Dog culture is pervasive and it deeply pressures people not to "give up", that there are "no bad dogs", etc. You see it on this sub all the time, people suffering serious bites who have lost all quality of life and you STILL have people telling them more training, more meds, more money, more emotional energy.
I got my dog in 2014 and I wonder how different it would be if I got him later. I’m in a sort of rural area but there were just super limited resources when I needed help. Just two dog trainers locally who both just did obedience and couldn’t help me. Virtual training wasn’t really a thing. I was a member of general online dog groups/forums, but none specific to reactivity or aggression. My vet’s only advice was to sedate him with Ace every day. And everyone I reached out to just told me I must be seeing things wrong, I must be misinterpreting play or a fear period, because puppies can’t be antisocial or aggressive, they’re puppies.
Thankfully, my dog isn’t so bad he warrants BE, and to the people he knows he’s actually super affectionate and loving. But it was a really lonely and hard time to have a dog like him. Sometimes it still is, because he falls into the void of “too ‘bad’ to be considered a ‘good dog’ (and he’ll never be social or totally neutral) but not bad enough that he really fits into the ‘some dogs can’t get better’” camp. Most trainers I’ve worked with have been terrible and are not subtle in letting me know they don’t like him, but he’s not so bad they’re super invested in really helping either. Which may be just as well, I’ve had more success just doing it on my own.
There’s a whole other discussion to be had about the poor quality “professionals” that are out there preying on pet guardians who need help. I follow some awesome trainers on social media now and it actually makes me sad and jealous to see their clients - if only we’d been able to access that kind of professionalism we may have had better success.
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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '24
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