Professional Disclaimer
This post is NOT meant to be any type of guide for dealing with aggressive dogs. the purpose also isn’t to slam anyone person, but to expose the dangers of social media dog trainers that do not have the background or knowledge to deal with dangerous dogs.
Dealing with aggression is very serious and too many shitty TikTok trainers with no qualifications to work with aggressive dogs keep posting very misleading videos.
Aggression is not treated by obedience alone. Any trainer trying to push an obedience only routine on you, regardless of the issue you are dealing with, should be avoided.
Please, DO NOT attempt anything you read in this post without consulting a professional.
Trigger Warning
This post contains a video of a dog attempting an attack on another dog.
Breakdown
Recently a social media personality posted a video of himself allowing his own dog to be used as bait for an aggressive dog. In this clip the trainer has the handler bring the aggressive dog towards his own down, who is lying down. He instructs the handler to allow the dog to sniff his own until it tries to bite. You can hear him say at the end “that’s what I wanted to see” (red flag).
I attempted to reach out to the trainer as they asked for help (even though the post was snarky and insincere) from the force free community. More on that below.
I also checked out their website and I could not find anything that tells me they have any education or previous work in this field. Another red flag. Certifications aren’t required – but there is nothing here to indicate they have had any schooling.
Actual website quote (and, in my opinon, another red flag): “I honestly thought I invented the idea of teaching my dog how to learn. ”
The complete video from the trainers public instagram account is below.
Trigger warning as it does show a dog attempting to bite another dog. This video has not been edited by me, but it has been removed from the users Instagram. An edited version still remains.
The accompanying text:
“POSITIVE ONLY REINFORCEMENT BASED, SCIENCE BASED TRAINERS. I FOUND YOU A DOG TO PROVE TO EVERYONE YOUR METHOD IS BETTER.
- This Dog Will Attack A Dog In Complete Submission. Tina A Good Thing I Taught The Pup Capri How To Be Perfectly Still. I Personally Want Anyone Of You To Take On This Case, I Am Willing To Pay For A Consultation At Least, And I Will Travel To You If Need Be. All I Ask Is We Keep It All Public, So We Can All Learn, Not Just Me, I’m Not Certified, I Don’t Want The Smoke.
Anyone Of You Can Give More Insight Or Recommend Your Mentors Perhaps, You Agreed To Teach Me More About How You Would Handle This, I’ve Watched Your Videos Online, I Believe Either One Of You Could Help. Please Comment Back If You’re Interested, You Could Be This Dog’s Last Chance, I Beg You ❤️❤️❤️ ~”
Some red flags to point out in this video
- ZERO LAYERS OF PROTECTION
- No muzzle
- No barrier
- No tie back
The whole setup could have turned ugly very quickly. What if the handler dropped the leash? Did he have anything to break up a potential dog fight?
Other red flags
- Using a slip lead instead of a harness & collar dual leash setup for extra control
- Trainer is instructing the handler to keep a short tight leash
- Causes tension
- Takes away the dogs ability to remove themselves from the situation
- Trainer uses his own personal dog as bait
- Trainer allows the dog to attack his own dog
The last two are the most troubling, and biggest red flag. Why would you allow this to happen to your dog?
The clip ended with the dog making an attempt to attack the dog that was lying down. From the looks of it the dog made contact, which means this dog now has another bite in her history.
If you follow the Ian Dunbar bite scale that could be considered a Level 2 Incident
October 2022 Update
I was going through some files and came across a screenshot of a comment from the owner of the dog in this video. The screenshot is below and the owner says:
“My dog has never met a strangers dog since I have adopted her in June 2021 at the age of 3. How could she have killed another animal? (She has 2 great dog friends and plays with zero aggression). What knowledge or facts do you have that I don’t?”
You’ll find that info in the email screenshot below.
You can find the comment on the video by clicking here. The link will open Instagram in a new tab. It doesn’t take you to the original video (I think it was deleted by Eric, or he edited it or something), but to Instagram account ThinkingCanine.
Based on these comments from the owner, and the trainers claim this dog killed another dog, someone is lying.
As I mentioned earlier I did reach out to this person. I actually did want to help them. I am genuinely worried about this dogs safety while in their care. From an email correspondence between me and the trainer:
“The dog is a rescue, she’s 3.5 years old, she has 2 previous bite histories, one resulting in the death of a mini poodle that lived next door, she’s spayed, and outside of that there have been no other medical exams done.”
Full disclosure: The trainer claimed the dog was now his but refused to provide any proof that she had been signed over to him by what should be the now former owner. This is why we didn’t go any further, and is the reason for his comment that it is unethical for me to ask for proof.
September 2023 Update
If they accepted my help the very first thing I would require is a vet visit for a complete checkup. Given the little history I know of the dog I would want to keep the vet informed of all important developments.
While they are waiting for their appointment day I would work with them virtually. First, there would be an in depth behavior consultation. These usually last 90 minutes but can go two hours so I can get as complete of a history as possible about this dog and allow the family to ask any questions.
We’ll discuss everything from – but not limited to – the day the dog came home until the day I met with the client for this meeting. It’s all relevant. Feeding schedule and how much they eat, last vet visit and results, favorite toys, exercise, are they social, is their stool always normal or do they have diarrhea three days a week, can you brush them, do bark and lunge, are they terrified to leave the house, what breed, where did the dog come from, any injuries, allergies, do they try to herd children, favorite treats, I can keep going like I said we can talk up to two hours!
Regardless of the case this is how I start off with all clients. It’s very important to have as much information as possible about the dog. Far too many trainers think it is all about obedience and come to your home and start running you through drills. All the obedience in the world will not help a dog that is exhibiting aggressive or other “undesirable” behaviors due to a medical condition.
For the safety of everyone this initial meeting would be done virtually. The dog doesn’t even need to be there. I don’t need to see the behavior. Type any dog behavior into your favorite search engine and how many video results do you get?
An experienced trainer really should not need to see the dog perform the behavior. It’s also not fair to the dog to put them in a position to practice the problem behavior. In this case, ATTACKING OTHER DOGS.
Speaking of not being allowed to attack other dogs, one of the things we would discuss at our consultation is management & preventing the rehearsal of behaviors. This DOES NOT mean that we keep the dog sequestered to the home for the rest of their life. This DOES NOT mean that we won’t expose the dog to their triggers. This is a fear tactic used by trainers that use force, control, punishment, and coercion to train dogs.
What this means instead of taking our reactive or dog aggressive dog for walks around the block we find a quiet park that we can drive to and spend an hour or so sniffing, rolling in grass, digging, chasing birds …. you know, dog stuff. Preferably on a long line. Or, if you have access to sniffspots you can find some place to take your dog off leash.
Muzzle training would be a requirement before meeting in person. Along with other levels of safety like having the dog behind a gate/fence and preferably back-tied to something like a tree. If that isn’t an option then I would require a harness, collar, and double leash combination. I go as far as to call or text the client before I even get out of my car to confirm all required safety levels are in place.
Even dogs that are not aggressive, maybe just over excited door greeters, I’ll ask the client to make sure the dog doesn’t have access to the door when I come in. They should be behind a gate. Doorways are exciting and usually a small space – two things that don’t mesh with dogs that get excited when people come over.
What happens after management and vet visits? I won’t speculate here what I would do beyond management because I literally know nothing about this dog. Most likely I would refer a case like this to a certified behaviorist, regardless of what the vet says. I would suggest to the family that we continue to work together, virtually, so we can put together management plans, make sure the dogs needs are being met, and start coaching them through some foundation behaviors.