PittieGirl wrote:Hmmm.....is it true that this breed doesn't show any warning signs before an "attack"?
I always thought it was because the use of choke and prong collars. Anytime the dog showed aggression, it was corrected, therefore, the dog learned not to show warning signs, such as barking, growling, etc. This trainer talks about it, give me your opinion on it?
I can't watch the video right now, but no, it is
not true that a dog that shows no warnings has
necessarily been "corrected out of doing so." It
might be true, but that is not always the case.
Did you watch the video in the first post in this thread? Riggs gives no vocal warning before going after Inara, and most of his body language looks like "play" to the causal observer. Riggs had already drawn blood on her that weekend, after two (attempted) introductions - one correct, one not-so-correct, but she was the first female that he's reacted to like that.
A lot depends on the dog and the
source of the aggression. Confident dogs, like Riggs, don't
want to warn the other dog away. My old dog Cleo had all fear based aggression, but it still resulted in her injuring a few different dogs (and people unfortunately.) She learned not to warn, not because she was getting a correction but because a warning made me move her away. The last time she attacked a dog, she approached and acted like a "normal dog" and when the other dog passed her shoulder to sniff butts, she whipped around and grabbed it by the back of the skull.
Remember, the whole screaming/ growling/ barking/ carrying on is a
warning - it means "go away or I'll back this up." Like the guy in a bar who says "don't make me come over there." Lots of dogs don't want to warn the other dog away, because if it goes away how can they go after it?
I wish I could find my old "guy at the bar" post, I think it was on PBF about 8 years ago... it was funny but it made sense too (if I do say so myself
)