Yesterday, I worked with a one and a half year old female Thai Ridgeback/ (maybe) pit mix. The main complaint by the owner: the dog is terrific outdoors with people and other dogs. But when the same people enter the home, the dog goes ( what the owner described as) "ballistic" and "vicious".She mentioned several other issues, but I decided to "triage" the behaviors and deal first with the most serious. I knew immediately we were dealing with fear aggression. Of course I asked if any previous training or behavior modification was attempted. Two previous attempts were made and what I heard next caused plenty of jaw dropping by my Student and myself. In the 1st instance, she hired a "Dog Trainer" who told her the dog is trying to dominate everyone and will be permanently aggressive and needs to be "controlled". His method included a shock collar and a prong collar to remain on the dog 24/7. My new Client was instructed by this clown to keep a lead (along with the prong collar) on the dog in the home and every time ( according to my Client) the dog "acts up, pull up sharply on the leash, and this will "settle the dog". I asked her what was the dog's response to all this. My client claims the dog would let out a cry at each correction. This "trainer" also instructed her never let the dog sniff outside and keep her off the couch because this is a sign of dominance. This "trainer" actually took the dog home for more intensive "training". The next time the "trainer" came to her home( after returning the dog), according to my client, the dog became so "wild" , she actually tried to attack the trainer. The trainer's response, he hung the dog by the prong collar a spun her around. This is brutally insane method called the helicopter. If the dog had fear aggression before, the advice he gave my new Client REALLY set it in stone.
The next attempt at modifying the dog's behavior was actually on the surface a good idea;she hired who is (in our canine community) one of most quoted (in animal behavior journals) Behaviorist there is. According to my Client, he arrived, sat on the couch, gave a lecture on the history of dog training, and hit the dog on the head with his folder. He then attempted to place a muzzle on the dog (which is a normal procedure). When that didn't work, he placed a head collar on the dog and as the other "trainer" instructed, pull up sharply on the collar when she get aggressive. According to my client, all that did was cause scrapes and other injuries to the dog. What was accomplished by these "experts"? NOTHING GOOD. the dog was worse than ever before.
In an effort to curtail my long-winded writing, I am only going to tell you what these gentlemen DID accomplish and not my treatment. What they accomplished was to teach the dog that people entering the home is going to cause her pain. the prong collar had been on the dog 24/7 for almost 6 months!!! Because of this, the dog was ALWAYS anticipating a painful moment. Can you imagine? PLEASE, when you consider hiring a trainer make sure you explain the problem carefully and ask what methods they use to train. Make sure they include positive reinforcement.
