There isn't another dog breed out there I think that is truly, truly Halloween worthy- as the French Bulldog. First of all- there's the bat ear/ bat dog thing- I could rest my case right there. But there's also the willingness to put on the scary costumes and the tortured looks that follow when photographed and displayed all over the internet.Halloween- a festival of fear and lost souls is such a great metaphor for a problem that affects many owners, some to the point where it ends up with their dog being surrendered - behavioral issues. Most dog behavioral issues are fear based. Isn't that ironic? The behavior that they use, growling, lunging, barking and biting, that frightens us and sometimes even harms us in fact arises out of the perpetrators own fears. Fear that you make take something away that is valuable to them, fear that a human's approach or hand might hurt them because they are not feeling well and fear of unknown things imperceptible to us humans- scents available only to their heightened sense of smell that are invisible to us.
Another metaphor with Halloween is that - all these behaviors are dress up. The less trained and socialized a dog is- the more scary the costumes it puts on as it struggles to manage in the only way it knows how in a world that they feel is out of their control. Science based methods of dog training help us understand more precisely the components of these triggers, how it manifests as wardrobe layers and how to put into place a training plan to help the dog reduce its compulsion to don these costumes that they feel is necessary to protect themselves and the protocols that help shed them.
This is fundamentally different from the archaic training methods, that in another halloween metaphor, refuse to die. Out of date trainers don't percieve these behaviors as costumes but inherent personality traits. Dogs are in fact according to them- too big for their britches, don't know their place and need to know who's boss - or else- they will become scary monsters. So owners and dogs end up in confrontation with each other in a battle of wits , sometimes physical- where dogs need to yelled at, yanked, choked, spritzed, and even shocked into knowing who's the boss or pack leader. Are there truly evil Freddy Kruger dogs out there- I'm sure there are- but the vast majority of them are just scared, misunderstood, poorly trained, under stimulated dogs all dressed up.
Despite, the ever increasing warnings from veterinarians, ethologists, behaviorists and training professionals like the AVSAB and the APDT about the inappropriate use of punishment and aversive, intimidatory training and the increasing repulsion of the international community for aversive tools like prong and shock collars- there are many who still believe that the dog, descended from a wolf needs to be tamed with these devices and superstitious practises like eating before your dog that are plain out of date. The persistent message from the naysayers is- there is no right way or wrong way to train a dog- sometimes a dog can only be trained or helped with intimidation, force or punishment- treats would never work. Look at these two videos where one uses force and intimidation and the other respect and reward. Did you notice any lack of ability or speed of the positive trainer to get a result? Let's try that again, brains or brawn? How would you like to be trained?
MetroChien is donating all profits from the Halloween section of our store towards a Scary Dog Fund. We may buy some training books to share with owners in need, send kongs to a rescue group, directly fund professional training time for an individual dog or simply contribute to an organization's efforts to inform and educate owners of better training methods. Please join us in our efforts this Halloween season in contributing to the paradigm shift that is required to helps guide these 'lost souls' towards the light of reason and humane dog training and away from the dark ages of myth, punishment, and intimidation. You can be more proactive too- there is sufficient information now from real experts- that discourage these methods. Print them out and hand them out at the dog run. Take their email addresses and send them links to the great training websites that are becoming increasingly available - listed here and here. Hold accountable the pet charities that you are donating money to, to ensure that they are upholding what veterinarians, ethologists, behaviorists and training professionals are telling us to do and not do when it comes to information on their sites and how they treat animals in their care.
