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I don’t know if I’m just being a paranoid, so I was hoping for some outside perspective (this gonna be long. Sorry in advance).
Angus is a southern mutt (APBT, lab, AmStaff, border collie. 20 no, 85lb) who came to me (MA) from Arkansas. Angus had bitten another dog while in foster up north. Because his southern foster had described him as dog-friendly, I figured it was largely stress related and circumstantial. However, within the first few weeks, I began seeing reactive behavior while we were on walks...lunging and barking. A couple of times it was really intense.
We started basic obedience with Obedience Trainer. We started off with her coming to the house, and then decided to try him in the store, as he wasn’t really reactive at all to other dogs while she was working him.
He went to the store 3 times. All 3 times there were other dogs around. He didn’t act out. There was enough stimulus that he wasn’t all that interested in the other dogs...even two chihuahuas that were barking furiously at him.
Even still, Obedience Trainer suggested I take him to socialization classes with a trainer that she is currently apprenticing under. He specializes in aggressive behavior, so I gave it a shot and went for a first appointment evaluation yesterday. Here’s where I get iffy.
Angus was pretty anxious when we got there. He was never that anxious going into the store to see Obedience Trainer, but you could clearly hear big dogs barking in the trailer. My appointment was at 1:00. Trainer came out and greeted me and said he was wrapping up with someone and would be with me shortly. Ok cool. We wait in the car. Angus is whining, which he does when bored or anxious.
About 1:30 he finally calls me in. He didn’t ask a ton of questions about Angus when I called to make the appointment, so I kind of expected him so ask about his behavior issues in more detail and not just “he’s dog aggressive”. Like ask me if I’ve noticed a pattern or something. He just kind of dove right into this regurgitated diatribe that was almost the same speech verbatim that was on his website video. All good info, but clearly well rehearsed. Then he moves into evaluating me. We spend the first hour going over prong collar use, my muscle movements, my cadence, the pace of my walk. The whole time Angus is wandering around the enclosure whining and wet, as it was raining pretty hard and there was only a partial roof. He spoke very quickly, physically correcting my posture and shoulder/feet position. It was sensory overload.
Finally after an hour he fits Angus with the prong and starts working him, which he responds to wonderfully as we’ve been working on obedience. He likes this. It’s a fun game for him. Trainer tries to present him a treat and Gus won’t take it. Turns his head completely away. This is a dog who will literally walk through fire for old pizza crust, so a perfectly stinky treat having no appeal told me immediately that he wasn’t comfortable. I made sure I said out loud “that’s bizarre” and tried to say that he’s generally very food motivated, but this wasn’t a two way conversation. I barely got a word in edgewise.
Then Trainer says it’s time to involve another dog to assess the behavior. Ok. And I expect him to leave Gus In the enclosure, select a balanced dog from his pack and start a distanced introduction. Instead, he takes Gus on the prong inside of the trailer, out of my eyesight, and the whole time Gus is looking back at me like “where is he taking me”. He’s gone for a few minutes. Then a floppy white dog comes bounding out, Gus close behind, still On prong and lead. And he was the most reactive I’ve ever seen him. Like “move in for the kill” reactive. He wanted to hurt this floppy white dog very, very badly. It was absolutely terrifying and I was close to tears.
He then tells me I have a very big and dangerous dog on my hands. That he’s not sure he can help, but his recommendation was for me to drop him off for some immersion, where he puts a muzzle on him and floods him with other dogs for the sake of desensitization. Bargain price of $100 a day. Of course, shaken, I agree and schedule for Tuesday, and drive home terrified of my dog. $175 later.
Gus was not himself for the remainder of the day. And today, he still seems a little withdrawn.
Upon reflection, it all seems a little fishy for me. He knew my dog was anxious and agitated. Why would you bring him into the trailer with many other dogs instead of attempting a slow controlled introduction? Wouldn’t the expectation be a negative reaction considering where his energy was already? Was it an attempt to get my dog to act out in the worst possible way so that I’m frightened and say “here take my money I’ll do anything to fix him”? Might that be the same reason he spoke so fast and was physically correcting me so much? To jumble my senses?
When I called for the evaluation initially, he texted Me the address to confirm and asked me to send a picture of Gus. When I did, his response was “oh yes, I’ve helped a dog just like that. I can help”. Just like what??? A brown one? You’ve helped a brown dog?
What do you think? Please.
Angus is a southern mutt (APBT, lab, AmStaff, border collie. 20 no, 85lb) who came to me (MA) from Arkansas. Angus had bitten another dog while in foster up north. Because his southern foster had described him as dog-friendly, I figured it was largely stress related and circumstantial. However, within the first few weeks, I began seeing reactive behavior while we were on walks...lunging and barking. A couple of times it was really intense.
We started basic obedience with Obedience Trainer. We started off with her coming to the house, and then decided to try him in the store, as he wasn’t really reactive at all to other dogs while she was working him.
He went to the store 3 times. All 3 times there were other dogs around. He didn’t act out. There was enough stimulus that he wasn’t all that interested in the other dogs...even two chihuahuas that were barking furiously at him.
Even still, Obedience Trainer suggested I take him to socialization classes with a trainer that she is currently apprenticing under. He specializes in aggressive behavior, so I gave it a shot and went for a first appointment evaluation yesterday. Here’s where I get iffy.
Angus was pretty anxious when we got there. He was never that anxious going into the store to see Obedience Trainer, but you could clearly hear big dogs barking in the trailer. My appointment was at 1:00. Trainer came out and greeted me and said he was wrapping up with someone and would be with me shortly. Ok cool. We wait in the car. Angus is whining, which he does when bored or anxious.
About 1:30 he finally calls me in. He didn’t ask a ton of questions about Angus when I called to make the appointment, so I kind of expected him so ask about his behavior issues in more detail and not just “he’s dog aggressive”. Like ask me if I’ve noticed a pattern or something. He just kind of dove right into this regurgitated diatribe that was almost the same speech verbatim that was on his website video. All good info, but clearly well rehearsed. Then he moves into evaluating me. We spend the first hour going over prong collar use, my muscle movements, my cadence, the pace of my walk. The whole time Angus is wandering around the enclosure whining and wet, as it was raining pretty hard and there was only a partial roof. He spoke very quickly, physically correcting my posture and shoulder/feet position. It was sensory overload.
Finally after an hour he fits Angus with the prong and starts working him, which he responds to wonderfully as we’ve been working on obedience. He likes this. It’s a fun game for him. Trainer tries to present him a treat and Gus won’t take it. Turns his head completely away. This is a dog who will literally walk through fire for old pizza crust, so a perfectly stinky treat having no appeal told me immediately that he wasn’t comfortable. I made sure I said out loud “that’s bizarre” and tried to say that he’s generally very food motivated, but this wasn’t a two way conversation. I barely got a word in edgewise.
Then Trainer says it’s time to involve another dog to assess the behavior. Ok. And I expect him to leave Gus In the enclosure, select a balanced dog from his pack and start a distanced introduction. Instead, he takes Gus on the prong inside of the trailer, out of my eyesight, and the whole time Gus is looking back at me like “where is he taking me”. He’s gone for a few minutes. Then a floppy white dog comes bounding out, Gus close behind, still On prong and lead. And he was the most reactive I’ve ever seen him. Like “move in for the kill” reactive. He wanted to hurt this floppy white dog very, very badly. It was absolutely terrifying and I was close to tears.
He then tells me I have a very big and dangerous dog on my hands. That he’s not sure he can help, but his recommendation was for me to drop him off for some immersion, where he puts a muzzle on him and floods him with other dogs for the sake of desensitization. Bargain price of $100 a day. Of course, shaken, I agree and schedule for Tuesday, and drive home terrified of my dog. $175 later.
Gus was not himself for the remainder of the day. And today, he still seems a little withdrawn.
Upon reflection, it all seems a little fishy for me. He knew my dog was anxious and agitated. Why would you bring him into the trailer with many other dogs instead of attempting a slow controlled introduction? Wouldn’t the expectation be a negative reaction considering where his energy was already? Was it an attempt to get my dog to act out in the worst possible way so that I’m frightened and say “here take my money I’ll do anything to fix him”? Might that be the same reason he spoke so fast and was physically correcting me so much? To jumble my senses?
When I called for the evaluation initially, he texted Me the address to confirm and asked me to send a picture of Gus. When I did, his response was “oh yes, I’ve helped a dog just like that. I can help”. Just like what??? A brown one? You’ve helped a brown dog?
What do you think? Please.
