Anyone who needs to rely on kicking their dog's ass does not understand how he thinks and is not what I would call a responsible, nor respectable trainer.

Question

Hello Mr. Frawley,

    I have been spending some time on your web site, and read many of the Q&As that were on the site as well. I have been doing a lot of surfing on the web lately, looking for answers to some training questions I have regarding my current dog, a 10 month old, spayed female German Shepherd. I rescued her about a month ago.

    I certainly would not say I am a dog trainer, I have not even gained any titles with a dog. I am a working mother of two small children who is highly involved in rescuing dogs and cats in my local county, and working with the county pound to increase adoptions, spayings, etc. I often rescue German Shepherds and Rottweilers, as well as mixed breeds and all sorts of other purebred dogs. I have encountered many different personalities and temperaments in my rescue work.

    I realize I am probably wasting my time, but I felt compelled to tell you how appalled I am at what you tell people to do regarding their dogs. I certainly agree with your recommendation regarding starting with basic obedience. I agree with the pack and drive information you give. An animal must know where it stands within its pack. And a dominant animal must not be allowed to get away with what I would term aggressive behavior. However, I cannot believe that you told most of these people to "kick butt," "kick ass," "put the dog through hell," "make him think he is dying or has died," etc. In the first place, I myself would never attempt such an act. It is inhumane and cruel, and could create a very dangerous situation. I have used prong collars on occasion, but only gently. As for electric shock or abusive beating, I believe these are condoned by those who cannot truly train a dog. An electric shock collar should ONLY be used in an extreme case, and ONLY by someone who knows what they are doing. Not these obvious novice or first dog owners, that most of your questions seemed to be from.

    Perhaps such inhumane training is necessary to train dogs for police work. Never having been involved in such work, I certainly wouldn't know. But for the average dog owner, especially a novice dog owner, this is only going to make the dog mistrustful, and possibly aggressive. I see enough behaviorial problems with the many pound and stray dogs I work with daily, to know this to be a fact. And true aggression can never be trained out of a dog, with any method. Your suggestions are not going to improve relations between any of these folks and their dogs, but only create dogs with aggression problems, and dangerous situations for their handlers.

    I don't expect a response from you, nor do I really want one. I do wish, however, you would at least post my email on your site, to give visitors some food for thought. Your method may have worked with some of your visitors, but I'd be willing to bet it is the exception, not the rule. Anyone who needs to rely on kicking their dog's ass does not understand how he thinks and is not what I would call a responsible, nor respectable trainer.

    Barbara Link
Virginia

Accepted Answer

You are right:

You don't know much about dog training
You don't know anything about strong dominant dogs
You don't understand pack drive with dominant dogs
You don't understand overly aggressive dogs
You are naive