Dog Training/Rehabilitation Tip
This is a reprint from the September 2024 newsletter
Don't Assume - Seek to Understand
I wanted to take some time to discuss a trap I see many well meaning people fall into when they start learning about dogs, dog training, and dog behavior. That trap is to assume they know enough about another persons dog to make judgements about how that person is caring for the dog.
How many times have you seen someone with their dog and thought that what that person was doing was wrong, or that that person wasn’t training their dog right, or after seeing the dogs behavior, thought that person just must not know what they are doing? Be honest now, I bet every one of us has fallen into this trap. Myself included.
I get this judgement from folks quite often. I have had many people pass judgement on my work with Buddy making statements such as:
“if I had that dog I would have had him fully rehabilitated by now”
“you are depriving that dog of a good life by not letting him play with other dogs”
“poor dog doesn’t get to be in public, you must not have any idea what you are doing if after over 3 years of working with him you still can’t take him in public”
(and that last one came from someone who is a dog trainer and charges lots of money to train other peoples dogs).
Then there are those who roll their eyes and say,
“you should JUST …”
Ahhh, that word “just”, if only it was so easy... But as any of you who have been reading my blog know, it “just” isn’t that easy to change behavior (and the dogs perception of the things he fears) that has been so strongly ingrained in him for so many years. There is always more going on than meets the untrained eye. This is why it is so important to prevent behavior issues in the first place by using proper handling and training methods from the start!
I am going to address each of these four statements to illustrate how easy it is to make assumptions without all the facts.
1- “if I had that dog I would have had him fully rehabilitated by now”. This one always gets me because the people who make this statement have little to no knowledge of Buddy’s past or of his issues. In addition, when I ask these people what type of education and training they have had in canine behavior, none of them have had any. They either say “I just know about dogs”, “I have had dogs all my life” (and so has the puppy mill owner btw), or that they learned by watching youtube and tik tok videos. Anyone who has been properly trained in canine behavior by a credible source knows that a dog with Buddy’s history can never be fully rehabilitated, and that the road to rehabilitation will be a very long and difficult one.
2- “you are depriving that dog of a good life by not letting him play with other dogs”. I have heard this from quite a few people. Some have even suggested that if I were to let Buddy play with another dog he would learn so much from the other dog and it would dramatically help his rehabilitation. While doing this might be helpful for some (but not all) dogs that are afraid but still safe (meaning they have bite inhibition – something Buddy does not have), Buddy is NOT a safe dog. Buddy has a level 4 bite history, which means he can do major damage to another living being, and even kill them. So who of you wants to offer up your dog to that scenario?! It simply would not be safe for any dog to play with Buddy, and if one did, I can guarantee you that poor dog would be bitten severely. In addition, this would cause a major setback in Buddy’s rehabilitation which we would most likely never recover from. This is something only an inexperienced and untrained rehabilitator (or trainer) would allow.
3- “poor dog doesn’t get to be in public, you must not have any idea what you are doing if after over 3 years of working with him you still can’t take him in public”. I have had people also suggest I take Buddy on a hiking trail so he can enjoy nature. Unfortunately, any activity in public is very risky. The only thing I can control is myself. I have NO control over the environment, those who might show up in the environment, and how those (both people and other animals) in the environment will behave, etc. It is very unfortunate that there are many people who simply will not listen when you tell them to leave the dog alone. Some will still approach stating “all dogs love me” or something to that effect. A child or an off leash dog can run up to Buddy without any warning and that would be disastrous. Since Buddy has a level 4 bite history, this means it is just too dangerous to have him around others, especially when I can’t ensure those present will be willing to follow my instructions. Any exposure in public (actually, any exposure at all) has to be done in a very controlled fashion to ensure the safety of all involved. Too many people (including many dog trainers) simply don’t understand this. This is something that only those who have worked directly with a dog at this severity level can understand. Until you have done it yourself, you can’t imagine all that is involved.
4- And that word “just”, well, just don’t get me started on that!
So, the next time you see someone with their dog and feel inclined to fall into the trap of assuming, think of these examples. It is too easy to assume that others just don’t know what they are doing with their dog, but there may be (and probably is) something you just don’t know about the situation.
Seek to understand instead of quickly passing judgement. Ask questions such as, ‘is the dog afraid’, ‘is the dog trying to play’, ‘could the dog be in pain’, ‘is the dog recovering from past trauma’, etc. Instead of jumping to judgement, Seek to Understand, and you might even think about asking if there is anything you can do to help.
Don't Assume - Seek to Understand!
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