Personally I don't see rehoming as a preferable option.

When I had a sheep chaser, I spoke with two different police dog instructors - one said it might be worth a shot with professional help and guidance, and the other said not. Everyone has their own opinions.

I would not use an ecollar for anything other than sheep worrying. If I were to use one, I would also seek professional help in the correct use and timing of the collar.

I do agree that dogs are dogs, but disagree that high drive workers are not very different from pet dogs. They are different ... many are considerably different. Have you ever seen footage of the high drive police Malinois that are used in Europe Those are serious dogs!

Excellent post - I agree with all you have said.

I better shut up now, before I am accused of liking the sound of my own voice!!!

I spent a little time with a UK police dog unit recently and had several long talks about training. The UK police work with RSPCA guidance. This is since the case of a dog dying while being kicked during a training session in Essex; the instructor demanded the dog be kicked into submission as I recall and it died from a ruptured liver (from memory) since this time training has been very strict and people went to prison.

E-collars are forbidden, though some said that they did work on problem dogs in the past. I don't think they use prong collars. But they do use the old 'check' chain. It was explained to me that this was seldom used but was effective in withdrawing a dog from a dangerous situation or a point where control of the animal was reaching its limit. They were dealing with 'high drive' animals for obvious reasons. I can say that they were very good at motivating their animals through play and reward.

I do agree that working dogs do require a different type of training, obviously, and that Mallinois, Bauceron, Czech wolfdog etc can require a lot of control. But then they are not pets.

Yes, well said, agree 100 per cent with you there Skilaki!

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I agree that probably can happen but sometimes the dog will only learn about sheep in a certain place, as one owner found out when they used a shock collar in their home area and expected it to transfer to Dartmoor or somewhere - it didn't. The dog chased still, as it had not generalised. Also you can get other problems such as dogs running away from sheep fields in fear or dogs even attacking the sheep. No-one can predict exactly what will happen.

Wys
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Not sure but the police are using more positive methods I believe (since the awful Acer case) and that may be why, also they don't think so much about being dominant over the dog it seems ... and prongs etc are far more accepted than in the Uk, in the Us. Also it may be to do with image as the general public may be upset if they used more aversive techniqus, the enquiry after the Acer case I believe mentioned such equipment as a general problem and suggested kinder methods were used.

"Wys
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I get that problem too....

Wys
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It is true that dogs are situational learners, and most do need a couple of repetitions. It would be foolish to just have one session in one location and assume the dog will now not chase sheep wherever it is. I think that once the handler is satisfied that the dog has been turned off sheep he or she would be wise to have his dog wear the collar without the need to use it to ensure that the training has been effective.

However, this can also happen where the dog associates the shock with the place (piece of ground where he is standing) rather than the sheep, owing either to a mistimed correction, or the sheep being too far away at the time of correction for the dog to make the connection.

Moobli, I think that in the US pinch collars are more accepted even for pet dogs - they are on sale in mainstream pet shops (look at the number of dogs who wear them on Cesar Millan's show) so that is probably part of the answer.

As regards the UK police, the Acer case is probably another part of the answer.

Perhaps one of the reasons that in the UK schutzhund dogs wear them, and police dogs generally don't, is that schutzhund dogs for competition purposes need to be much more accurate and precise than police dogs, both in obedience (eg complete attentiveness in healwork) and in bitework (eg quicker 'outs', no dirty nips when barking and holding). Just my thoughts though.

I'll shut up too now lol.