Surely a rescue should not be advising this!?!

[TheCunnyFunt]

I've just idly been googling and found an Irish Wolfhound Rescue website. On their page 'Living with an IW', right at the bottom is a paragraph on punishment, this is what it says Never physically chastise your Wolfhound, he will lose confidence in you and never forgive you. A disapproving tone of voice is usually sufficient, but if he has been particularly bad, seize the loose skin each side of his neck, shake it vigorously and shout your displeasure at his behaviour.

WTF? Surely a rescue of all things should NOT be advising to do this!?!

The website

The rescue my greyhound is from advise spraying water from a squirted for unwanted behaviour and pinching the feet if they jump up so I can well believe this...

*sprayer/squirter

The rescue my greyhound came from advises the squirter too. One of the women also trains greys to sit by backing them into a corner

I just can't believe they would advise on that. It's frightening that people are being told to do this with such a massive dog that could really cause serious harm just by accident!

Goodness,seriously? That is so sad :(. Maybe a polite email suggesting they update their website is required..

Because it's cruel

Better to teach a dog what you want it to do using positive methods, rather than shock/scare/stress them into repressing a behaviour, for fear of being punished.

It wouldn't have been Victoria I don't think as it is aversive and not her method at all.

Oldbag I think it depends on what you think of as cruel. Some people think only physical harm is cruelty. Some of us either have a wider definition of cruelty or, whilst not going so far as to call it cruel, would still not condone it's use. My position on whether it is cruel depends on the dog and how aversive they find it, but I would never use it.

The fact is for most dogs it is not an interrupter. It's an aversive. Dog stops barking because otherwise something unpleasant will happen to them. A friend of mine does it and her dog now backs off if she even reaches to where the bottle used to be. She has conditioned her dog to be afraid of the spray. I just have an ethical problem with training that relies on that instead of addressing why the dog is barking or uses positive interruption.

Surely what they have just described is actually 'physically chastising' - the very thing they just said not to do!

Victoria used to use aversive training a lot but luckily has seen the light now and is a very different trainer.

Unfortunately a lot of rescues and old fashioned doggy people are still advising such training

Apart from the obvious reasons for using aversives (they only work because they hurt or are unpleasant) you are not teaching the dog what they should be doing.

It is much easier to teach the preferred behaviour than to punish the wrong. Find out why your dog is barking and then counter condition. You have a happy relaxed dog who is now taught a new correct behaviour. Simples

It just seems ridiculous anyway to actually make your dog be afraid of water.

We used the squirt of water method to stop our rescue dog behaving badly when meeting other dogs on his walks. It worked quickly, efficiently, didn't traumatise him and we were able to stop within days.

We used other positive methods, such as treats, for situations when his instincts didn't take over so completely.

I don't think it's cruel at all.

i heard chucking a bean bag near them which stops them

I am astounded that anyone would advise backing a grey into a corner to sit particularly a breed 'specialist' these poor dogs anatomy is not designed for sitting and is most unnatural hence why they look do awkward when they are doing it