all the time in “training” videos – the dog is scared, but now the trainer declares the dog aggressive because the dog is going to fail – and trains it to that point as a liability. How is that fair? Now it’s all punishment and will be for the life of the dog. And we have the nerve to call this training?
I brought Monty in, they got along fine. It’s all about building a bit of trust – a dog will trust another dog far faster than a human. Monty brings the dog to me, he reflects the trust he gains on me – he’s a game changer. By the end of the assessment, the entire family is in the back yard, Cooper is relaxed beside me and I’m giving affection and we have a discussion over what I found and what he needs. They were shocked to find that their dog is not aggressive, they were watching the whole thing through the window. This is the first time anyone has shown Cooper to be capable.
Nobody is meeting Coopers needs – this is the reason why he is like this. They can’t walk him cause he’s so reactive, they gave up. Why are we training this? We are going to start meeting Coopers needs.
At the dog park, Cooper is scared – he’s never been to one. My initial goal is to get him down to the back trails – there are too many distractions and he’s not ready for the open park yet.
But you’re flooding the dog! Cooper is living life flooded, he’s always stressed – that’s not fair. Cooper is anti-social – what’s the cure for anti-social? Socialization. The first faces he sees is mine and my dogs, we’ve already met, already some trust built and now it’s time for more.
Socialization is nothing more than making the big scary world “not a big deal”.
Threshold training is about the humans threshold – not the dog. The human is trying to work with their dog under what they believe is the dogs threshold. I’m removing all the thresholds, letting the dog choose where to go, when to stop and sniff, whether to meet a dog or not. It’s all about him – it’s giving him free will, giving him his brain back, giving him choice. Get rid of the thresholds – show me what you got. I’m here to help, I’m here to guide you, I’m here to protect you and I won’t let you get hurt. Now show me what you got. Cooper needs to make choices to overcome fear because he trusts that I won’t let him get hurt.
Cooper needs to learn “dog”, and I can’t show him that but Monty can. Cooper is watching Monty be social, he’s calm, he’s meeting people and dogs, he’s not freaking out. Cooper is choosing to overcome his fear because the one dog he’s formed a trust bond with is doing it calmly – and he’s not getting hurt. Monty isn’t freaking out, I’m not freaking out – nobody is freaking out. I’m being social for him, meeting and talking to people, I’m not treating the dog like he’s aggressive – I’m meeting dogs as well. I’m showing him that all this is good stuff. No need to be afraid. The most important thing, other dog owners are not treating him like he’s aggressive – they are encouraging him to come meet.
Every positive interaction builds confidence and confidence comes from trust. Fear is nothing more than lack of trust. Cooper is learning to trust for the first time in his life.
At the 22:08 mark, bikes come by and that is the only time Cooper growled – he was unsure. I put him between my legs, held him loosely by the collar but didn’t make a big deal. Notice how he sniffs the bikes? He doesn’t know what they are. I’m calm, nobody else is freaking out over the bikes. So he didn’t freak out – I didn’t make the bikes a big deal. Had we been in more open quarters that weren’t crowded, I would have asked the bikers to stop and let Cooper investigate, let him smell the bikes and take the big deal out of it.
After a half hour, I bring the owners in – now it’s time for them to experience this. They need to see their dog capable – something they have never seen before. My job is to assess and see if Cooper is capable – and get him to that point. Once the owners see him capable – they can start to trust him and be confident with him. Those are the first steps to the owners developing a real relationship with their dog, that’s something they never had. They need to learn to trust Cooper – and with trust comes respect and confidence.
Understand, I’m not fixing the dog – the dog isn’t broken. I could take Cooper and turn him into a great dog, but that doesn’t help the owners. If they don’t change, Cooper will go right back to the way he was. All I’m doing is putting the owners on the path to success – it’s up to them to walk that path. And they did.
The video speaks for itself.
To extend this conversation – getting a terrified dog to show aggression is easy. Kane is a 120 pound Cane Corso and another dog I assessed. I didn’t work with him because the owner couldn’t see past the e-collar and it hurt to walk away. Meeting him one on one, he was terrified, pissed on the floor out of fear and tried to bury himself in the couch. So, I set him up to fail just to prove a point to people – I brought the owner in and this was the result. The dog is 120 pounds, I’m 150 – I’m not wearing protective gear. If Kane were truly aggressive, he would have had me on the floor in pieces. Do you think he wants to act like this?
People really need to rethink their dogs. We need to start pushing understanding of why a dog is acting like this instead of telling them to control and manage it. You’re controlling and managing symptoms, and it will eventually destroy your life if it gets bad enough. That’s not fair.