ps .....i like what ACE said.....its easy to sit back and comment,if you have never been challanged ,it scares the crap out of me every time i encounter a dog with aggression,and........... i like it !passion!

people in my area refere to him all the time ...and they dont even have dogs.....i play stupid sometimes to hear what they have to say...shocking...they relay info the hear not practice......ever been bitten!!!!!

Through me asking a large chunk of them outright whether they have ever had an experience with an aggressive dog. Their answer is nearly always "ummm, thankfully no!" (or words to that effect)

Of course there are quite a few people on this forum who have experience of aggressive dogs as people on forums like these are the type of people who have a real passion for dogs, animal welfare, etc. and are the types who either professionally work within the field and/or adopt dogs or care for dogs on a voluntary basis who find themselves in rescue centres (many of which are the exact dogs we're talking about - those with dog/dog or dog/human aggressive tendancies). So yes, naturally, people on here will largely have at least some experience with aggressive dogs - passively or actively having involved themselves in the dogs' rehabilitation at some stage.

But in the wider world - not so. It is rare to find an average Joe-Bloggs who has experience with an aggressive dog.

And hence my original statement of many armchair CM slaters really not having had any direct involvement in aggression cases.

also... its one thing to have an aggressive dog at 20 lbs and another thing to have an aggressive dog at 100 lbs! ....phil

Ace, I find the opposite
I know several people dealing with aggression in their dogs of a greater or lesser severity but every dog owner (except for those that do agility with us - its a positive only club) has ONLY heard of CM and base all their training ideas on what they see on the tv
The number of people who offer advice to those of us dealing with agressive dogs - and it is always on the lines of
'if that was my dog I wouldnt put up with that'
' I would show that dog who is boss' even a close friend who commented on how much better Mia was when we were walking told me I was doing it all wrong

It is actually getting more difficult to deal with the agression because people are less understanding and dont want to help cos of course they see on the tv what CM does and figure I should just be doing that

CM and DB go against all the good stuff that's come around from knowledgeable people working with dogs (which includes aggressive dogs) - people that don't have to alpha roll or choke aggressive dogs, though... so I think anyone who just understands that their way is not "the way" can comment. Lots of people know now that force isn't the way any more (or shouldn't be).

So I disagree with the view that a person cannot comment just because they've not experienced something... if that was the rule in the UK we'd have a big problem with everything from politics to burglaries and worse

Likewise, a lot of those who support CM seem to be pet owners and not other trainers or behaviourists, as far as I can see. So we get those who know not so much saying he's great. Hmmm.....

I have to say, frankly I'm getting really sad at hearing every now and then of dogs who are on the road to being put to sleep purely and ONLY because their owners watch CM.

The latest is a puppy and a distraught owner who insists on every now and then ignoring her very good behaviourist and going by CM instead. Another was people just using CM/ rougher methods on their dog who started to bite (what a surprise) and it was actually put to sleep.

Do ya know, I saw a quote from him which said only give dogs water, food, toys and affection after they've earned their treat. Now look at that again - food or water??????? I can imagine some people taking that literally and not giving their dogs food or water.....

Wys
x

I've worked with a few who were dog/dog aggressive and had success with the ones whose owners complied. One owner's husband would not comply and just kept on as he always had, taking the dogs out altogether, getting them wound up, etc and the dog was related to mine, so it was really annoying and upsetting he would not change

I've helped my own dog come back from fear aggression after being attacked by several dogs within a 2 month period and she then started to get aggressive to dogs and trounce them ( fast with no warning).

I used Jean Donaldson's "bar open, bar closed" for that one and she now happily socialises with other dogs and has quite a few special dog friends of her own Luckily I was able to start that early on before the problem behaviour had become too ingrained (sp?) which helped.

I've also helped with resource guarding cases and helped generally with problem dogs (usually dog aggressive, usually fear based) with a local behaviourist nearby who has her own field for working (lucky thing!)

Wys
x

Tbh, this thread looks like it's turning into the other CM thread, that most people ducked out of because of it going round in circles.

I really can't believe that people believe dogs are being PTS because of CM's methods. There are people that will never believe that CM's methods work. Therefore, I've given up on discussing that.

I thought this thread was to hear about people that have come up against aggressive dogs and how they dealt with the problem

It is getting tiresome just listening to CM being slated. Like I've said so many times. His methods may not work for every dog (of course nobody would expect that - horses for courses and all that ) but to suggest that dogs are being PTS because of his methods, sorry I think that is OTT.

On that note, I'm going to fly off again, as I'm not getting into another CM debate but as I've just read a few posts slating him again (even though this thread is not re CM) I thought I'd stick my nose in, as I do like a balanced discussion

Noooooooooo, please don't turn this into another CM thread. I was just reading it with a smile on my face thinking how great you all are and then up he comes!

As for not being able to pass judgement until you've been in the situation, what a load of tosh. I have, fortunately never been involved with an aggressive dog, but that doesn't stop me from knowing how I would want it dealt with if I did.

We chose our puppy class because the focus was on reward based training and teaching our puppies to trust us, respect us and feel loved by us. That is how I want to raise my dog and this is how I would want to treat a fear aggressive dog.

Wot she said.
You deal with the challenge in front to you, and each one is unique. No two dogs or owners are alike and we can learn from everyone`s experience so please - I for one would like hear more about how people actually coped with their challenging dogs - not theories but real experiences please.
PS Mistakes help too. I took Daisy to one Trainer who pinned her down. Daisy is seriously reactive around dog trainers since that moment. Another ignored her totally. That one she would tolerate. Lesson learned.