Thread: Nature vs Nurture

[=Lia Goldie;18375]And you have to be new to dogs to implement a confrontational technique with a dog incorrectly? And for things to go wrong? And to feel unsure because you haven't done it before? And to be bitten?

As I said sure she can go and choke her dog with no prior experience doing so and with no instruction on how to do so correctly if she likes but I don't think it is wise to implement such a physical strategy without at least being shown by someone else first. Following such dangerous advice from a forum is a recipe for being being bitten imo.[/]
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Hi Lia,

I most certainly have not expected the OP or suggested she go ahead and choke her dog out, I have numerous times suggested she consult with a good K9 handler/trainer but in the process, explained what could be done as a retraining approach to eliminate the behaviour it's up to them to administer the advice or not. That's the trouble with the pet forum if aggression is mentioned anything outside of the standard answer "get a behaviourist" gets you banned for supplying potentially dangerous advice, it's bloody stupid, you can get this same advice on the Leerburg website or watching a Cesar Milan video etc, we surely must give some credit to people reading these threads to have a half a brain instead of treating everyone as potential dim whits.

It's like the toss pot involved with my banning on the pet forum showing his food lure technique on a reactive GSD on a video clip telling everyone how marvellous his methods work whilst the dog has a lunge at the camera man, it was a bloody joke seriously, everyone's giving this idiot a pat on the back for his superb handling and training which was absolute crap, sure he saved the dog a correction and lured the dog around the camera man once on a food trail, but it was laughable that anyone could possibly think this rehabilitation exercise was working, unless the dog had a treat under it's nose, it was all over the place. It was young silly dog flexing it's muscles a bit, geez I could have fixed the behaviour in 10 minutes. Some poor bugger owned this dog under the fool providing the training advice I felt sorry for them, what a load of nonesense to go through with food lures and all that garbage to correct a basic act of fiestiness from a young dog, anyway the demise of K9Nev saw any sensible advice on how to train and handle working dogs come to a screeching halt, good luck to them!!!.

Cheers
Nev

Eye Contact!!

Hello All!!

I thought I would give you an update on how my boy is doing. Firstly! I have finally clearly discovered the trigger for Ban's aggression! I had found this difficult because I thought he was rather random in his behaviour. Yesterday I clearly saw what it was that he objected to and it was eye contact. The very first time he leaped at a person, it happened to be an elderly man but he had stopped to admire Ban and tell him what a 'horse of a dog he was'. Yesterday we were approached by a young woman who wanted to say 'hello' to the dogs. Ban went very still and I knew immediately that he was about to leap. I was pleased for the warning so I immediately corrected him and made him sit. He quickly responded and once again behaved himself.

So! I feel somewhat enlightened and can now pre-empt any bad behaviour. He is generally very mild mannered out on walks and behaves well until some-one focusses on him a bit too closely.

I know that some dogs are sensitive to this but I am wondering if this is just something that he may grow out of or if it's inherent in him? Interested in your comments. . . . . .

bye fer now

Jolanda

I would be very careful with that dog in public,
It would be hard to advise you, without being there and seeing the dogs behaviour.

Originally Posted by Robert Santori

I would be very careful with that dog in public,
It would be hard to advise you, without being there and seeing the dogs behaviour.

Dont worry Rob - I am certainly on my toes and I now only take him out on my own so that I can concentrate fully on him. We tend to walk at night when there are less people around and I do still use the halti in conjunction with the check chain so I am now able to keep him on the ground. Also, if we keep moving and don't linger, he has less opportunity to be in a position of feeling threatened. At least I now know what triggers his aggression. What confounds me somewhat is that he developed this issue in the first place and that brings me back to the title of my original topic. . . . . . . He has had a LOT of socialisation and it hasn't stopped although his new behaviour has certainly made me more selective about when and where I take him out. I am also thinking of putting a muzzle on him.
Any opinions on this??? At least then people won't want to approach him and it offers a level of safety too.
So don't get me wrong, I am painfully aware of the responsibility of taking out a dog like this. . . . . . . given the recent publicity of biting dogs.

CHeers

Jolanda

Dogs don't like being eye balled, it is a simple doggy 101. Jolanda, you write 'new' behaviour in the above post....You have just picked up on this trigger, chances are this is not new...It is very good you have found this out, and only take him to selected places....Muzzles are a good and bad idea, you keep the dog from biting potentially, on the other hand you attract attn and generally this INVITES people to want to meet the dog! Also it is an admittance you have a less then stable controlled dog in public...

Originally Posted by Amy Pattison

Dogs don't like being eye balled, it is a simple doggy 101. Jolanda, you write 'new' behaviour in the above post....You have just picked up on this trigger, chances are this is not new...It is very good you have found this out, and only take him to selected places....Muzzles are a good and bad idea, you keep the dog from biting potentially, on the other hand you attract attn and generally this INVITES people to want to meet the dog! Also it is an admittance you have a less then stable controlled dog in public...

Yes, you make some good points Amy! It probably isn't 'new' and I have just missed the cue because it's been very subtle. It is interesting that he is generalising his behaviour though. . . . it used to be men only but now it's women too. . . . And you also have a point about a muzzle - that is why I put the question out there. I am not in a hurry to muzzle and although he hates the halti, I believe it does give me that bit of extra control in that he can't leap forward in it. Having saidthat, I am not a fan of the halti but it will have to do for now.

Thanks for your comments.

Jolanda