May 17, 2011
I have a client with a 5-yr-old GSD they want as a personal protection dog. This dog only goes for females. They want me to fix the problem. Help?
Full Question:
I have a question regarding a client that has a 5 year old un-neutered American bred GSD that is a fear biter. This dog only goes after females, usually young and they are always showing fear towards the dog. This dog has bit several times, only breaking the skin. This dog has had "protection training" from a very questionable trainer in the area...very defensive oriented, from the old school. The Jack Healy method out of US K9 Academy.This dog is nothing but a poorly trained guard dog IMO, no protection dog. The dog seems to be alright with the family but very nervous around guests.
My question is what would be your first step in trying to alleviate this problem? Now the family really does not want to give the dog up and have made it quite clear how much they love him.
Any suggestions?
Jeff
Ed's Answer:
This is rather simple. As a professional dog trainer you will find that honesty is the always the best solution. Sometimes it's going to make people mad and sometimes it's going to mean turning business away. In this case these people need to have a very clear explanation of the situation.
They need to have the temperament of the animal explained from a drive standpoint. You need to explain exactly what a "fear biter" is and why this is so dangerous.
Your advice should be to destroy the dog. It does not matter if they disagree. They must understand your position and how dangerous this animal is to all children. It's like allowing a hand grenade to be left around the house while kids are playing.
They need to understand that the dog should have "NO MORE" protection training. At 5 years of age this dog is not about to be changed. In fact if they refuse to destroy the dog they should do an about turn and discourage all types of aggressive behavior in this animal.
You should stress that the dog must be 110% obedience trained. It must be under control at all times, in every circumstance and under any distraction.
If they are not willing to make this commitment, then walk away from them. Your reputation is more valuable than getting involved with something like this.
If this dog has gone through the Jack Healy method of protection dog training. He has gone through avoidance bite training. Basically this is barbaric. Healy and his crew will take any pound dog (which is the major source for their dogs) and protection train them through avoidance training. They will also tell any customer that their dog can be protection trained. They just don't tell them how they do it.
They tie a dog out on a very short line and then basically put so much pressure and stress on a dog that it in goes into a fight or flight mode. The dog's possibility of flight has been removed because it is tied out on such a short line. Its only option is a "fight for your life" situation. This training often involves beating a dog until it can no longer take it. At that point the dog learns to attack. It learns that the only safe thing to do is bite a person. This training produces very dangerous dogs to be around. They bite their handlers, their family members and anyone else that comes close. This training basically "makes a dog a little crazy." I call it the GULAG method of dog training.
They need to have the temperament of the animal explained from a drive standpoint. You need to explain exactly what a "fear biter" is and why this is so dangerous.
Your advice should be to destroy the dog. It does not matter if they disagree. They must understand your position and how dangerous this animal is to all children. It's like allowing a hand grenade to be left around the house while kids are playing.
They need to understand that the dog should have "NO MORE" protection training. At 5 years of age this dog is not about to be changed. In fact if they refuse to destroy the dog they should do an about turn and discourage all types of aggressive behavior in this animal.
You should stress that the dog must be 110% obedience trained. It must be under control at all times, in every circumstance and under any distraction.
If they are not willing to make this commitment, then walk away from them. Your reputation is more valuable than getting involved with something like this.
If this dog has gone through the Jack Healy method of protection dog training. He has gone through avoidance bite training. Basically this is barbaric. Healy and his crew will take any pound dog (which is the major source for their dogs) and protection train them through avoidance training. They will also tell any customer that their dog can be protection trained. They just don't tell them how they do it.
They tie a dog out on a very short line and then basically put so much pressure and stress on a dog that it in goes into a fight or flight mode. The dog's possibility of flight has been removed because it is tied out on such a short line. Its only option is a "fight for your life" situation. This training often involves beating a dog until it can no longer take it. At that point the dog learns to attack. It learns that the only safe thing to do is bite a person. This training produces very dangerous dogs to be around. They bite their handlers, their family members and anyone else that comes close. This training basically "makes a dog a little crazy." I call it the GULAG method of dog training.
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