Trainers - a mixed breed...
This, for me, is a cautionary tale. I, quite often, meet a chap who has a couple of, lovely, German Sheppards (GS). One is quite elderly and one, a youngster is quite lively and bouncy. The younger dog, likes to chase my dog, Clint, and have a bit of fun (play) with him. For me, this what I want to see dogs doing. Of course, some dog owners feel intimidated by such, large, powerful dogs.
This, particular owner, is responsible and aware of how his dogs are, often, perceived. Therefore he takes his younger dog to group training sessions, mainly to help socialise him better. This has proved to be helpful for his dog. Now this is all good; however the next bit of this piece, in my opinion, isn’t.
One of the dogs at the group sessions is a young Cane Corso (CC), whose owner is a young woman. Now, many people, would consider a CC to be a good family pet, and many probably are. I would, however, urge people to exercise caution when considering breeds such as these for family pets. They, in my opinion, need owners that know what they are doing with powerful dogs such as these.
So back to the group training sessions. The owner of the GS went on to tell me that the CC is, also, being trained as a protection dog. The dog trainer in question states, on his, website, that he has over 40 years experience of training dogs. His speciality? Protection dogs.
I, of course, don’t know how detailed the protection training for the CC is and, whether or not, it includes training the dog to attack if needed. It does, however, seem irresponsible and, potentially, dangerous to allow a dog into group sessions and, at the same time, be training it for protection duties. If a situation occurred during a group session that caused the CC to ‘protect’ it’s owner, serious consequences may follow. I would, also be interested how the ‘professionals’ insurance would deal with such an event.
The point of the short article is to encourage dog owners to think carefully about what dog they choose, how they train them and, who they choose to help them.
behaviour assistance and training
sometimes mans’ best friend
needs a little help
needs a little help
Does your dog find it hard to mix with other dogs? Is it scared? Aggressive? Or destructive?
www.thecaninebehaviourist.co.uk
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