Rotties - Villains or Victims

Well I’ve listened to a weekend of Rottie assaults by the UK media and I’m using my blog as a “blowout” mechanism. This blog is regularly read by lots of nice people along with a few healthy critics and a couple of knob heads who think they know better than everyone else but never deliver the goods.

Firstly I must send my sincere condolences to the parents of the little boy who was mauled at the weekend. The thought of losing a child to this kind of attack is absolutely unthinkable and my heart genuinely goes out to the parents and relatives.

Predictably, the UK media jumped on this heartbreaking incident and treated it as an opportunity to give the Rotties some serious stick. The UK media openly criticised the government for not adding Rotweillers to the list of dangerous dogs claiming that there had been numerous calls for this to happen.

How long is the constant victimisation of this noble breed going to continue?

The UK media go out their way to portray Rotties as "Devil Dogs", an unpredictable, unstable breed capable of turning on anyone at anytime and inflicting serious damage.

Listen dafty!!! - It’s not a specific dog or breed, it’s the lack of socialisation and experienced handling that leads to attacks.

So what would make it better? - Well there are lots of measures that could be put into force that would help. Unfortunately most of them would take a great deal of effort to police.

I think the “long and the short of it" comes down to responsible ownership, regular physical and mental stimulation along with consideration and respect for the people and dogs that you interact with on a daily basis.

Too many poorly equipped people are getting their mucky, unclean, inexperienced paws on these noble creatures. These dogs are not for the first time owner or the thug who wants to look tough walking down the street. These dogs require an experienced handler capable of training or modifying behaviour using positive training methods. As always I'll throw in my tuppence worth and say these dogs need to know their place in the human pack.

I see lots of so called aggressive dogs in my line of work. I’ve seen 2 Rotties in the past year and both were in a training capacity. I see far more Terrier mixes with aggression problems than any other breed. I’m not making terriers out to be bad guys either - I’m simply making the point that I don’t have many dealings with aggressive Rotties, GSDs, bull terriers or any other "dangerous" breeds.

I’m not going to be insensitive and poke my finger into the incident that occurred at the weekend. All I'll say is most attacks have undertones or mixed signals that get misinterpreted by the dog and subsequently trigger the aggressive outburst.
From the news coverage alone, there were some dubious actions that preceded the attack. The whole incident is terribly sad for all in sundry.

Please don’t be drawn in by all the negative Rottie press that is blasted over the tabloids. Yes, Rotties are capable of doing serious damage but no more than any other large powerful dog. When socialised and handled properly, Rotties are a joy to share your life with. They are truly noble creatures. They are highly intelligent, loyal and full of character. My Rotties make me laugh every day. Just look at the photo of Oscar after he's had a "row" off his mum.

The UK press are intent on brainwashing the British public into thinking that Rotties are some kind of evil presence put on this earth with an agenda of mauling young babies at every opportunity.
Lets get it straight,Rotties are an ancient breed of noble origin and have been used in Germany for herding and guarding since Roman times - much longer than the trash media tabloids that malign them.Rotties are not some kind of macabre satanic invention.

We need to educate owners how to socialise and handle these dogs properly.

We do not need to ban Rotties in the UK.

Sermon over …………..

Pet Dog Obedience Program

Here's a compilation of short videos filmed on 23rd December 2007 starring my young rottie Lulu.

To be honest, there's nothing startling about any of the exercises filmed in this videos. These are simple exercises that can be performed as part of your daily routine to maintain an acceptable standard of obedience.

I plan to introduce a program that will be geared towards working with clients and their dogs with an objective of attaining this standard of obedience. My intention is to progress an untrained dog to the standard shown in the video within 4 or 5 sessions.

The video is showing the outdoor routines.The program will also incorporate domestic manners, pre and post walk routines and clicker training. The program will involve continious assessment and a final test.
Please feel free to mail me (paul@gaughan.com)for more details

Paddy

Meet Paddy. Probably the biggest, softest, gentle lump you’ll ever meet.

Paddy is still a baby and has at least another year of growing - he's going to be a big boy.

Emma called me enquiring if I would give them some advice. Emma and husband Matt had decided to rehome Paddy who had previously been rehomed at 5 months so this was going to be his 3rd home.

To complicate things even more, Emma and Matt had no experience of dogs.

I mailed Emma back and forth giving advice on various things and agreed to see Paddy after he had settled in for a few weeks.

I arrived at the house and was greeted by this big lovable lump. He sat in front of me looking at me wondering why I wasn’t cuddling him. Next minute Emma’s little girl runs into the room, puts her arms around Paddy, says “night night Paddy" and gives him a big smacker of a kiss on the side of his face and runs out of the room.

Paddy soon gave up on me offering him any affection and fell asleep on the floor.

I spoke to Emma and Matt about what I do and my training philosophy etc.

We took Paddy for a walk and introduced him to loose lead training. I praised him for following us and paying attention. I altered pace and direction to ensure that he kept focusing on us. This serves as a preliminary exercise for off leash distance control. I controlled him by focus and concentration rather than physical restraint. We used praise is a reinforcer, just like treats or cuddles or play games. Paddy had a great time, waggling his whole back end with enjoyment everytime I said "that's good, well done Paddy"

I also demonstrated the male mounting position while I was grooming him. This is a great tool to enforce your dominance but in a nice positive way and it increases the pack bond.

I also introduced Paddy to waiting while I walked in the back gate. This is good manners and enforces pack status.

We covered loads of things in one session.I must admit that there were two elements of our conversation that “made me happy”. The first was when I threw in the cheeky question to Emma “Do you not fancy giving him away?” Her retort was “ What Paddy?? No way, he’s our dog now and he’ll stay with us forever”. The other one was when Emma was discussing how Paddy had went to the doggy parlour to get his nails cut and shampooed and Matt said “We have to keep him in good condition so he’s healthy and make sure he stays like that.” These comments were genuine statements that Paddy is regarded as an important edition to their family.

I’m never optimistic about non-doggy people getting giant breeds because I know from experience that these dogs are high maintenance and can be extremely dominant. Seeing how content Paddy was made me feel much more comfortable with the situation.

I've not had many dealings with Mastiffs but I know Boxers inside out and both breeds share similar traits. I find the best way to deal with these dogs is to humour them into doing good things and to involve then in everything. They really love being involved and appreciate being thanked for good behaviour.

My only concern is that Paddy needs to learn how to ignore other dogs on command and not get involved in any fights or swabbles as this could ruin his temperament. Emma and Matt need to be careful when they’re walking him to ensure that he doesn’t charge over to other dogs.

I think Emma and Matt are getting on great at the moment and Paddy is really happy. As such I don’t think anything fundamentally needs fixing urgently. I’m happy to help at a distance and visit again if need be.

On a serious note, it’s great to be called before thngs go wrong. I think Emma and Matt were very responsible to call me and get advice and I wish more people would follow their lead speak to me in the early stages of behavioural issues.

I must admit Paddy is absolutely fabulous. I just know he would make an excellent “pets as therapy” dog simply because he is so laid back, gentle and completely irresistible.

I deal with so many stressed and aggressive dogs – it’s great to work with something as gentle and charismatic as Paddy.

Good luck Emma and Matt.

Polly and Murphy

Gill called me asking for some help with her terror terriers.

On my first visit I arrived at the home and totally ignored the dogs when they entered the room. I explained my methods to Gill and her husband and asked them what their canine behavioural and training goals were.

Gill’s request was pretty standard.

• To be able to let the dogs off the lead and call them back
• To have the dogs walk at heel and not pull everyone off their feet
• To stop being aggressive towards other dogs
• To stop being aggressive in the garden
• To be able to take the dogs to their son’s football match without them causing mayhem.
  
  First I tackled the heelwork with Gill and Murphy. I done the usual long line training techniques where I encouraged the dog to follow not lead. We then introduced a wait command.

During our walk we encountered another dog. Murphy was "asked" to stand behind me when the other dog approached. He tried to resist but soon realised that it was a better idea to sit patiently and let the dog pass. (i.e. I asserted my leadership skills and let him know that I was capable of dealing with the situation and did not require his help)

We also performed a desensitization exercise when he saw another dog approaching. (i.e. as soon as he noticed the other dog we started walking briskly in the other direction. As soon as we got his focus we praised and encouraged him to follow by increasing pace)

Next up was Polly who is a Jekyll and Hyde character. Polly is so sweet and loving until she sees another dog then she turns into this aggressive little monster.

Gill's husband Richard and Polly went for a quite stroll and I demonstrated the long line technique and the wait command. Unfortunately we never seen another dog.

I then demonstrated how Gill and Richard could incorporate some basic commands and good manners into their daily training routine. This encompassed waiting at the door then waiting at the garden gate on the way to and from the exercise area. I also enforced the no eye contact when entering the room and no dogs on the sofa rules. All this was demonstrated in a very calm easy-going manner without stress or confrontation.

My next visit was geared towards tackling the dog aggression stuff. Enter super stooge dog Lulu. I arrived at the house and spent some time introducing Richard to Lulu.

I got Richard to walk Lulu back and forth along the perimeter of the garden. I placed the 2 dogs on a long line at made them sit behind me without barking or snarling. I rewarded and praised the dogs for good behaviour.

I then walked Murphy out the garden and controlled his aggression when he could see Lulu at a distance. I praised his good manners. I gradually moved closer to Lulu, turning and walking in the opposite direction each time Murphy snarled. This is basically testing the behaviour with a distraction and conditionally praising or correcting the outcome. This modifies the dog behaviour using positive consequence of action. After a few corrections Murphy was walking parallel to where Lulu was standing.

I performed the same stuff with Polly then I handled the two dogs at the same time, praising for good manners and correcting undesirable behaviour. This was my way of controlling pack power.

Next step was to walk up and down the street with Lulu, Polly and Murphy together – job done.

To reinforce the behaviour we all went back in the garden were all 3 dogs ran around in peace while we chatted quietly. To top it off we entered the house and let all 3 dogs settle down.

This is a classic desensitisation exercise I perform to show the aggressive dog that there is no need to protect or get aggressive. By enforcing control at a distance and gradually moving closer we take the sting out of the situation.

One thing I must stress about desensitisation is that the behavioural side must be firmly under control before any dog aggression training can work properly.

Some dogs get so aggressive with other dogs and people simply because they are trying to “protect” their perceived mate or dependants. This side of dog behaviour is tragically misunderstood and many dogs are needlessly put to sleep.

Make sure the dog is not suffering from separation anxiety and knows his rank within the human pack before you attempt to desensitize outdoor aggression.

Care must be taken to ensure you do not confuse a protective behavioural issue with a dog-to-dog dominance scenario.

I left the owners for 2 weeks to get on with things. Gill had encountered some mixed results with the dog aggression stuff. Polly was doing really well but Murphy was having the occasional relapse.

I decided to take my son Louis to handle Lulu on my next visit so I could concentrate on helping Gill. This time I raised the bar by sending Lulu out at full speed around the park while the dogs where being controlled by their owners. This definitely heightens the stress levels in aggressive dogs, especially sight based terriers. I then worked with Gill getting her to walk Murphy passed Lulu. We then incorporated Polly. Everything went OK.

Next up was Murphy’s fascination with chasing footballs. I asked Gill’s son to kick the ball up and down the path next to where Murphy was standing. I kept turning Murphy away from the ball and praised him when he gave me focus. We gradually moved closer until we were next to the ball. He wasnt perfect but this was a giant step forward to his usual manic tantrums.This kind of fascination cant be corrected in a single session so it was more a point of letting Gill and Rich see how to go about the desensitization process.

After the session all 3 dogs went back to Gill’s house. The dogs were happy to lie together with no aggression. This would never have happened previously.

These cases can never be totally cured in 2 or 3 sessions. The owners need to enhance and build on the desensitization processes I put in place. The dogs appear to be much calmer and generally happier now. I firmly believe that these dogs will become well-balanced individuals if these techniques are implemented and exercised regularly as part of the dog’s routine.

So getting back to Gills original goals. Well hopefully I’ve given them the tools to achieve all their goals. The off lead recall is an exercise that needs to be tackled after the desensitization is firmly engrained. Long line distance training is probably the best route to go to achieve this goal. The heel-work is definitely getting there. The desensitization to other dogs and footballs is an ongoing process but there is no reason why these dogs should continue to be aggressive.

I really enjoyed working with Gill and Rich. They’re genuinely nice people who want to make the dogs part of their family and include them in all their day-to-day activities. I’ve given them the tools and the insight into modifying their pets behaviour. I quietly confident about this one.

Rex - An old dog with new tricks

We’ve all heard the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Well meet Rex, an 8 year old collie mix forcibly removed from his last home by the RSPCA. Luckily Rex was rescued by some genuinely caring people who will care for him for the rest of his days.

Rex’s new owners Brian and Kati had an old English Springer spaniel named Skipper who sadly passed away earlier this year.

My initial meeting with Brian was down to my own dog Oscar. Brian was greeted exuberantly by Oscar one day in the woods .Oscar was just a puppy at the time but he’s always been such a likable character. Oscar loves to run to Brian and deliver his compulsory cuddles each time they meet.

Anyway I met Brian on his Sunday morning walk with Rex. Brian told me his story how he had to be removed from his last home because his owner was not fit to look after him. Rex was very barky and nervous, almost on the brink of being aggressive. My solution was simple “let him off and they’ll work it out”. Brian released Rex and after the usual few minor swabbles Rex was trying to get involved with Oscar and Lulu. It was obvious that he just did not know how to communicate and just need to mix with other dogs.

Brian was having trouble with Rex walking to heel so we had a session with a long line, a ball and some liver cake. Rex was an absolute star. He was really keen to be an active participant in the session and just loved to work and train.

I met Brian a few weeks later and we all went for a walk. Again after the initial swabbles everything settled down and all the dogs were running around happily. Rex is progressing each time I see him. He is sociable and loves playing with his ball and he is very active for an “old guy”. So many dogs like Rex end up being put to sleep. This just confirms my theory that most dogs can be turned around with a little patience and hard work.

I’d love to take the credit for this but really it is down to Brian, Kati and Rex. There is one thing for sure “You can teach an old dog new tricks”.