Lessons from Bogie
portland
Shannon Finch relates the tale of a fearful young German shepherd who started biting after
one of his guardians used a shock collar to keep him quiet in his crate when there were
I
visitors to the home
want to warn you at the outset, Bogie's story doesn't have a happy ending. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for this dog, with mistakes compounded by more mistakes. It's been over 15 years since I worked with Bogie, but I clearly remember every detail about him. He was a 7-month-old German shepherd with severe fear issues that started when he was attacked in the car by his family's other dog. The owners came back from dinner to a horrific sight of blood all over the car and a severely injured, traumatized puppy. I had been a professional trainer for 10 years successfully working with many fearful and aggressive dogs, so I felt comfortable working with Bogie. His progress was slow, a little up and down, but the owners were encouraged. One of the things we did at our sessions was allow him to run a little in my woods before we started working. It gave him a chance to sniff and work off a little energy after a long car ride. On one particular day, my client said that Bogie had had a bad weekend, and asked if I was sure I wanted to let him loose. I told her I thought it would be fine to let him out and we'd talk more about it while he ran around. Instead of playfully running around, however, Bogie ran straight at me, fast, low and silent. He bit me on the knee and calf, and then on the back of my thigh as I turned away from him. He would have continued to bite me except that I shoved the paperwork I had in my hand into his mouth. This distracted him enough for me to scramble onto the hood of my car and for my client to grab him.
Shocked in His Crate
We had no session that day. Bogie went home, and I went to the doctor to get my wounds fixed up. Later, my client told me what had happened that weekend. They had had guests, and Bogie had been whining and crying in his crate, so her husband used a shock collar to keep him quiet. Things suddenly became very clear. I now understood why Bogie's progress was so sporadic. My client used positive reinforcement, but her husband was using fear, pain and punishment, and had been all along. It had escalated to Bogie being shocked in a crate, with no way for him to escape. I felt physically sick. I hadn't thought to question my client about what her husband had been doing, though I knew he leaned towards punitive training. We had had a discussion about it in
Prior to this, I had never been bitten, and I took it seriously. I immediately changed how I worked with aggressive dogs and I still follow this protocol today. I limit the number of aggression consults I do per week, and schedule them for when I am fresh and alert. I diligently check in with the client before each session to make sure that something hasn't changed, and ask them to keep me updated between appointments. I remind my clients, and myself, to train the dog you have in the moment.
the beginning, but I obviously had not convinced him about the dangers of using punishment.
Set Up to Fail
I, too, set Bogie up to fail that day. I was worn out from an intense schedule, so I wasn't at my best. I didn't listen to my client when she said Bogie had had a bad weekend. If I had rescheduled the appointment, or had listened to her and changed the game plan, the bites wouldn't have happened. Prior to this, I had never been Š Can Stock Photo/kavita bitten, Puppy Bogie had severe fear issues that started when he was attacked in the car by his family's other dog (Stock Image) and I took it seriously. I immediately changed how I worked with aggressive dogs and I still follow this protocol today. I limit the number of aggression consults I do per week, and schedule them for when I am fresh and alert. I diligently check in with the client before each session to make sure that something hasn't changed, and ask them to keep me updated between appointments. I remind my clients, and myself, to train the dog you have in the moment.
A Life of Fear
You could say that Bogie "liked" me in his way. But that day he was under the influence of severe stress, not in his right mind, so to speak, and not responsible for what happened. That was on the humans. I now have a policy that I will not work with an aggressive dog if someone in the family is not on board with positive reinforcement training. Many times people just don't know what to do, and punishment is seductive and comes easy. To avoid that, we create a management plan to smooth BARKS from the Guild/March 2019
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