I had a trainer give me a foreboding warning a few months back that my dog is becoming dog aggressive. He said that animal aggression is a common genetic fault within the Czech lines and that it is unavoidable in our case. He also warned me that my dog might rip my face off if I get too close to her face.

Of course this freaked me out and lead to a lot of confusion. And of course I bought his program, which I ended up quitting after seeing some abusive training tactics.

I have been bringing her to my friends house, he is a very experienced trainer ajnd we have tested her with about 8 different dogs of all types. The only type we haven't tested with is an intact female. There is ZERO dog aggression. She is actually quite social!

She is a very dominant little momma, though. With all of the dogs she took charge right away, and they all immediately respected her. So that is something I have to keep an eye on, but still a far cry from her growing up to be some animal killing monster.

Anybody else ever have an experience like this? Has a trainer ever used scare tactics with you?


Oh, and BTW, If I get close to her face she licks me. No attacks so far.

Usually they're trying to convince you your dog is a shitter, and you'll never get a title with it, so you should buy one of their dogs.

A lot of the folks in my club came to us after getting that sort of "your dog is crap/dangerous/sharp/etc" from other trainers.

Well, he didn't tell me that she is crap.

Actually when he saw her pedigree he was like "Wow. You should do something with her."

He did make me a little afraid of her, though. Not good. It lead to months of me being afraid of surprise interactions with other dogs, which caused leash aggression, and that reinforced the dog aggression theory in my mind.

Now that I understand that the outbursts were diva moments rather than aggression we haven't had even one incident in like 3 weeks.

Whew!

 Quote: Lauren Jeffery

Anybody else ever have an experience like this? Has a trainer ever used scare tactics with you?

Yes I have, several times. Two of the times it was a vet tech/trainer/temperm evaluator.
The female, was the go for the throat type of dog and she should be PTS. It took me back a bit, as I had only had her a few days and I didn't ask for input, she went to have a HW test done. She's been with me 2 1/2 years now and has never done anything but been sweet.

Same person told me 'good luck you know you have a dog that is going to be like having a Helen Keller', this time I ran into this person at an agility class and we were both participants.

A trainer did tell me that because I have chosen to live with one of the most deadly breeds that I have to muzzle them while training, have a prong on them and with every 'blow off' pop them, no rewarding-EVER! More details, but that is a summary. This conversation came up with one of the newer ones, before I joined this forum because of a response I was getting when asking for a sit, etc. with a male. Luckily, the informative people here suggested to re-train with different words for the commands that he may assoc. with something neg during training prior to coming with me. We did that, and all is fine.

 Quote:

The female, was the go for the throat type of dog and she should be PTS. It took me back a bit, as I had only had her a few days and I didn't ask for input, she went to have a HW test done. She's been with me 2 1/2 years now and has never done anything but been sweet.

Same person told me 'good luck you know you have a dog that is going to be like having a Helen Keller', this time I ran into this person at an agility class and we were both participants.

A trainer did tell me that because I have chosen to live with one of the most deadly breeds that I have to muzzle them while training, have a prong on them and with every 'blow off' pop them, no rewarding-EVER!

That is crazy and rediculous on the trainers part. As a new trainer my self I would NEVER tell a client or friend for that matter that they have the most dangerous type of dog. Maybe I am partial because I grew up with Rottis (btw they are so much sweeter and loving than most pomeranians or chihuahas as I'm sure you know) but I cant believe people would even tell you these things. Its amazing the people who call themselves a "dog person" and act like that.

I worked at a vet that boarded a lot of bully dogs and I must say we had a mini-poodle that did more damage than the 110lb Pit and the 140lb Rotti. One mastiff almost took out the entire staff though (he wasnt allowed back). But the vets themselves never said anything to their clients unless the dog showed major signs of aggression. I cant see these people thinking they will get repeat business talking like that.




Edited by (08/17/2010 12:09 PM)
Edit reason: Quote didnt come out right.

Puppy kindergarten, winter in Minnesota, thought that it would be something fun and good for the puppy.
On the 4th week, the "leader" or "trainer" had us all sit around in a circle, and
proceeded to tell everyone what they needed to watch out for with their dog, the "temperament flaws" that she could see.
She said the Pinker was naturally mean and a fear biter, would be no good at agility, and could have dog aggression issues.
Well, she's probably right about some of it.
Last week, before we went on vacation, I was watering the cattle on the ridge. 5 cows and the bull were standing about 8 ft. away, other side of the water tank. Pink was between me and them. I was running the water and not paying any attention.
All of us were hot and lazy and cranky from flies. The bull was not being at all aggressive, but he took one half step toward me, Pink ran at him growling with an open mouth. The bull backed up.
I thought about that all weekend. That's the "use" of fear biting. I think my dog knew there was one in that pack of 6 to worry about, registered "fear" and did something. I wasn't even paying any attention. In retrospect, I thought it was really cool.

 Quote: Tiffany Holtfret

I cant see these people thinking they will get repeat business talking like that.

I feel bad for the dogs and people that follow some advise they are given. Maybe they stay in business because of the new problems created by the methods suggested and people just don't know any better? Good trainers can be a hard find....

Unfortunately, we humans are "blessed" with language and boy do we feel the need to use it.

It drives me crazy how experienced folks can so confidently "predict the future" and make judgments based on inadequate information, when, in actuality, they have NO CLUE about all of the variables necessary to do so.

All of the breedism bias figures in here also. Making judgements about "all Czech dogs" and so forth. Grrrrrrr. The human race can be such idiots sometimes.

I can understand why Cesar Millan has chosen to be an ambassador for the pitbull breed. It provides at least a little balance to all of the ignorance out there about the breed.

Lauren - animal aggression is "a genetic fault" and it is "unavoidable??????" What a moron. I'm glad you have a brain and can question what this clown is saying to you.

I wish that posters would post the name of these idiot trainers so that other people can avoid them in the future.