Sorry...This is a repost of a question that I posted last night and only had 2 answers. I wanted to get the daytime people's thoughts:)
A 7 year old Lab that was retired from service. He became fearful of storms, loud noises, thunder etc and they called in Cesar Milan to help him get over his fears?
Cesar said the dog forgot HOW to be a dog because of his intense training/relationship with humans. His owner said Gavin wasn't a PET, he was a TOOL for Law Enforcement. (I hope I worded that right) They did say while in service that he was a VERY stable, sure dog.
This got me to thinking...
Do dogs that are used for this purpose (police work, ATF work, security, drug enforcement etc) go thru this? Is there a point when they DO forget HOW to act like a dog?? With all the intense training they go thru and the 24/7 contact with people, they know more human 'commands' then 'dog' language. Do they forget how to be a dog?
Just wanted your thoughts
2007-12-31 04:42:52 · 8 answers · asked by berner mom 6 in Pets ➔ Dogs
You know, now I think that I have heard it all!!! A dog cannot forget that he is a dog, just like a human cannot forget that he is a human. I have been involved in the working/police/detection dog field for a long time and I have yet to meet a dog that had a problem because of the training it received.
If the dog is geneticaly sound, and the training is correct, there are no issues like the ones you mentioned.
Mr Milan had no idea what he is talking about, as usual, and he came up with that theory to somehow distort the fact that the dog in question does indeed have a nerve problem.
If the dog was fine at work, he would have never been retired, BELIEVE ME, these dogs cost thousands of dollars and will work until they can no longer perform due to old age.
ATF does select their dogs from the pounds trying to save money, and as a result, they have no idea where the dog came from, what his backround is, or anything else about him.
Some of their training methods also leave a lot to be desired as well.
You see, it is not enough that a candidate for detection work has only good, or even great hunt drive, he MUST be free of any environmental sensitivities as well. It makes no difference how good that dog can detect when a sudden, loud noise shuts him down for the day, or even for an hour.
I have known several dogs that were retired from active duty, and rightly so, because of certain fears they have had as far as loud noises. Hope I helped!!
2007-12-31 04:58:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 2⤋
i watched it, and was pleased with the results. my mastiff is afraid of storms, we had a tornado touch down about 3/4 mile from us, and she has not liked storms since. good results from caesar with gavin, resulted in happy owners.
2007-12-31 07:08:46 · answer #2 · answered by grumpy girl 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well lets see, when a dog is raised to do certain jobs that's pretty much all it knows, keep in mind that the dog isn't being taken home and treated as a house pet, chances are the dog had a kennel at the work place which was considered his home. A dog that had such intense training will always want a human to instruct him what to do and without any instruction the dog didn't know what to do or how to act like a dog/pet, the only actions the dog knew was putting his head down as if he found an explosive when he heard certain sounds. Staying still with his head down was a action that he was trained to do in order to let people know that the found explosives or whatever the case maybe. In a way I think that the dog did forget how to be a pet but not a dog.
2007-12-31 06:52:36 · answer #3 · answered by sillyme 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First. I want to make it clear that I know nothing about service dogs or Law Enforcement dogs, so what I am about to say is a guess. I just think the dog needs something to do, a job to keep him busy. I know dogs aren't humans, but I would compare him to my grandpa who is an 84 yr old rancher. My grandpa has been a rancher since the day he was born. A lot of our family think he should retire, I think if he retires it will kill him because he will feel he has no more purpose and it will take away the only thing he knows how to do and loves. Maybe that is the same situation with this lab. He has been doing law enforcement for so long that when they took it from him he doesn't know what to do with himself and it caused psychological problems. Maybe if he had a job even if it is something small and not hard on him it would give him a purpose.
Like I said this is only a guess.
2007-12-31 04:59:18 · answer #4 · answered by Short Shot 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
i don't know if they "forget" how to be a dog but they seem to be OVER trained to be a law inforcement/working dog. sadly many dogs trained for military combat (like many dogs in Iraq, etc) are put down after they are retired because those dogs are trained to take down 'enemies' which wouldn't be safe in a home.
read "From Bagdad with Love" it's a book about an army guy who found a stray puppy in Iraq and ended up bringing him home to the US. it's a very sad book because of all the problems the guy had to go through to get the dog and the trama he and the dog faced but it's worth the read.
2007-12-31 04:55:59 · answer #5 · answered by Jena 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
FWIW- A LOT of dogs develop fear of fireworks/thunderstorms just after the age of 7 or so... this is one of the things I specialize in helping with.
A big life change (retiring from work) can bring on huge changes in a dog's personality. (human's also). Imagine working every day of your life and suddenly you are no longer wanted or needed... imagine your concept of play is reward for a job well done- and now you have no job!?
I'm amazed they retired him at the early age of 7 years unless there was something already going on....
Dogs who are highly socialized with humans and less so with other canines tend to not see a "need" to interact with other dogs. I don't think that makes them less of a dog... they simply know who runs the show, so why bother with the lower members of the pack?
2007-12-31 04:54:58 · answer #6 · answered by animal_artwork 7 · 8⤊ 1⤋
I think that that is a bit ridiculous. Isn't he always preaching how dogs "need a job"?
2007-12-31 04:51:34 · answer #7 · answered by bettathang 5 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Dogs do not forget to be a dog.
Their natural instincts will always kick in.
The dog did not forget how to be a dog, the dog was just doing
what it was trained to do. I tend to agree with Cesar, but not on
this case.
2007-12-31 04:47:51 · answer #8 · answered by Bullmastiff_Boxer_lover 6 · 9⤊ 1⤋