On Dogs

I quietly hold a controversial view on dogs. I own them. I love them. I care for them . . . if it suits me. I'm reminded of this as my new dog transitions from puppy to dog. He's turning out to be a great dog. This is not interesting accept that if he didn't "turn out," my inclination would be to find a replacement. I firmly believe that all dogs are service animals. Additionally they serve at the pleasure of their masters. If a dog cannot fulfill the responsibilities of its station, it is not worth keeping. That said, I hold the same standard for people. Many dog owners are not worth keeping. A dog, and its owner must be disciplined, above all else. I'm not sure that dogs must be dominated by their owners, but I am sure that dogs crave structure. Dogs crave direction. Structure and direction are the responsibility of the human. There are no exceptions on this. The true joy in mastering an animal comes after this initial commitment. Once discipline and structure are established, the nuance of dog mastery may begin. Tonight Harry, the aloof, sometimes difficult, always intent Spanish Water Dog greeted a pack of four dogs. Harry was not leashed. He greeted the leader of the pack, with grace and poise and worked his way down from there. What's more he tolerated a lower pack member's growl and bark. He ignored this fear based behavior. When Harry came to us, he was unsure, and seemed to be developing a fear based aggression that was not going to fit well in our family that included a three year old daughter and three cats. I was confident that I could work with him--then skeptical. As he was uncertain I bowed to our trainer's impulse to minimize negative reinforcement and concentrate on reward based training. However, after my favorite cat spent the night at the vet to the tune of $400.00, my patience had run out. Out of economic self interest I gravitated toward the dog training principle I'd grown up with. Produce the behavior you want, by any reasonable means, reward good behavior. No longer was I standing there with my treat, and what felt like my manhood, in my hands. The choke collar was re-deployed, the shock collar was introduced. By this point I'd been working with Harry for six months. In two weeks we had the results we needed. Now we are fine tuning. I must admit that the early confidence reinforcement is probably what made all of this possible. I know how to train a dog. I am less confident that I could rehabilitate an uncertain dog. In a perfect world though, no domestic dog would be afflicted with the injustice of a poor upbringing. A puppy is a world of potential. Not all dogs will become bomb sniffers or k9 cops. However no dog should be allowed to behave like a jackass. Our species have too much history together to allow a regression now. Train your dog. If you need help ask for it. There is no excuse for squandering the potential of a puppy.