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Animal Cops Rant
OK, DH and I are watching Animal Cops-Philadelphia. Every one of these shows features some poor dog whose only apparent issue is "food aggression." Here's another one. The so-called handler pokes and prods at the dog's food bowl, literally provoking an aggressive response. "Uh oh! He's not adoptable because he's food-aggressive! Bye!" And the dog is euthanized.
Our dogs will allow us to claim ANY food of theirs, but I guarantee you if we did it with a fake hand and as tentatively as these idiots on TV do it, we'd lose a few fingers. Just makes me irate! These people are supposedly trying to save dogs, but do everything possible to find a reason to euthanize. If you're going to give a dog food, that means you've given up your claim to it. If you take it back, you'd darn well better make it clear you are claiming it. But noooooo.... we have to tease the poor dog with a hand on a stick and poke and prod until we get a reaction. Duh!
OK, end of rant.
Our dogs will allow us to claim ANY food of theirs, but I guarantee you if we did it with a fake hand and as tentatively as these idiots on TV do it, we'd lose a few fingers. Just makes me irate! These people are supposedly trying to save dogs, but do everything possible to find a reason to euthanize. If you're going to give a dog food, that means you've given up your claim to it. If you take it back, you'd darn well better make it clear you are claiming it. But noooooo.... we have to tease the poor dog with a hand on a stick and poke and prod until we get a reaction. Duh!
OK, end of rant.
Jaybay, I completely agree. I can understand that a dog needs to respect its owner and view them as the alpha, but I don't know too many humans who wouldn't go crazy if someone sat their dinner down in front of them, waited for them to start eating, and then started sticking things in the food and attempting to pull the dishes away from them! It's insane! In my opinion, that just baiting the dog into biting. Dogs aren't stupid, they know the difference between humans and those bizarre rubber hands!
Peek, I think I know the episode you're talking about. The dog was a big, shaggy light tan colored mix, it was a gorgeous dog and Jan, the woman who works rehabbing them at the shelter, had totally fallen in love with him. She even broke down as she was talking about what they were going to have to do, if I remember correctly. Was this the same episode you were talking about? I was very upset over that episode myself, because in so many of these cases I feel as though they set the dogs up to fail.
As some have already stated, if a dog shows signs of food aggression, then place him in a home without young children. If they're dog aggressive, place them in a home where they're the only dog. It's common sense!
Ghilly
Peek, I think I know the episode you're talking about. The dog was a big, shaggy light tan colored mix, it was a gorgeous dog and Jan, the woman who works rehabbing them at the shelter, had totally fallen in love with him. She even broke down as she was talking about what they were going to have to do, if I remember correctly. Was this the same episode you were talking about? I was very upset over that episode myself, because in so many of these cases I feel as though they set the dogs up to fail.
As some have already stated, if a dog shows signs of food aggression, then place him in a home without young children. If they're dog aggressive, place them in a home where they're the only dog. It's common sense!
Ghilly
Same here. We just happened to surf on to this episode when nothing else was on. I regret watching it.
One of Cesar's Dog Whisperer episodes that has stuck with me since I saw it included an offhand remark while he was feeding his dogs. He mixes the wet and dry food with his hands so the dogs smell his scent on their food. As he gave the food to the dogs (calmest dog first) he mentioned that he doesn't believe in messing with a dog while he's eating. Once you relenquish your claim on the food, it belongs to the dog. That's just common sense to me, but I wish more trainers, rescuers and rehabbers would recognize that fact and pass it on.
If my dogs get some food item they aren't supposed to have, I have no problem claiming it. If you're going to be a pack leader, the dog recognizes that in all things, including food.
One of Cesar's Dog Whisperer episodes that has stuck with me since I saw it included an offhand remark while he was feeding his dogs. He mixes the wet and dry food with his hands so the dogs smell his scent on their food. As he gave the food to the dogs (calmest dog first) he mentioned that he doesn't believe in messing with a dog while he's eating. Once you relenquish your claim on the food, it belongs to the dog. That's just common sense to me, but I wish more trainers, rescuers and rehabbers would recognize that fact and pass it on.
If my dogs get some food item they aren't supposed to have, I have no problem claiming it. If you're going to be a pack leader, the dog recognizes that in all things, including food.
All the situations mentioned above is the reason i dont watch any animal rescue shows anymore.........I just upsets me too much to know the fate of these animals.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Oh..my..God! That is plain horrific! I couldn't BREATHE for a minute when I read your post.
At least there are good inteligent people (ie Cesar Milan) around to balance out the crass idiots. But the worst thing is, that kind of evil stuff is going on, so how does it get stopped? Hopefully people get educated......(yeah, maybe)
It is lack of respect to mess with any animal's food. You give the food straight. No games, no teasing, no dramas. It's basic trust thing on a serious level. I'D BITE any brain-dead moron who tried to mess with my dinner when I was about to start eating it!
At least there are good inteligent people (ie Cesar Milan) around to balance out the crass idiots. But the worst thing is, that kind of evil stuff is going on, so how does it get stopped? Hopefully people get educated......(yeah, maybe)
It is lack of respect to mess with any animal's food. You give the food straight. No games, no teasing, no dramas. It's basic trust thing on a serious level. I'D BITE any brain-dead moron who tried to mess with my dinner when I was about to start eating it!
I remember one episode of Animal Cops where I cried so hard I couldn't see straight.
They had a dog who had an embedded chain. A TIRE chain, around his neck. He'd been outside tied to a dog house on a 3 ft chain his entire life (he was probably a year or so old). In Michigan. They found him barely alive, with this chain embedded in his neck, most of his hair gone from mange, skin and bones....it was awful.
They got him, did surgery to remove the chain, nursed him back to health with the neck injuries and mange...they had him for a long time. He seemed to be the sweetest dog. They played with him, and taught him tricks.
The day came for the food aggression test. Out came the poking plastic arm and hand. The dog bit it wildly. They euthanized him the next day.
I'm telling you, I cried until I couldn't cry any more. I would have taken that dog. So he wouldn't have been a good choice for a home with children. There are plenty of adults who would have given that dog a good home, and who would have understood his background and respected his need for his food to not be messed with.
I understand they can't take the liability of releasing a dog who is aggressive in any way, but still. What a sweet dog that was. And to see Cesar work with those dogs and understand why they are protecting their food, and how to deal effectively with it...just makes me sad.
They had a dog who had an embedded chain. A TIRE chain, around his neck. He'd been outside tied to a dog house on a 3 ft chain his entire life (he was probably a year or so old). In Michigan. They found him barely alive, with this chain embedded in his neck, most of his hair gone from mange, skin and bones....it was awful.
They got him, did surgery to remove the chain, nursed him back to health with the neck injuries and mange...they had him for a long time. He seemed to be the sweetest dog. They played with him, and taught him tricks.
The day came for the food aggression test. Out came the poking plastic arm and hand. The dog bit it wildly. They euthanized him the next day.
I'm telling you, I cried until I couldn't cry any more. I would have taken that dog. So he wouldn't have been a good choice for a home with children. There are plenty of adults who would have given that dog a good home, and who would have understood his background and respected his need for his food to not be messed with.
I understand they can't take the liability of releasing a dog who is aggressive in any way, but still. What a sweet dog that was. And to see Cesar work with those dogs and understand why they are protecting their food, and how to deal effectively with it...just makes me sad.
I totally agree with you all. I also love watching Cesar Millan. And so do my dogs. LOL
Anyhow with our dogs we can pretend to eat their food, put our hand in it or pick it up at any time while they eat. Making aggressive movements "like they do" is just triggering the dog to become aggressive. Even the most loving dog would get upset including my own.
Ya it is very upsetting. I used to watch it; but, then I stopped because it seemed like they were the ones that seemed abusive the way the handle them and the whole 9 yards. Which is really a shame because I don't think alot of them are really like that. I think it's more for show. Or at least I hope so.
They could take a lot of lessons from Cesar Millan.
Anyhow with our dogs we can pretend to eat their food, put our hand in it or pick it up at any time while they eat. Making aggressive movements "like they do" is just triggering the dog to become aggressive. Even the most loving dog would get upset including my own.
Ya it is very upsetting. I used to watch it; but, then I stopped because it seemed like they were the ones that seemed abusive the way the handle them and the whole 9 yards. Which is really a shame because I don't think alot of them are really like that. I think it's more for show. Or at least I hope so.
They could take a lot of lessons from Cesar Millan.
When I see how easily Cesar Millan deals with food aggression, I just want to cry about all those dogs that are euthanized for the same reason.
And yes...that tentative, fearful poking with the fake hand...I'd bite it!
Here's what we do: we feed all our dogs in their respective crates. No fighting. We don't eff with their food, and they don't bite us. Thats our deal.
They've been raised that way from puppies.
And yes...that tentative, fearful poking with the fake hand...I'd bite it!
Here's what we do: we feed all our dogs in their respective crates. No fighting. We don't eff with their food, and they don't bite us. Thats our deal.
They've been raised that way from puppies.
Yep, I've noticed the seeming cat bias and wonder if it isn't the producer's decision to pump up the dog angle? Let's face it, dogs and dog related shows are popular right now, so I can maybe shift some of the bias blame onto the TV folks rather than the rescue staff. Maybe.
As long as we're on the subject, another one that just burns my biscuits is that a dog who comes in with a bad case of mange always gets put down. They don't even try. "He will never have a normal life, so send him off to the needle." I know what a complete load of bollox that attitude is having raised a starved, chronic mange puppy. Yeah, it took 4 years to entirely eradicate the problem, but he was adoptable within 6 months with the provision of mitaban dips only when symptoms returned. Not that we would ever have given up Travis! He was the best! We weren't even sure he'd ever have any hair there was so much follicle damage and infection.
I guarantee you the rescue groups don't want to take the time and money necessary to treat a severe case of mange. Again, I can kind of understand that maybe they can save 10 dogs for the money they might spend on one mange dog. I only wish they would make it clear to the audience that having mange is not a death sentence. If they're going to euthanize for financial reasons, they darn well need to step up and say it.
As long as we're on the subject, another one that just burns my biscuits is that a dog who comes in with a bad case of mange always gets put down. They don't even try. "He will never have a normal life, so send him off to the needle." I know what a complete load of bollox that attitude is having raised a starved, chronic mange puppy. Yeah, it took 4 years to entirely eradicate the problem, but he was adoptable within 6 months with the provision of mitaban dips only when symptoms returned. Not that we would ever have given up Travis! He was the best! We weren't even sure he'd ever have any hair there was so much follicle damage and infection.
I guarantee you the rescue groups don't want to take the time and money necessary to treat a severe case of mange. Again, I can kind of understand that maybe they can save 10 dogs for the money they might spend on one mange dog. I only wish they would make it clear to the audience that having mange is not a death sentence. If they're going to euthanize for financial reasons, they darn well need to step up and say it.
COMMUNITY LEADER
I would rather have to cope with any dog's teeth than the terrifying lack of intelligence displayed by certain members of the Human Race
Oh, man, I COMPLETELY agree with you! The New York Animal Cops are good about it, Victoria Wells is extremely willing to give dogs with possible food aggression issues any re-training she can in order to make them adoptable. Even the Miami group has no problem working with an aggressive dog, as witnessed when a rottweiler bit one of their officers not once, but twice, one time AFTER a couple of weeks of rehab.
It's the Michigan group that ticks me off so badly when it comes to putting dogs down. They will put WEEKS and WEEKS of work into dogs, fattening them up, socializing them, etc., and then they do exactly what you said, they poke at the dog and move the hand up to the dish v e r y s l o w l y and thene WHAM! the dog reacts and here come the crocodile tears because they're going to have to put the dog down because it's "food aggressive". ANY dog will react if you move your hand toward them slowly. My own dog won't bite, but if you creepy crawl your hand toward her she'll get all goofy and start to play bow and then she'll run around in a circle, and if she has a toy with her, she'll grab the toy and run with it like "you're not getting THIS!" It psyches them out when you move that slowly toward them, and ESPECIALLY when it's a dog that has some type of post traumatic stress disorder, as so many abused animals have. If it were me, I would just make sure the dog didn't go to a home with children. That's all they have to do. Specify that the dog go to an adults-only home.
As long as we're ranting, ANOTHER thing that bothers me about those Animal Cops shows is that they will go to the ends of the earth for the dogs, but it's always "sadly, all of the cats that were seized from the home were too wild (or had too many problems, or whatever other excuse they are using that episode) and they were all humanely euthanized." Huh? Are cats not worthy of rehabilitation? These are supposed to be animal people. As such, they should realize that cats FREAK OUT when people they don't know try to capture them! Our old owner here used to insist on having the place exterminated once a month. Thankfully we don't have to deal with that any more, however it was a three ring circus here trying to round up and crate the cats so that we could move them to another apartment! You would think they had never seen people before! All they have to see is one cat be picked up and put in a carrier and they all hide because they don't want to be next, and if you insist, they WILL run from you. That doesn't mean they're feral, it means they're cats! They don't react the same way to things that dogs do, but by all means, let the "experts" deem them to be "feral" and put them all down.
I have seen the Detroit Animal Cops take a dog that was almost clinically dead and fight to bring it back to life and find it a home. But let a cat run from them and "it's feral. put it down." Or "it had respiratory issues." ?????? Do antibiotics not work on cat respsiratory infections? Let me stop now before I turn into a raving lunatic here! LOL
Ghilly
It's the Michigan group that ticks me off so badly when it comes to putting dogs down. They will put WEEKS and WEEKS of work into dogs, fattening them up, socializing them, etc., and then they do exactly what you said, they poke at the dog and move the hand up to the dish v e r y s l o w l y and thene WHAM! the dog reacts and here come the crocodile tears because they're going to have to put the dog down because it's "food aggressive". ANY dog will react if you move your hand toward them slowly. My own dog won't bite, but if you creepy crawl your hand toward her she'll get all goofy and start to play bow and then she'll run around in a circle, and if she has a toy with her, she'll grab the toy and run with it like "you're not getting THIS!" It psyches them out when you move that slowly toward them, and ESPECIALLY when it's a dog that has some type of post traumatic stress disorder, as so many abused animals have. If it were me, I would just make sure the dog didn't go to a home with children. That's all they have to do. Specify that the dog go to an adults-only home.
As long as we're ranting, ANOTHER thing that bothers me about those Animal Cops shows is that they will go to the ends of the earth for the dogs, but it's always "sadly, all of the cats that were seized from the home were too wild (or had too many problems, or whatever other excuse they are using that episode) and they were all humanely euthanized." Huh? Are cats not worthy of rehabilitation? These are supposed to be animal people. As such, they should realize that cats FREAK OUT when people they don't know try to capture them! Our old owner here used to insist on having the place exterminated once a month. Thankfully we don't have to deal with that any more, however it was a three ring circus here trying to round up and crate the cats so that we could move them to another apartment! You would think they had never seen people before! All they have to see is one cat be picked up and put in a carrier and they all hide because they don't want to be next, and if you insist, they WILL run from you. That doesn't mean they're feral, it means they're cats! They don't react the same way to things that dogs do, but by all means, let the "experts" deem them to be "feral" and put them all down.
I have seen the Detroit Animal Cops take a dog that was almost clinically dead and fight to bring it back to life and find it a home. But let a cat run from them and "it's feral. put it down." Or "it had respiratory issues." ?????? Do antibiotics not work on cat respsiratory infections? Let me stop now before I turn into a raving lunatic here! LOL
Ghilly
I agree with you 100%. I've also seen them prance a plastic doll around a dog to see if they'd be ok with kids. Do they think dogs are that stupid? That the dog can't smell the difference between a real baby and one that smells like most of their chew toys?
Do they really do such asinine things or is it just an act for the show?
Do they really do such asinine things or is it just an act for the show?
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