10/24/2024
Why do people seek out dog trainers? There might be many reason to seek out help for their dogs. Most of the time it is nothing serious but there are times when it can be. if we really look at most of the issues trainers are called in for most of them have noting to do with the dogs. People might seek help becasue they have an over active puppy. I can guarantee that either the puppy is not gettgin their needs met or they are not with the right people. So many dogs are being given up not becasue they are doing anything really wrong but more becasue their needs are not being met. A German Shepherd puppy will bark, a Heeler puppy will nip. A Mastiff puppy will guard, a Jack Russell puppy with chase. The point is these dogs and breeds are doing what their genetics drive them to do.
The person with these dogs will complain that the puppy or adult dog is barking, chewing, digging in the yard, barking at other dogs, barking at strangers entering the home. Each breeds has its genetics hardwired which cannot be changed by a prong collar, shock collar, abusive trainer or owner. These behaviors cannot be stopped by meds, by changing diets, by watching Cesar Milan videos or the latest dog Gurus system. We cannot and should not try and undo what thousands of years of selective breeding has made of these dogs or any dog.
Shelters and rescues are full of great dogs that have done noting wrong but be the dogs they were meant to be. The dog that is with the person who has had several Labs in the past compares these dogs to the one they have now. They forget the lab they had in the past which could have been 20 years ago has changed compared to the Labs of today with different breeding or bad breeding practices. Lest they forget they are 20 years older and cannot meet the needs of the dog they have now becasue of their age compared to when they were younger and could walk more, exercise their dogs more. There is noting sadder then a working dog living with a person who can barely walk but insist that their dog is happy. This dog does not need training, this dog needs to be in a different home.
The couple who brought home a Cane Corso puppy becasue their friends have one and they loved the look of the puppy at the time. Now the couple is going to have a child and the dog simply does not fit in with their new lifestyle. This dog now has bonded with their family, this dogs loves it family and becasue of their bad choice in the beginning will have no problem giving up this dog which more then likely be euthanized in the future because this dog cannot be re homed because this dog guards its family which is what this dog was bred to do. My chosen breed is the German Shepherd. I have seen more of these dogs be dumped, thrown away, re homed and simply destroyed by bad breeding for looks, not temperament or health. They are so cute when they are puppies,, they love everyone until their genetics take over and they become the dog they were meant to be. The dog barks at other dogs, they bark at strangers in the home, the bite children who are crawling all over them from bad parenting and neglect. It goes on an on.
I spent years and hundreds of thousand of dollars on my education where 99% of it was about what the dogs is doing wrong and not what bad choices people make when it comes to dogs. Dogs do not need trainers, dogs need appropriate jobs, they need good food, they need really experienced veterinary care. They need people that will stop dressing them up, they need people that will realize they are dogs and not fur children. They do not need people that when they do what they are bred to do send them to boot camps to abuse the genetics out of them. They need people that will advocate for them, they need shelters and rescues that will not keep them for years becasue they call themselves no kill and refuse to send them on to a better world then to be kept in a cage for years hoping the right person will finally adopt them. Breeders need to stop breeding for money and stop selling puppies to elderly people that barely get out of their home or who can hardly walk. We need the industry to change their focus on what is wrong with the dog and stop propping up self aggrandizing so called dog experts who need their egos constantly stroked by telling the world they have the next and best thing to stop their dogs unwanted behaviors.
A few years ago a very wise woman who has been in this industry said something that made perfect sense. her name is Turid Rugas. She said we need to stop training dogs.
I will be the first to admit that I did it all wrong for so many years with most of what I did as a trainer by teaching complete nonsense in classes. In reality when will most people need a 20 minutes sit stay from their dogs, when will most people need a perfect leash walk( that is no fun for me or the dog) when in the real world would a dog be required to do most of the crap taught in today's classes?
What we really need to do is prepare puppies for husbandry care, loud noises, novel objects, strange people, other dogs, noises. We cannot keep dogs in cages( this is what they are) all day with no human contact then expect them to self adjust to what we think they should be. We need to stop buying puppies and adopt perfectly great dogs that were themselves once puppies. Last but not least we needs to stop getting dogs unless we intend to keep them for their entire lives and stop making excuses why we need to get rid of them. I hope I have offended as many people as I can especially those in the dog training industry. At this point in my life I really do not care what you think of me, I do not belong to any clicks( tried that and realized that is what they are) they are only reserved for those with the same political views and are some of the most judgemental people I have ever met except for a very few. When they realize it is not about a popularity contest about who they have influenced and it is really about the dogs. then and only then will we do better for dogs and all animals.
