Not too many things piss me off but this did.
Recently we were contacted by a lady with a two year old GSD dog with quite a history. They were the the dogs second home. While on walks the dog has been attacked several times. This of course all occurred while the dog was in its most impressionable age, before 2 years. The result was a dog that was extremely anxious and unpredictable. The best way I can explain it was the dog acted as if the floor, walls, people, and everything else was coursing with electricity that would shock the dog. This constant heightened state made the dog over reactive to all movements made by people, especially children.
We were called after their Vet threatened to turn the dog away after a visit where he was uncontrollable after taking 300 MG of Trazodone and 1000 MG of Gabapentin, and wearing a muzzle. For the record I have been taking 150 MG of Trazodone at night for over ten years to help me sleep do to PTSD. I am 300 lbs and after two hours I am out cold.
During our appointment the dog wearing a muzzle attacked me several dozen times without any provocation. At no time during the appointment did I see any decline in the dogs aggression or intensity. Mom shared that she was concerned that he would bite their six year old daughter. Sadly, this dog became only the tenth dog out of over 3000 that I had to recommend that be euthanized. Even when a dog is in what we call the Red Zone (unprovoked constant aggression with people outside the family) I don’t always recommend they be euthanized. I take two things into consideration, first the ability of the family to modify the behavior with the techniques of Focus Based Canine Training. Second is the likelihood of the dog attacking another dog or human causing serious physical injury or death before they can be rehabilitated. Because of the kids in the house this was a 10 out of 10. The family and I were all heartbroken.
So what happened when Mom called the Vet in tears, the same Vet that was going to refuse care to the dog to make an appointment for him to be euthanized? They shamed her and told her they don’t like to euthanized dogs do to aggression. They advised her to just make a place for him in the house where he would be quarantined away from all people. They also said that rehoming was an option. Nothing like handing off a ticking time bomb to someone else.
She eventually got them to agree to do what needed to be done. That appointment was made yesterday for today. Right after she made that appointment the dog went for her son’s face and luckily she was able to get in front of the dog.
Medical and behavioral are two different things. As soon as a client mentions something that experience tells me something that could be cause by a medical issue I tell them to see their Vet before they train. The reason is that I do not provide medical care for dogs. In a perfect world when the Vet sees a dog with suspected or obvious aggression they should direct the owner to a dog trainer. Too often instead they prescribe human medicines instead. I am not familiar with any case I have worked with where drugs stopped a dog from being aggressive.
It breaks my heart that a Vet would shame someone that got a professional opinion and has decided to protect their family as well as the community. Overall a very small percentage of dogs are truly aggressive, and that is what make them so easy to identify. Just like with dog trainers, not all Vets are created equal. Something I found out 20 years ago after spending 3.5 months at Johns Hopkins with Frank when he was a baby is that when the good doctor’s don’t know what to do next they will tell you, and hopefully refer you to someone that does. That is true professionalism in any career field. Humility is a big part of growth and should not be ignored.