As the owner of a fully operational dog training business, I speak to thousands of dog owners annually. One theme I have seen rapidly increasing every year is the need for people to voluntarily surrender their animals to either a humane society or rescue organization due to reactivity or aggressive behaviors. I have personally spoken to three separate people in the past two weeks who have been turned down by their local humane society due to being over capacity.
Times are changing, the majority of modern Americans have a different view of dogs then they did several decades ago. More and more people are subscribing to modern training techniques and straying away from using aversion in their training as a result of YouTube videos and social media. Nobody wants to be the guy to talk about inflicting discomfort on your dog, not to mention, there is a growing camp of disingenuous, ideologues called "force-free" trainers who usually amass a large following and spread incorrect theory's about dog training. I'd like to say these people mean well, but they don't. They're no different then cult members. They refuse to see the benefit of using aversion and balanced training methods even when presented with fact based evidence. Most of these people choose to euthanize a dog before trying to use balanced training methods to rehabilitate the animal, knowing that it has worked for millions of dogs across the country.
I recently listened to a discussion had by Michael Ellis, a trainer whom I highly respect and has taught me, as well as thousands of other trainers across the world so much. In the discussion he basically stated that, combined with the growing popularity of modern training, such as positive reinforcement and the decline of aversive training techniques, it is becoming very popular to own working breeds such as a German Shepherd, Belgian Malinios, Cane Corso, Doberman etc. These breeds need a job as an outlet for all of their intense drive and energy as well as needing to be taught about consequences for unwanted behaviors. Positive reinforcement is extremely important but just as important is clear communication and being assertive. If you only reward the dogs wanted behaviors and ignore behaviors such as jumping, chewing, barking etc. chances are those behaviors can manifest into some serious issues such as reactivity especially with working breeds.
In modern times, people take their dogs everywhere! It has become popular to take dogs out in public to brewery's, parks, coffee shops, you name it, so now we have highly driven and hard to deal with breeds in the hands of people who aren't giving them an outlet for their energy, nor are they able to correct unwanted behaviors. The dogs end up creating their own outlet for that energy by barking and lunging at other dogs and reacting.
In conclusion, while there are many reasons dogs can end up in shelters most of these reasons can be mitigated by reaching out to a professional trainer early in the dogs life. Purchase a dog that is suitable for your family and lifestyle. If you are busy with work and kids sports events then buying a Malinois because you watched John Wick 3
may not be such a good idea. Instead maybe a breed such as a golden retriever or bulldog might be a better fit for your family.
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