I dont normally do this.... (but when I do, I drink Dos Equis) Begin rant: At the event today, I saw lots of homeless pups in need. I also saw lots of dogs dragging their humans around. Literally. Lots of harnesses. Lots of retractable leashes. Dogs lunging at other dogs. I approached one woman and tried to make conversation with her. Started asking about her beautiful foster dog whod been lunging at other dogs. How long shes been fostering him, his temperament outside the event setting, etc. I asked her what she did to correct the behavior. Did she use anything for him other than a harness? Slip lead? Anything? When I mentioned the prong collar, she looked at me like I was the devil and basically told me to f*** off with her eyes. Look, people. Unfortunately the prong collar has gotten a bad rap because its ended up in the wrong hands. Much like the case with pit bulls. Its not the tool, its the inexperienced person using and abusing the tool. I strongly believe that training tools and equipment should *only* be made available through professional trainers. Not Amazon, not the pet supply store, not Wal Mart... you get my drift. Prong collars and other tools are extremely effective when used appropriately, knowledgeably and in their intended way. When theyre not, they can cause harm. But its not the tools fault, its the human behind the tool. Just like when a dog misbehaves, he/shes not a bad dog (which I also heard and saw when another dog started lunging at another dog)... that behavior falls on the human for not nipping that in the bud and correcting it. Much like children when they misbehave. They need direction, discipline and guidance. Know thy dog in order to train thy dog. Figure out what the dogs receptive to. Some dogs need a little something extra to help clarify direction, some dogs dont. Today was another case of me smacking my forehead watching all these poor animals in the hands of dog lovers whose hearts were in the right place, but not dog understander-ers. We cant correct what we dont know. This only reinforced my mission to educate and help people become better versions of themselves for themselves... and their dogs, too. My hope is that people will begin to see and respect dogs as the species they are, and work with them to set them up for success. This is why shelter dogs have a stigma attached to them. We pull them out of a high stress environment, theyre place in boarding where theyre not getting nearly enough exercise/discipline/affection/socialization, they attend high -stress events.... we force them into these situations then blame them when they dont act like the perfect dog. My heart aches for dogs everywhere and longs to be of service. End rant.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 20:19:54 +0000
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