When I have seen them used the dogs reaction has been one of surprise rather than outright aggression.

TBH I found that when using a stooge dog 'most' aggressive dogs became relaxed very quickly. The ones that were hard to read were usually staffie types who failed to give any warning before they went in. The dogs who give it wellie with noise and posturing I found to be generally just trying to make a point.

That is not to say it isn't a huge problem for the owners!

I have had dogs here who were aggressive and found that if introduced carefully and slowly to non reactive/proactive dogs they were OK. As soon as a situation arises they can't cope with the aggression appears again. With staffies I have found they find 'normal' dog/dog interactions hard to fathom and either ignore what is going on or get involved (not good!).

Its a huge area and everyone will have different experiences and ideas on how to deal with it. If they think stuffed dogs work then great---it all helps.

rune

IME Dog Wardens/ Borough Councils interpret Dog legislation as they see fit and their willingness to get involved seems to differ from one area to another.
When my pup was killed in October the police did not want to get involved as it was a 'dog on dog attack' and I had not said the magical phrase 'dangerously out of control'. The council did not want to get involved because my pup was off lead and the incident was not witnessed by one of their officers!

The authorites argued between themselves for a month as to who would proceed, the police said they would and then 2 months after then said they wouldn't! 5 1/2 months later I am no further forward.

I got some good contacts on here when Ralph was killed which may help you. I'd apply pressure if I was you, and even reporting it will help as then any subsequent offences reported will surely have to be acted upon. The RSPCA advised me they would have pursued the other owners in my case if it had not been a first offence and would have argued that they had caused suffering to my dog by not keeping theirs under control.

Yes, I think that is the whole point about forums, isn't it?
Sharing info and so on
Wys
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Thanks Rune. I think it's important to share as much as we can on this sort of thing. I agree it is a huge area for sure. Will PM if I think of anything more to ask. Cheers

Wys
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The problem with stuffed dogs is that they engender in some dogs (which have not been sufficiently habituated to "stuff") the same response as to any SEC (sudden environmental contrast) and thus have an exaggerated reaction which has nothing to do with their real outlook on real dogs.

It is just a dog that is not as environmentally sound as many other dogs.

I remember when I took my GSD to Crufts a few years ago, there was a stuffed moose/elk which spooked a lot of dogs, he was just very curious and explored it.

I have no idea what he would do with a real live elk which moved, made sounds and changed its body language.

As it happens there was a stuffed dog with a real dog on Des O'Connor last night

It was an old clip with Elaine Paige and her Westie. Freddie Star came on pulling a stuffed dog on a lead, presenting and interacting with it as a real dog, in the approved assessment manner .

The Westie went to investigate, calmly sniffed it's rear end (the nearest bit of the stuffed dog to itself) then bit it and pulled some stuffing out of it.

The Westie was totally calm and relaxed throughout so I suspect it rightly recognised it as a toy and reacted accordingly to a potential new chew/tug toy

This one here I presume:
http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=314427 at about 10.45 ish.

That was quite interesting. The dog was in a sitting position and being kind of dragged by Freddie Starr so I'd say it wasn't quite like a real dog but, it was interesting that the Westie decided to sniff his bits and take a good second look before chewing off some fluff

Wys
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Stuffed dogs can never behave quite like real dogs as unavoidably they are unresponsive and either unnaturally still, or moving unrealistically.

Having said that, I've seen owners do fairly similar dragging attempts with immobile real dogs who are refusing to move for various reasons in various postures, often with less success.

I thought it was funny how Freddie was telling his dog to ignore the Westie

Yes it was - good clip. Made me laugh!

Wys
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I thought it was a funny co incidence - coming up just as stuffed dogs with real dogs was being discussed here