Now not only my brain hurts but my stomach as well. I would love to be able to smack the hell out of people. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Too bad the dog died. Would have been better if it had been euthanized. Sound cold??? maybe. But, my distrust of the media and the few facts thrown into the mix in the articles make me put together a puzzle that kinda goes like this.
Well meaning but uneducated couple go get a pet at a rescue organization, unkown back ground and history, both in regards to health, rearing (almost always unsocialized), and genetics. They do the right thing and adopt the critter. Treat it soooo carefully because certainly it has been abused (we've all heard it..the dog musta been abused because it acts weird or aggresive, or spooky or.....). But, find they actually have a terror on their hands. Wait and wait until they are almost ready to kill it themselves (read article # 2 and then realize these folks first "saved" this dog and now are ready to kill it).
They find a trainer that specializes in aggresive dogs because Ringo now wants to kill other dogs, people, and even the owners.
A often recognized way of dealing with dominant aggresive dogs is through alpha rolling (I generally see it different but it is an accepted method). Trainer uses a greyhound muzzle (wire type) so of course the dog can breath.
Why does the dog die???? We don't know. Dogs die sometimes and frequently, dogs with really bad nerves die inexplicably. This dog sounds like it has really bad nerves in fact I would bet on it. More prone to torsion, liver and spleen problems, skin problems.
Was it worth trying to save the dog?? In retrospect no it was not.
Now do gooder couple goes back and gets another GSD.....you can betcha they won't make the mistake of training this one!

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It says she muzzled the dog (probably one of those cloth/velcro jobs!) and partially knelt on him for an HOUR -- It's likely he couldn't PANT to perspire, and possibly couldn't even get enough oxygen either, if his chest was being compressed too >=(

No wonder the poor animal finally succumbed to stress & heat-stroke <:-(

That poor dog. The only thing that went halfway right was the decision to put him out of his misery after they rendered him blind from brain damage....... <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

And yeah -- now the owners won't make the "mistake," as another poster says, of training the new dog.

Um I may not know much about training, but a dog "urinating and defecating on itself" (second article) does NOT sound "normal" part of training to me.

I agree that the dog was adopted by people who did not socialise and raise the dog correctly. They had it at 8 weeks old and it grew up to be aggressive. Owner's fault. They wait till the last possible moment to get help.

Of course the dog "severely attacked" the trainer. He was not only aggressive, he was muzzled and being restrained by his owner while the "trainer" poked him and barked in his ears!!! what the...?

Now they have a new German shepherd. Hopefuly this dog had a better "childhood" and will survive being with this family.

I met someone who alpha rolls her puppy to establish dominance because "he's from very dominant lines", so nipping it in the bud I suppose. Unfortunately you can't certify dog trainers under one standard, because no 2 trainers ever agree with eachother! So crap like this will always exist as long as idiots are bred. People are so careful to breed the best dogs and raise them the best way possible, but any 2 idiots can breed and get papers (passport) <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

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Too bad the dog died. Would have been better if it had been euthanized. Sound cold??? maybe. But, my distrust of the media and the few facts thrown into the mix in the articles make me put together a puzzle that kinda goes like this.
Well meaning but uneducated couple go get a pet at a rescue organization, unkown back ground and history, both in regards to health, rearing (almost always unsocialized), and genetics. They do the right thing and adopt the critter. Treat it soooo carefully because certainly it has been abused (we've all heard it..the dog musta been abused because it acts weird or aggresive, or spooky or.....). But, find they actually have a terror on their hands. Wait and wait until they are almost ready to kill it themselves (read article # 2 and then realize these folks first "saved" this dog and now are ready to kill it).
They find a trainer that specializes in aggresive dogs because Ringo now wants to kill other dogs, people, and even the owners.
A often recognized way of dealing with dominant aggresive dogs is through alpha rolling (I generally see it different but it is an accepted method). Trainer uses a greyhound muzzle (wire type) so of course the dog can breath.
Why does the dog die???? We don't know. Dogs die sometimes and frequently, dogs with really bad nerves die inexplicably. This dog sounds like it has really bad nerves in fact I would bet on it. More prone to torsion, liver and spleen problems, skin problems.
Was it worth trying to save the dog?? In retrospect no it was not.
Now do gooder couple goes back and gets another GSD.....you can betcha they won't make the mistake of training this one!

yup, that's exactly how I pictured this as well, only I was picturing her using one of those tight "no bark" type nylon muzzles that would have obstructed the dog's ability to pant.

Poor dog was essentially slowly suffocated and crushed to death. Even if it wasn't the best dog to begin with, that sure isn't a decent way to end it's life.

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I met someone who alpha rolls her puppy to establish dominance because "he's from very dominant lines", so nipping it in the bud I suppose. Unfortunately you can't certify dog trainers under one standard, because no 2 trainers ever agree with eachother! So crap like this will always exist as long as idiots are bred. People are so careful to breed the best dogs and raise them the best way possible, but any 2 idiots can breed and get papers (passport) <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

how many of the world's problems do you think would be solved if only people needed to undergo character and health testing before being allowed to bred! it's always nice to dream <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

This sounds very much like the case of those two "therapists" that crushed that little girl to death during her "re-birthing" therapy. Lord, save innocent children and dogs from idiots!

Ick. I don't know what to say but both the aritcles provide some what conflicing information. =0( Poor Ringo, I hope he rests in peace now. Perhaps - Ringo was sick to begin with? I wouldn't know who to point the finger at because there just isn't enough info.. but if *I* was the owner of Ringo I would not have allowed anyone to muzzle and crush my dog. What a sad story. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />