Posted on 01/06/2012 5:43:12 PM PST by chrisinoc
DODGEVILLE (WKOW) -- A decorated police dog that helped officers seize more than $700,000 worth of marijuana one year ago in Iowa County was euthanized, even though the animal had no health issues.
Iowa County Sheriff Steve Michek told 27 News the department's Belgian Malinois named Ava was put down because the animal had become unreliable, especially around the public.
(Excerpt) Read more at wkow.com ...
That would be a Belgian Groenendael, or Sheepdog as they're called in the States. I currently have two and have owned a total of three in my life. Wonderful dogs. Very smart, and extremely loyal and protective. They are dogs who need mental stimulation, physical work and a strong owner who can work with willful dogs.
Mine are just a joy, love people and most other dogs. But if you even think of harming me, they know it. And will protect. I witnessed it first hand, and it was quite a shock. But was very glad to see it.
In a multi-dog home, it can be difficult to tell the difference between dog aggression and resource guarding. Dogs will resource guard the things that are most valuable to them. It can be a toy, a bed, or even a person. My boy resources guards me, meaning, if I am petting him, he will growl and not let other dogs near me. Of course, I know this, and manage the behavior with positive reinforcement. And he's doing great. My girl will resource me if we sit on the sofa- she will not let my boy in that spot unless she gets up. It's really quite interesting to see their interaction and how they work things out.
And because I've paid close attention to their behavior patterns, its easier to predict behavior in new or high stress situations.
Give me a break.
First off, I didn’t say they were “my” methods. I said those kinds of (NON-HEAVY-DUTY) behaviors are frowned upon by PC people. Obviously I’m correct. Even though there is HARDLY any “pain” involved, and it only involves a few weeks of training, not a whole lifetime.
I AM definitely Koehler-oriented, and not shy about the choke - but it is not to be “choked”, either.
If you want anecdotes, I’ll tell you I’ve never had a problem with my Koehler-trained GERMAN SHEPHERDS, nor has my sister. No, we’ve not had many dogs, but there you go. They are completely happy, too (never mind we’ve spent $$$$$$$$$ on their myriad allergy issues, including hard labor such as constant bathing), and the dead 1s never “turned” on anyone.
(My current dog has inherent character flaws, but her aggression many years ago involved sudden possessiveness of food, not anything with her choker. She was modified back into good behavior, though I never totally trust her with food.)
We watch Cesar Milan’s show all the time and I have never seen him do anything with a dog on any show that I would find objectionable. He saves dogs that most trainers would have euthanized. There are lots of ways to train dogs. My Beagle will do anything in the world for a turkey jerky. My chihuahua on the other hand needs a shushing occasionally.
Beautiful dogs.
I’ve never (well, beyond childhood, which doesn’t count and they never worked out) “adopted” an older dog. So I’m not sure how all that would work out. Only pups.
I never understood, since I took over the reins of dogs as a teen (my parents weren’t really “animal” people and they nor my siblings didn’t really get it at all), why so many “nice-nice” people with pets can hardly do anything with their dogs. I took dogs very seriously when I was in high school; after studying a lot for a while we got a “show” GS (LOL). I conditioned and trained her, and between her nature (plain as a puppy) and her up-bringing, she is the most wonderful dog I ever even heard of. No trouble at all. I never understand why people crate up their dogs “when we’re out”, or even at night, or can’t go for walks (well, my current anxious dog IS difficult when she gets anxious about dogs, people, etc), or go for rides. I conditioned my dogs for this. My dogs have the run of the house at all times; I don’t worry about them ruining anything. They’re no trouble. I expect they will be “free”. They need the discipline to understand how to handle freedom.
My next-door neighbors got a Golden last year (sigh). They’re working on an “invisible” fence now, since they have a smallish yard which back butts right up against our front/side. When talking to them the wife mentions how wonderfully calm (LOL, again the anxiety she doesn’t always see) our dog is - no running, no escaping, no barking (per se). This when her still-young dog ran pell-mell to our dog and toddler from their backyard when we opened our garage. She was “grateful” our elder GS wasn’t perturbed by this, etc.
“He saves dogs that most trainers would have euthanized.”
And this is what Koehler did. His reaction to people who are scared of the choke chain, e.g., was “they seem more scared of flicking the collar than killing the dog (because he’s ‘incorrigible’).”
Sad, but sometimes necessary...
Very nice. GSD’s are very tolerant dogs and can sense when another dog is being aggressive or just wants to say hi. That’s one of the reasons I love the breed so much. When we lose the next dog, I’ll be adding a King Shepherd to the pack.
the biggest misunderstanding about dogs is that you can’t train their loyalty, you have to earn it. Dogs aren’t stupid, they are very intelligent, it’s us that can’t understand what they want to tell us. Dogs are much better at cross species communication than we are.
I think this dog realized what a ghoulish errand he was trained to do, and refused to continue to ruin and possibly end the lives of people after he saw what these SWAT teams do.
Pig. He probably hurt the dog in a fit of cop rage and then had to cover it up
“Dogs aren’t stupid, they are very intelligent, it’s us that can’t understand what they want to tell us. Dogs are much better at cross species communication than we are.”
Exactly. I think people, very smart, but have lost “common sense”. That is why so many people are screwing up dogs (and other animals) lately. Some people are abusive, for sure, but most are just clueless and non-sensical. People have also, e.g., excused cat behavior as “that’s what they do”, but cats don’t do bad things in my house. We always expected they’d never claw up curtains/furniture, never get on counters, and that’s what we get. They’re not so stupid or “stubbornly independent” that they won’t understand some rules.
Tara loves other dogs from afar; up close she finds out if she actually likes them. Some she’s been terrified of (she’s got flaws and is naturally submissive & cowardly, although she’s MUCH more normal than when a pup after training/conditioning), some highly irritated by (shows it by wanting to get away, albeit not dashing away - hilarious one time, “get this spaz Pug puppy away from me!”). Most she just wants to play with. She was glad to play with the Golden - but my son wasn’t so thrilled about him running over!
Actually it is named after a month that happens to be named after a pagan goddess. It is not named after a pagan goddess.
That sounds like the undergraduate who opined that Shakespeare’s plays weren’t written by Shakespeare but by someone else named Shakespeare. Nice try.
I woke up to my cat licking peanut butter off my nipple, should I be okay with this?
Your cat might have a complaint but I have no expertise in these areas
I’m concerned that your cat can open peanut butter jars. What’s next, waking up with a Sharpie mustache?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6CcxJQq1x8
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