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Originally Posted by concretegurl  As I'm sure many people know from my posts...I'm opinionated  ...maybe you should mention something to them...about not using aggression for aggression.
I had to use a soft muzzle to deal with initial socialization of Scoobers, he had some pretty serious fear aggression when I first got him (he was adopted from a pound/rescue but was registered by microchip to a breeder who had hm a couple hundred dogs they had registered, had feces in his ears-vet said that a sure sign of a pup mill dog having been in a cage under other dogs-it's the only other way it gets in there unless someone packs it in manually...and he was scared of grass etc).
It was somewhat embarrassing to take him to the dog park etc (and the groomers after he bit out of fear) with it on...but the point is you have to train them, put in effort in whatever way it takes to socialize, in a safe way.
Some people gave me dirty looks for him wearing one like I was abusing him...I wondered about the one lady who came up to me aggressively commenting on his soft muzzle and yet she carried a spray bottle to shoot her dog in the face with water...when it didn't obey...
I did try a Herm Sprenger collar once but after the first try with it-I'll never forget how bad I felt, the way he looked at me, and the change it made in me to find non-aggressive ways to curb aggression. |
I cannot begin to understand how difficult it must be to train an aggressive dog. Teddy's only issue is that he is stubborn (and smart) so I find it difficult to train him because he is constantly outsmarting me because, well, he's my first dog. I've seen muzzles on dogs and I've never really known how to react to them, mainly because I didn't know what they were used for...but quite frankly if I had an aggressive dog the last thing I'd do is hit them--putting aside whatever ethical concerns anyone might have...an 80lb dog is stronger than I am. Two 80lb dogs were definitely stronger than that person I spoke of in my earlier posts. That can easily turn out in tragedy when one day after the owner has tried supressing the barking/growling through physical force, in my opinion the dogs are just going to snap one day without warning...and then they're going to be put down...