It never ceases to amaze me how many people are still so willing to subscribe, adhere, and even practice the old "Dog vs. Human" theories when working with the animals. Some days, like today, it seems as though it emerges more and more. It's scary, really, the way man treats his "best friends".
I've seen first hand what techniques such as hitting, jabbing, kicking, poking, rolling, choking, etc., actually do to a dog. For all intents and purposes, let's call this dog... Sprinkles. An average little mix-breed dog, really. Owners brought him home because he was just so cute, and they'd been wanting a dog for a while. Trouble is, they didn't do their research on how to raise a well-adjusted dog. Sprinkles was left on his own to figure out the world, and it ended up with bad results. He barked like the world was coming to an end when someone knocked at the door. No one could approach his food bowl (which was always full, no matter what) without risking being bitten. On top of that, he developed severe separation anxiety.
How did the owners try to control him? Whenever he leaped from the couch to howl at the "intruder" knocking at the door, he was forced down on his side, and if he tried to wiggle free, he was struck repeatedly. To the eyes of a human, he "calmed down" after a while, when in reality, he was giving up his life. By flipping him on his side, the human communicated to Sprinkles that he was about to die. Sprinkles certainly had a will to live the way he flashed his teeth, but gave up once he realized his fate was sealed. Or was it? When the human let him back up, he always looked around like he'd dodged a bullet. In his canine mind, he did.
Because of his small stature, anything bigger than him by his food was a threat, especially since his humans would take the food away. He didn't know that they were just trying to put more food in the bowl, even while he was eating. That's a matter in and of itself warranting a whole new post; still, the humans were really scary, taking away his nourishment! Sadly, the above scenario was repeated: howl and bite in protest, receive an empty--yet painful--threat.
As for the separation anxiety, his owners left him home alone his first night in the house and put his bed in an isolated location every night thereafter. He never learned object permanence, and so he carried on, never wanting to be alone. Even when the humans came to scream "Shut up!" in his face, it was attention, was it not?
According to the trainers who use these "methods", Sprinkles should've improved and been the world's best behaved dog, as the humans "taught him his place". The little fellow only got worse as time went on. He began fear peeing in the presence of all humans, even his own. His snarls and growls lessened, but were replaced by biting without warning. These trainers will argue that Sprinkles was trying to "run the household," when in reality, he was a scared little dog that was chased into a corner, left with nowhere else to go but the route of aggression.
I wish the story of Sprinkles was a sob story, but it isn't. Sprinkles was about four when I first met him, and not knowing anything about behavior until relatively recently, I watched this unbreakable cycle for several years, with him steadily getting worse. I haven't seen him in almost three years, and I don't even know whether or not he is still in the same house. Dogs like Sprinkles are labeled unfairly by humans as "stupid" or "dominant" (and not the proper use of the term, either, but the "pop culture" one) and subjected to mishandling. I wish I knew then what I know now about how dogs really think, then maybe I might have been able to help this little guy - not being able to do so will always be my one regret in my career with animals.
One thing is for certain though: I steer away from manhandling and intimidating dogs even more so because of him. Every time I see or hear of a "trainer" jabbing, rolling, or otherwise causing a terrible situation for the dog, I see Sprinkles: his wide fear-filled eyes, his increasing snarl, his stiffened little body. The only thing these methods are good for is creating another Sprinkles.
All these dogs need is some patience and understanding from us. We're supposed to be dog's best friend. Let's act like it for a change.
