18/04/2025
Waning! This is a rant post!
This post will not be popular with a lot of dog owners. I want to touch on how you train your dog or, in fact, the complete lack of training or discipline for a dog that miss behaves , like barking at people, growling at people and even biting people.
It should be common sense to understand that if your dog shows any type of aggression to anyone, it should be disciplined. Barking, growling, and obviously biting should not be tolerated at all. Yet I see it all the time in my line of work. This morning was a prime example.
A new customer brought her dog to me to be groomed. Straight away, it was barking and showing signs of aggression. I kneeled down to try to allow the dog to sniff me. The owner did not give a verbal deterrent at any point. After discussing the cut, it was time to hand over. I took the lead and picked the dog up as it was a small 8 month old Bichion . It proceeded to bite my hand repeatedly. So obviously, I handed the dog back and explained it would be impossible for me to work on the dog with it being so aggressive. The woman was cuddling the dog and telling it everything was ok!! Like I was the bloody problem! I told her she should be telling the dog NO! Not reinforcing its aggressive behaviour.
I told her that if that dog bit a child, it would be put to sleep. She then told me she had children. So many dog owners have zero clue , especially owners of small dogs . I have been bitten by more small dogs than any other. The majority of small dog owners think they are exempt, like it's ok for it to present bad behaviour. All dogs need training, not just large breeds.