Correcting the Aggressive Dog Behavior By Trainer Don Sterling.

Jim has requested that I write something on dealing with aggressive dogs so I will try. However, this problem has less to do with dealing with K-9 aggression than with misinformed trainers. Most professional trainers, that is to say trainers who train working dogs, police service dogs, guide dogs, etc., know how to deal with aggression... the problem lies more with those people who train dogs, whether as a hobby, part time job, sport, (agility, akc, etc) or even as a full time occupation but do not train dogs that actually perform a practical function.

For example the following is a quote from a training forum that typifies the predominant thinking of the majority of "non-professional" trainers today. "In the old way of looking at things, i.e., the alpha theory, it's okay to punish a dog because he knows its your right as the alpha or pack leader to hurt him. Since many people are starting to question the validity of the alpha theory, (myself included) that doesn't really leave the cause and effect argument much of a leg to stand on."

The fact that "many people are starting to question the validity of the alpha theory" does not make it correct. They then move forward from this premise, assuming this theory to be correct, and all their training becomes based upon this falsehood. This training is classified as positive reinforcement training, generally to the exclusion of the use of any force. If we look at this statement objectively rather than emotionally we can see the fallacy in its content. Certain people have decided that 40,000 years of evolution in canine social development is incorrect... the truth is that dogs understand and accept the negative in establishing behavior. That is not my opinion... that is an observable fact and no amount of education, opinion or false logic can change it.

Unfortunately, our society has moved to political correctness to the extreme while dogs have no knowledge of such changes. Under every dog, be it a poodle or a German shepherd, is a wolf ancestry and dogs understand their own social behavior patterns and responses while our politically correct trainers do not. They teach the way they wish to teach, not the way the dog needs to be taught and any discussion with a majority of these people results only in frustration.

I have read a lot on positive motivation with the use of food or toys and readily admit that this method has a valuable place in training. All my detector dogs are trained in this manner. However, if I have a detector dog with a bad trait I have no problem applying force correct it, whereas the "tidbit tossers" as we call them, will simply reward a dog aggressive dog if it happens not to get into an argument with another dog. This does nothing to prevent the dog from getting into a scrap with another dog it may not like. But trying to get most civilian trainers to apply force for misbehavior is like trying to force a horse to drink.

The problem professional trainers face with the vast majority of the dog owners out there is in convincing them that force, properly applied and for the correct reasons is not only the right thing to do, but that the dog understands and accepts the use of force. To further the problem, so many people are being led down the wrong path by these politically correct trainers that dog owners do not even realize that there is an alternative.

No social animal can grow to maturity and be socially acceptable to others in an ALL positive environment. Not you, not your children, and certainly not your dog. (What these people consider to be force is the withholding of reward)

During my trips to China I observed dogs that were trained on ONLY positive motivation and they performed extremely well when they thought they were going to be rewarded... otherwise they did nothing. There was absolutely no out during an apprehension unless the handler bounced a ball with the dogs I observed. If a handler threw a ball there was no stay. There is good obedience only if the handler led the dog to believe that he had a ball in his hand or pocket. And they put a lot of time into training... or better yet, conditioning the dog to perform "routines", but as soon as they deviated from that routine or the dog was not offered a toy, the handlers did not have even basic control.

So, in my opinion, the problem does not lie with correcting aggressive behavior, that is relatively simple with the majority of dogs... the problem lies with educating the "new generation" of politically correct trainers who are out there philosophizing, "I teach with love"; "no physical corrections"; "there are no bad dogs, only bad handlers" (I would like to show that author a couple of dogs that have come to my classes and I am sure he/she would change their mind).

I will make this statement........ and a trainer from Israel was visiting with me last week and he agreed, so this is probably a universal problem. It is far more difficult to teach people than it is to teach dogs.... and trying to change the minds of the people out there who say that there is no such thing as an alpha dog, regardless of their education or credentials is an almost impossible job. Only after this present trend of all positive training has run its course and more handlers and pet owners come to understand that life is just not that way will we make progress by returning to common sense training... training in a manner that nature and evolution has taught the dog to understand... and nature never makes a mistake and lets it survive. Modern philosophy will never replace thousands of years of the social development of canine behavior... and since man and canine are both social animals we respond in a similar manner. What would society be like if we had no negative reinforcement in our lives... that's what started the 2nd world war... no courage to stand up to the evils of Hitler... France and England did not want to go to war so they appeased him ... and 55 million people died b/c no one wanted to apply force to the correct the anti-social motivations of and evil man.

Don Sterling