[ Post a Response | Ripley's Retreat ]
Posted by Syd's Mom
on 1/8/2009, 2:32 pm, in reply to "Clicker training and breeds?"
I know next to nothing about dog training methods in general other than what I read on this board and watch on tv. But, my immediate reaction to this question wrt to bully breeds and other "difficult" to train breeds is my perception of most dog owners. The majority of dog owners that I have encountered are lazy and want immediate gratification with their method. Unfortunately, choke collars and other punishing methods (ie. scolding or hitting) have an immediate reaction, usually inspiring fear in the animal and giving the owner a feeling of power and control. And, that mentality goes hand in hand with owning the so-called "vicious" breeds. Am I making any sense? Of course there are always exceptions and exceptional owners. But then, they always end up with the "easy" ones, right? *sigh*
I always have to laugh (it's either that, or cry) when my sil complains about the continuous destruction wrought by her Shiloh Shepherd because she is a "bad dog". This is the same woman who gets very sanctimonious about parenting and says that "there are no bad kids, only bad parents." I find it ironic that this platitude does not apply to her dogs. I hate going to her house and seeing how those dogs live. They are starved for attention, but because they behave so poorly, no one wants to touch them. She thinks she is a good owner because they get a can of food everyday in addition to their dry food. UGH.
People are always so amazed at how wonderful Sydney is (she is becoming a bit crotchety in her old age, though) and I *always* remind them that I spent every Saturday for *two* years training her in her Hearing Ear dog program. She didn't magically become this fabulous dog. :-/ In fact, she was kind of a pain as a puppy, though she never barked, thank goodness.
I wish that people would be more willing to understand the benefits of clicker training and be willing to commit to the effort. We have a couple we are friends with that have an American Eskimo that is just a terror. I have shown them several times in just a few minutes how effective clicker training can be. She is a very intelligent dog but very highly strung and anxious and what they are doing (yelling and smacking) is only making her worse. She barks incessantly and bites when frustrated. And no gentle nips either, she gets pissed and chomps. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see. They think she is aggressive, I think she is terrified.
Actually, in thinking about it, I so wish that people would realize that dogs have feelings and reasoning abilities that merit our emotional investment in their well-being. As a parent, of course I would throw myself in front of a bus to save my son, but so would I also put myself in harm's way to save the life of my dog. That is how much she means to me. Every dog deserves that level of commitment from their human.
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