Naj wrote: Not sure what people are learning from it.
Sadly people are "learning" from it that Britain is awash with dangerous, vicious and aggressive dogs ... well it must be so the media tells us it is the case!
I don't watch television so did not see it but I am upset just reading the descriptions here - poor pay is no excuse. I have yet to meet an even slightly scary dog never mind a dangerous one ... and I am regularly found bent double fussing those notoriously dangerous Staffys that folk are so afeared of.
Agree with you Wullie - we have legislation to tackle poor dog ownership - but it is so rarely used it is next to useless.
Cathy
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton
Naj wrote:No, Pleassse. Not the dog-license debate again.
It was truly awful & badly managed. And no matter what they're paid it's no excuse for 'professional' cruelty - the Akita had effectively been strangulated. Unfortunately, that type of stuff makes for good ratings these days & passes for entertainment. Not sure what people are learning from it.
Naj glad you mentioned that, re the use of the "Dog Catcher", these so called professionals, hadn't got a clue about the use of restraint!
I have had to deal with many Dogs reported as Dangerous or aggressive, when actually they were merely confused. I would like to bet that if the Dog Warden had gone into that house, in a calm but positive way, the Akita would have come down eventually, without the strangling of it. Likewise the baffoon needing to change the 2 ridgeback X's into the other Kennel had only to open the kennel door back off and they would have easily been enticed into the clean kennel and eventually come to trust him.
It is worrying that people like this are not receiving the correct training. How many more around the Country are like it?
Hope our local dog wardens were more professional this week - just read a newspaper report of a Police sniffer dog doing a runner from an unsecured car cage (ooops) during a training exercise and being rounded up by the dog warden and taken to the shelter. Mind it was a Lab so probably got a treat and went along willingly
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton
Yeah watched this I have to say I was bouncing, I believe the two blondes (welfare officers) where just that!!
I would go as far to say the main one who's name I believe to be Kelly just didn't seem well,the "Full Shilling"!IMO
Naj wrote:No, Pleassse. Not the dog-license debate again.
It was truly awful & badly managed. And no matter what they're paid it's no excuse for 'professional' cruelty - the Akita had effectively been strangulated. Unfortunately, that type of stuff makes for good ratings these days & passes for entertainment. Not sure what people are learning from it.
Naj glad you mentioned that, re the use of the "Dog Catcher", these so called professionals, hadn't got a clue about the use of restraint!
I have had to deal with many Dogs reported as Dangerous or aggressive, when actually they were merely confused. I would like to bet that if the Dog Warden had gone into that house, in a calm but positive way, the Akita would have come down eventually, without the strangling of it. Likewise the baffoon needing to change the 2 ridgeback X's into the other Kennel had only to open the kennel door back off and they would have easily been enticed into the clean kennel and eventually come to trust him.
It is worrying that people like this are not receiving the correct training. How many more around the Country are like it?
You make an interesting point - how are these people trained? Presumably they are just laymen signing up for a job & with no particular expertise with dogs! Even the RSPCA use the 'dog catcher' to similar effect.
Right, geniuses, how would you have dealt with those situations?
The Akita- yep less shouting and squealing would have been a good thing. However, I don't think I would have brought a barking, house guarding, >50kg dog of unknown temperament and of a breed originally bred for fighting out of there on anything other than a pole. If it went down and had to be dragged - so be it. Better a dog chokes for 30 seconds than risk losing control in that narrow passageway and being put in hospital (again) or letting it slip the noose and escape down the street. The dog *might* have eventually come round after a couple of hours of being spoken to gently, but the wardens don't look like they have hours to spare. Plus, if it doesn't work, you still have to drag it out on a pole and you've wasted two hours.
The Ridgeback - how do you suggest he entice it out of the kennel? Loose? The space behind looked open and he was on his own. Again, she may have come round after half an hour or so. Or not. Looks to me like the warden's job is to get the dogs out of the houses, into the pound kennels, and thence to the shelter for assessment and rehab or euthanasia as quickly, and safely (for the general public and themselves) as possible. It's not their job to start retraining the dogs from the moment they roll up, and they have to assume that each dog could be the one that launches for their jugular.
Easy for us in the peanut gallery to sit back and criticise - we're not the ones out there doing the job day after day dealing with dozens of aggressive dogs from the nippy to the murderous, and being abused by the dregs of humanity.
I didn't watch the programme but would add that anybody employed in a profession should behave in a professional manner. I'm not suggesting for one moment that what was shown was all there was too show.
I strongly suspect that editing played a major part in order to sensationalise. Perhaps it would be interesting to see the same people tackle other breeds/temperaments.
trekmoor wrote:I saw it and got a bit annoyed at the way the woman with the noose dealt with the Akita....not sure I could have done any better though......apart from maybe keeping a bit calmer.
Think I'd shout too if a dog sunk it's teeth into my arm and then held on. I'd probably have poked it's eyes out to make it let go. If a dog bites me that seriously it can take all it gets in return.
It can't be too easy finding folk to do that job ?
I thought the man in the kennels was wrong to tackle the two crossbred bitches in the way that he did. I'd have asked the camera crew to leave , they added to the dogs natural fear.
How many of us would be prepared to do those peoples jobs for the small wage I would imagine they get ?
Wullie
I stick to my first post on this subject ..... maybe especially the bit that said "not sure I could have done any better though." I am not a dog behaviour expert and I don't suppose the people doing that job are either ..... if they were they'd be earning more money elsewhere without putting themselves at risk.
Wullie
If at first you don't succeed .....find out if there is a booby prize !
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Don't do what doesn't work - do what does.
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I saw most of the programme and amongst my other thoughts on it I wondered why some, if not all of the cases shown were not being dealt with by the RSPCA rather than a dog warden employed by the local council?
Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it.
Not the dog-license debate again. 
