A really interesting videod session of a dog who was scheduled to be killed that day. In my opinion this is not the greatest training in some technical details and don't think the explanation is very accurate as far what the trainer is actually doing or necessarily why it works.....but here's why it's worth watching:

This dog was going to be killed due to dog aggression. In twelve minutes with some assertive but not overly intense corrections (and I would definitely refer to the "redirection" the trainer does as corrections the dog learns a totally new way of relating to the world and the trainer set a foundation to save the dog.

Not only was he the target of much disapproval by the positive only community but he actually received MANY personal threats for how he "abused" this dog.

I think there are some better approaches to working through this kind of issue BUT this produced a very good initial result in a very short period of time and not only saved the dog's life but greatly improved it. On day two, with no additional training, the dog is clearly relaxed and happy and now has the possibility of exploring other dogs and finding out they can actually be fun and interesting.

Was the brief discomfort the dog experienced over less than 15 mins the first day worth saving his life? Of course there's more work to do but what on earth is "positive" about condemning a dog like this to death without even giving him a real chance or viciously verbally attacking the person who took the time and effort to help the dog......and is threatening a human's life living your values if you claim you are "purely positive" or "science based"?

In any case, this is worth a few minutes of time and is a good example that sometimes dogs have very bad behavior but it is sometimes a very shallow stream, not a deep river and sometimes can be changed amazingly quickly.

Working with a condemned dog aggressive dog, was it worth it?




Mark McCabe, Canine Behaviorist
markmccabe.com