Replies

“You should be smart enough to realize that when one of these dogs ends up as an adoption, odds are if it’s a shepherd, dobe, presa, pit bull, rotty, it is there because it has bitten someone. That’s just a fact of life. “

and

“A large number have been mistreated, and that is why they are that way. “

So which is it?

Also, many dogs can only be in one dog families. Yes, I have rescued shepherds. At this point I work mostly with pits. IMO the problem with dog training is the current methodologies (much like the leftist views on child rearing and affirmative action). I am a Koehler trainer.

Are dogs and children the same? No. Dogs have a much greater potential to recover from abuse. Children in abusive family situations are often irreparably damaged. That is a terrible tragedy.

I think the biting and being mistreated go together, so which is it? I think both. My point, is that early socialization has a big effect on working type dogs, big enough that the people I know selling dogs to police,military, SAR, etc are told how they want them socialized before they pick them up, often right down to the exact number of days of age at the time they are removed from the mother, usually 45 days. If it is that important to them, they obviously believe it can only be fixed to a degree.

I agree that many need to be one dog families, haven’t seen anyone have a lot of luck ‘curing’ dog aggression. Koehler type training works better with some breeds than others, I haven’t read up on it a lot, as it is considered old fashioned, as it relies more on compulsion and corrections, which works. The malinois and dutchies respond better to the modern styles because their prey drive is LOTS stronger, as a rule. Any good trainer uses a mix, but often wants the dog owners to think they use no compulsion/corrections, because that’s what they want to hear. I’m sure you are familiar with that. I have no experience with pits, so don’[t know how they are handled, mine is with GSD, mali, dutch shepherds mostly.

As you know most of the leftist child rearing techniques were created by sociologists with no kids! I raised my kids pretty much the same way I train dogs and cutting horses, both turned out well. Of course mine were socialized well as kids and still have mom and dad together, which is probably the most important thing.

My rescue shepherd was a handful, she never became trusting (except me) but she loved kids and was trustworthy with them. Adults, not at all. She was a one-man dog, period. We’re closer to the same way of thinking than you may think, IMO.