Dealing with Fear Aggression

Last week a friend of mine asked me for some help in dealing with a pair of German Shepherds that were adopted to a very nice lady living in Santa Barbara. The best part of the story is that after these two a father and daughter had sat in the shelter for almost a year, they were adopted from a youtube video inspired by our Shelter Angel Video Program.

Well, it seems as though the girl, Lilly had a little bit of a biting issue. Some trainers had worked with her, but the lady was still a little pensive about how to handle Lilly. I offered to ride up with my friend and pay a visit.

This was a classic example of fear based aggression which is oftentimes mis-diagnosed as dominance. This is a very bad mistake and can be impossible to fix if not properly handled. Trainers who approach all situations with a blanket approach are the culprits of messing up more dogs than anything. I've seen motivational based trainers mess up dogs with serious dominance issues and correction based trainers mess up dogs with fear based aggression. I was happy to step in in place of a trainer who might screw this girl up any more.

I could see immediately that Lilly was very insecure without her dad Romi around. So I taught the owner how to build up Lilly's confidence and work from there. I will post an article over at www.blackbeltdogtraining.com in the next week on how to deal with fear based aggression in dogs.

The most important thing I would like to stress here is that it is crucial in dealing with a dog with aggression to determine the cause of it before you try to solve it. A good trainer / behaviorist will cost a bit more, but will solve the problem in a manner that is fair to the dog and it will work. I received an email that the owner already better understands how to deal with Lilly's personality and is doing the homework to get her on her way.

Don't Adopt a Dog Because You Feel Bad

I've had a note to myself, sitting on my computer for the last month to write this particular blog post.

It might be hard to understand what I mean by "don't adopt because you feel bad," so I will explain. It seems all to often people are swayed by their emotions when it comes to adopting a dog. Having created many campaigns geared at getting dogs adopted out of our shelter system, I'd like to be clear on something very important. Adopting a dog is a decision that lasts for many years, and because of that should be carefully evaluated. Yes, the warm and fuzzy feelings of saving a life is enough to make people jump in with both feet, but you have to think about the logistical aspects and long term ramifications of what you are doing. A dog is a commitment for many years, not just for today. This dog will be a member of your family for the next 10 or more years. The feeling of sympathy that you are feeling today will soon pass and you'll be dealing with the reality of what you just got yourself into for many years. This often creates a resentful person, and that is not fair to you or your new dog.

I don't say these things to be harsh, but to be realistic. All to often as a dog trainer I see people complaining that the dog they rescued is turning out to be a nightmare to both them and their dogs. If you're adopting a dog to save his life, you need to understand that this dog, no matter how bad you feel, will need structure. Feeling bad because he was living in the shelter, and was about to be put down, will make you treat him in a state he's not used to. Dogs are very resilient creatures, and all too often I see people hanging on to the negative past of the dog long after the dog has forgotten, or should I say "moved on."

The recidivism rate at shelters is a testament to what I am saying. Some shelters have over a 50% return rates on dogs that were adopted. This is in part due to: no screening, evaluation or consulting on what people are getting into. Dogs do have feelings and shuffling them around from place to place, shelter to home, home to rescue and so on creates dogs with behavioral issues.

When people first bring rescue dogs into their homes with their personal dogs, they often drop the ball on the introductions. If the dogs get along at first, they think that all is well and they forget about it. Eventually there will be an issue, and both dogs and people would be better served to understand the proper way to introduce a new dog into a home. I cover this in my article on www.blackbletdogtraining.com called "Bringing Home the New Dog."

Adopting a dog is a decision of compassion, but it must be infused with a dose of logic. Take your time, understand what you are getting into and do your homework. Saving a life is one of the most important things you will ever do. Be sure that you are in fact saving the life and making that commitment. It requires some thinking about the dog and your situation.

Robert Cabral
Bound Angels

Give Them a Forever Home

If ever there was a pair of dogs that needed a chance, its Roger & Ginger. We found them at the shelter and created a campaign for them. The great people at PEIPEOPLE.COM pulled them and fostered them. Every one of their fosters fell through. This is crazy to me because these two are great with people and other dogs. Ginger is Rogers mom and they are sweet as can be.

The desperatly need a home. Visit PeiPeople.com and pass along the link to their YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L76Pc1Bo8g

I can promise you these two will give you years of love and affection and they are low maintenance. Pei People is an awesome group that does so much for Sharpei. Step up for the new year and give them a hand. They also have the beautiful LOLA. Check her out. She's a little bit of a handful, but I love her.

I wish you a great 2010, and lets keep rocking the system and saving the animals that need us.

Giving a Voice to Animals,

Robert

______________________________
Robert Cabral
BOUND ANGELS
"giving a voice to animals"
www.boundangels.org
www.BoundAngels.tv
www.youtube.com/boundangels
www.blackbeltdogtraining.com
join the revolution!

PeiPeople Rocks to Save Another Life

So.... I did a video of Lola, the sharpei that was living at the shelter after her pups were taken away from her. She was on the short list to start. Then she had an incident and "bit someone on the face." And, for this, she was set to be killed. I could not let that happen for several reasons, the main one being, dogs don't generally bite people on the face out of aggression, they do it out of stupidity. The stupidity is on the humans side. If someone puts their face near a dogs mouth, and doesn't know the dog, the probably deserve to be bit. DO NOT kiss strange dogs. It is so typical of people humanizing dogs and wanting to kiss them because that is what they think the dog wants. The dog does not want to kiss you no matter how cute you think you might be.

So anyway, Lola gets on the "super short list" and is do to be killed. There was no one who was gonna step up for this little girl. So I knew we had a fight in front of us. Sue and Jody from Pei People are really champs and care about the Pei around here. Bear in mind that these two women are the only Pei rescue between Mexico and Northern California. Most of the time rescuing a dog comes down to money and not will. Well, I bent Sue's ear quite a bit and leaned on Jody to take Lola. They acquiesced after I did the last video as it drew some serious attention to Lola and many of you generous people donated to save her life, especially Patricia.

lola video #1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewVnswdZRQc

lola video #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giOCKMiCbU4

Thanks to all of you for stepping up, now lets get the word out there and get her a home and get PeiPeople.com some well deserved donations.

______________________________
Robert Cabral
BOUND ANGELS
"giving a voice to animals"
www.boundangels.org
www.BoundAngels.tv
www.youtube.com/boundangels
www.blackbeltdogtraining.com
join the revolution!

Blind Joey Update - Great News

It was almost two years ago that I wandered into the shelter in downtown LA and found a small, black dog sitting all alone in the middle of a kennel. This dog intrigued me and I could not figure out why. I studied the dog and upon closer examination found out she was blind. A seven year old BLIND dog, dumped at the shelter... I was furious.

Joey would be one of my first rescues and one of my most memorable videos, check out her video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQJ99ECGLg

I sent Joey off to a great rescue in New Orleans, Gypsy’s Eye Blind Dog Rescue. Michelle was an angel. We worked out the details and I flew Joey to her rescue a few days later. We kept in touch a bit, and I knew that Joey had found her home, but that was about it.

Then, just the other day, I received a message on facebook from Joey's new family. I got all choked up (of course)... and I want to share a little of the story with you here...

Hey Robert, I got your youtube message, but it thinks it's easier to send pics in a facebook message. Here's what my wife, Erin, wrote about Joey:

Cade had grown up with schnauzers and wanted to get one, but I was a cat person and thought a dog would be too much work. But I do love animals, and I’m big into animal rights. I gradually warmed up to the idea of a dog, but insisted that we rescue one, not buy one from a breeder. Cade began looking online and came across Joey, a partially blind schnauzer who had been sent to Louisiana from a shelter in California. We met with Michelle, who runs Gypsy’s Eye Blind Dog Rescue, and took Joey for a short visit. She was very wary at first but quickly got used to us. We grew to love her and decided to adopt her officially. Now she follows me around the house and growls at anyone who comes near me, including Cade! I still love my cat, but I am definitely a dog person now, too.

We groom her ourselves ... well, we try to. She won't let us get the clippers anywhere near her head. So she has a giant, fluffy head until we get her to Petsmart or someplace for some expert grooming.

And the attached picture is me and my wife at a dog birthday party with Joey.

Welcome to Kentucky - where killing a dog ain't a crime

Is this picture disturbing to you? I received it in an email from a fellow rescue working. Seems a guy in Kentucky gets in a fight with his wife and then decides to kill her dog. Guess this is the same area of the US where not too long ago a black man could be hung and not much would be done about it. The lowest common denominator in this is how we see fellow animals. Lets face one thing right here the only thing that separates us from our fellow animals, be they human, feathered, furry or swimming is OUR consciousness. Is it right to denigrate a human based on the color of their skin or their sex? Is abusing animals ok because they can't vote? That is the question to ask. Why aren't animals given a right, because they can't serve a greater purpose in our selfish world.

This picture outrages me to no extent, as the animal was killed by no fault of its own. It was a loving pet of a person who was with a moron of a boyfriend. Should we also look at the situation that most acts of violence against animals is committed by men? Could that be something to look at? Cowards who kill animals with weapons because they are too cowardice to look at their lives with a grip of reality. Do I suppose that murdering this dog will lead to solving the problems, no!

Even more disturbing, the dog will be taken down, probably disposed of and that will be that. All the stupid people that are involved in this including the alleged suspect, the cop who would do nothing, the police chief who turns a cold shoulder, the governor who cares more about elections than compassion will go on in their selfish lives. Why? Because it ain't a crime to kill a dog that is a nuisance in Kentucky. If this outrages you, stop for a minute and think what you can do to change the world. Can your vote, your voice make a difference? Can you take the time to stand up for a creature that can not stand up for itself? Will you do this before its too late? Will you feel shame to do this in front of your friends who will tell you "It ain't cool to talk like that."?

Look at the picture and ask yourself, "If I was there, would I have stopped it?" This is not the first time I've seen this type of lunacy. I've seen videos of people shooting dogs and worse. If you want to do something about this dog named DUSTY, put in a call to the governor of Kentucky: http://governor.ky.gov/ As them why its not a crime in Kentucky to shoot a dog?

in memory of a wasted life....

We Love Our Pets

Soo.... lets figure this out. Someone drops this little guy at the shelter and basically leaves him to die. I get an email from my good friend Kim, who is an angel to any animal in need. The pleas go around and PeiPeople steps up to take him. Thank GOD! Now lets examine the facts.

This little guy is is covered with mange. Mange is a relatively easily treatable condition in dogs... when it is caught early. Look at this poor dog and tell me when you think it might be early enough. To what level can some selfish human allow a dog to get to before its time to do something. Did they think it was gonna go away? There are plenty of vets and vet clinics that work at reduced rates. There are numbers available at local shelters. I would say farm more of these services are available to animals than middle income Americans. But, the question remains, who would take a dog in this kind of condition to a pound? What is wrong with humans.

The good news in this post is that through the efforts of many HUEY will be saved. Please help PeiPeople by donating. They need to raise about $750 to pull this off, and its not that much money. visit their website, they are good friends of mine and do great work. I support them and hope you will too.
www.peipeople.com