September 12, 2019 | Short Topic Article | 11 minute read

Is Treat Training A Dangerous Dog Counter-Intuitive?

Consider LIMA/Skinner predicating treat training dysfunctional dogs as uncogent. Okay? Bear with me…we give the reactive dog treats expecting (eventual) compliance. The fact is nowhere in the entire canine species is food used as a communication device much less as a reward fiat. It’s an artificial device.

Yet that’s the litmus test on whether an aggressive dog lives or dies.

Anthropomorphizing human conjecture becomes the false positive.

Let me clearly state I fully support the use of treats when training compliance for obedience, agility, show, search and rescue, etc…

Do you know when treats were first theorized? 122 years ago when Ivan Pavlov published his theory in 1897. At a time when people owned slaves. When women couldn’t vote. We don’t seem to have progressed much further since. The industry remains steadfastly dedicated to this theory. Treat training dysfunctional dogs has not made a dent in reducing the 6 million dogs killed annually in North American shelters and owner-directed killings. Most common reason given for surrendering their dog? Unwanted behavior.

To succeed in recognizing dogs as sentient, our evaluative language must evolve. We can’t pursue legal process to afford dogs with limited legal rights when we tacitly anchor to counter-intuitive methods and theories that have a success rate of 0% when applied to dogs that attack repeatedly and with dogs that have predatorial intent to stalk, trap and kill humans.

We can’t profess to love our dogs yet when our dog is ‘too much to handle’, we emotionally disassociate. Under the common belief our dog “can’t be fixed”. But…this is not the owner’s fault. This is the fault and moral responsibility of our industry…dog trainers…animal scientists…every dog profession in between. We need to do better. And we can.

Isn’t Aggression A Dysfunction?

Fear? Reactive? Skittish? Unpredictable? Dangerous? These are all dysfunctions rooted in psychosis. Whimsically, change the label from ‘dog’ to ‘human’ and you have perspective. Change the label of ‘dogs killed’ for behavior to ‘humans killed’ and you have scale. You have reason to abolish the death penalty for dysfunctional dogs. Then we have reason to modernize dog training. Then we have reason to explore something other than the definition of insanity.

Next time you’re having a heated argument with someone, try giving them a treat.

You’ll be met with greater irritation from that person, if not enraging them with such disingenuity. We default and expect compliance from the reactive dog when they don’t ‘behave’ with treats. We would frown greatly upon a parent with a child having a temper tantrum in a toy store. Yet the industry encourages us to reward the behavior of our dogs when they have the canine equivalent of a ‘temper tantrum’.

VIDEO: Without Treats, Doing The Impossible With A Paralyzed Reactive Bulldog?

Gordon had lived 10 months on the floor of a no kill shelter in Mexico. Never petted much less picked up by any human. They had to use towels to move him to prevent being attacked. This is one 2 hour session which received over 37,000 views on Facebook in one month. This is psychogenetic destructuring of Gordon’s root dysfunctions applied at the speed of the dog’s processing. In 70 minutes the impossible became real.

How can science search for the reason humans and dogs can cohabitat if we don’t apply similar psychological rules bridged across our two species? This cohabitation is answered as emotional isomorphism. We love the overt codependency of dogs because we humans are covertly codependent. We are ying-and-yang with our dogs. Yet, academia separates this evolutionary codependency from our apex perspective and instead evaluates with dissonance.

We’re taught to see dogs as disposable. If our dog becomes dangerous and will not take treats or become manageable with medication…we’re told our dog is ‘not fixable’ and left with the strong suggestion to kill our dog.

We must apply our logic. It’s agreed dogs are similar in cognitive and emotional process as a human child. If the child is on the floor of the toy store screaming, crying and knocking things off the shelves…we don’t reward the child with a toy.

SCREENSHOT: From My Reactive Dog Support Group on Facebook

JOIN: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DowntrainingReactiveDogs/

Being that I’m uniquely gifted, I focus my research & work on dogs far exceeding ‘bite level 6′ (causing death). I evaluate the dangerous predatorial dog at their psychogenetic root. I am always alone with the dog. The reason I don’t use treats, medications, alpha nor restrictive collars is the same reason as would a body language expert…they read people in their naturally manifesting behaviors, paying attention to their subjects’ non-verbal cues. This is the same that I do with dogs. I very quickly evaluate the dog’s nuanced behaviors which the dog manifests behaviors consequential to their psychological dysfunctions. Without artificial devices I read the dog’s behaviors without distraction.

There is a lot of opinions and diagnosis of highly dysfunctional dogs as being that by training them in their heightened state, the dog is being ‘flooded’ or ‘trigger stacked’. This is wholesale incorrect. As my friend and colleague in the U.K., Steven Elliot observed…dysfunctional dogs are already in extremely heightened states of reactivity.

If you’ve spent time at a shelter, you’ll see the significant amount of reactivity a dangerous dog exhibits. For as long as you stand near their kennel door, the dog will be viciously barking and lunging. An hour passes and the dog will be as reactive as they were from the beginning. This is why trigger stacking and flooding are anthropomorphic descriptors…it’s what has been incorrectly identified and carried as ‘fact’.

By allowing the dog I’m working with to naturally behave without the distraction of treats, I’m observing unadulterated behavior that is not contrived nor artificially induced. The dog is not normally muzzled and is free range in my home. I’m obligated, to then study the predatorial dog for traits and behaviors manifesting from their raw dysfunction(s). Being vigilant is important to detail their speed of processing (which, as I commented in the screenshot, is twice as fast as Bruce Lee). This is not an easy or safe task for anyone without extensive, specialized experience such as I have. The reality of dying from being attacked is constantly reinforced so please do not attempt to do so yourselves.

VIDEO: Without Treats, Extremely Skittish, Biting Dog From South Korea

Mingki the Jindo was born into a disgusting metal cage on a meat dog farm. He was rescued at 1.5 years of age. Koreans typical wait until the dog is 2 years old to kill as they believe this is when the dog’s body is ‘ripe’ to eat. To kill a dog like Mingki, the dog butcher will significantly torture and prolong the demise of the dog in the low-educated belief this will improve the flavor of the dog’s body. Mingki was extremely skittish, ‘unpredictable’, biting several people without warning or reason. I am the first and only trainer this Los Angeles rescue org, Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, has ever outsourced any of the over 20,000 dogs they’ve rescued
(4 videos autoplay)

Predatorial dogs are logically driven with defensive default. This level of dysfunctional dog is able to both suppress & harness their emotional context. Not oxymoronic…this is how a predacious animal utilizes their intrinsic behaviors when stalking prey.

On the opposite end of the dysfunction spectrum are extremely skittish dogs. Dogs that have been caged in meat dog farms, such as Mingki the Jindo do not take treats for a number of reasons…one is they are, sadly, used to being starved while living in horrifically miserable conditions which makes food both ineffective and secondly, a masking of the dog’s psychological dysfunctions. Mingki is a dog that his rescue reached out to various master dog trainers and behaviorists who were stumped as to this dog’s psychological issues when treat motivation and positive reinforcement failed to progress him.

The most important factor to effectively understand how to progress any dysfunctional dog is knowing what the root of their psychosis is. Similar to trying to help a friend overcome trauma is the key of understanding what the core issue is. As humans, we can’t overcome our fears without knowing the why.

I have the extremely unique experiences of being alone for weeks at a time with Great Danes that are predatorial. Similarly, I have worked with rescue dogs from very distressing backgrounds, bait and fighting dogs, meat dogs…I have worked with all breeds regardless of size or severity of danger and with every dog, I have downtrained them all without treats. Every one of these dogs are always severe-to-extremely dog reactive due to their isolated social histories. Most are extremely prejudiced towards men, for obvious reason.

The predator dog doesn’t bark, they don’t lunge, they seldom exhibit overt or even moderate telltale behaviors

Yet when they are triggered, their reactions are executed with intent to critically injure. These dangerous dogs will never take treats when elevated. This is the category of dogs referenced as ‘unpredictable and dangerous’. The giant dogs are most frightening as they have attempted to stalk, trap and kill their humans. This level of dysfunction is properly addressed starting at the dog’s base psychogenesis then through extrapolation of their highly nuanced behaviors.

The reality of a trainer being trapped and killed is the primary reason predatorial dogs are considered ‘hopeless’ and thus killed. The knowledge under LIMA/Pavlov/Skinner (operant) that treats do not work with true dangerous dogs is what retards modernizing dog training and psychology. Without earnest interaction, the extreme cases are effectively swept under the rug.

I’ve learned that downtrained, the predatorial dog continues strong reasoning skills due to their historical comparatives. Intelligence predicates logic. The dog now ‘has time to think’ within context of their (former) behavior. This is brilliance of an animal species that can be taught to self-regulate in a codependent, cross species environment. In other words, dogs adapt due to their predacious nature which reflects their intelligence and sentience.

PHOTO BELOW: North America’s Most Dangerous Great Dane (New York, 2016/17)

I have the uniquely unenviable reputation of being the only person in the world to successfully downtrain giant dogs with predatorial intent to stalk, trap and kill people. Alone and with only a regular cinch style fabric collar and leash. Tonka the Great Dane standing over 6′ 4″ on hind legs, weighing 180+ lbs, bigger, heavier and taller than an adult wolf. In an aggregate of 5 months of his first 19 months of life, Tonka had been through 7 homes with 6 of those owners all admitting to severely beating and abusing him. In one home, Tonka was being ‘taught’ not to resource guard with a shock collar that was used until he was drooling and quivering in fear laughed that owner returning him. Another owner was seen on security video dragging a then 8 month old Tonka back into the shelter to return him, heavily pounding him in the head causing 20% blindness, 10% hearing loss and slight brain damage.

While in New York, Tonka had attacked a total of 16 people. Most often was in response to being beaten, caged, starved. The abuses Tonka suffered brought tears to many that helped rescue him. Tonka once grabbed a shelter worker, that accidentally opened his door, dragging her into his kennel, causing wounds requiring 42 stitches. Every known professional they called turned them down. One of the most well known behaviorists in the world, living in Vancouver, declined out of fear. The affluent Southampton Animal Shelter in New York, where he was sheltered, called master dog trainers and other internationally renowned behaviorists for 4 months throughout North America. They all declined citing Tonka would kill them or someone in their facility. The Court of New York received over 100 letters asking the Court to recognize the victimization of Tonka from human cruelty…they asked the Court to send Tonka into my care. The judge agreed and issued (the dog’s 3rd) kill order in the event Tonka was to return to the state of New York.

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-based-dog-whisperer-to-rehab-great-dane-rescued-by-911-first-responder

When I met his handler, a former NYPD police officer and army veteran, Tonka exhibited extremely dangerous behavior due to his long flight from New York to Seattle. There was a video where he’d circle his handler in the airport cargo bay with predatorial intent. His handler was so extremely frightened in their hotel room that they physically blocked Tonka’s access in the event he attacked them during the night.

When I went into their hotel room, his handler accidentally let go of his leash, resulting in Tonka cornering, attacking and rag-dolling me before they could pull him off. Muzzled, Tonka attacked his handler trying to secure him in my truck, biting 2 fingers through his muzzle. He’d refuse his ‘favorite treats’, instead trying to attack his handler through his muzzle.

My in-house work with Tonka comprises some of my over 1400 days and almost 20,000 hours downtraining extremely dangerous dogs. I have focused my unique gift to read the logical and emotional context of dogs at a speed of 2/10ths of a second. It’s haunting the way a predatorial dog stares at me, standing perfectly still, poised to attack. The same look as a lion’s. These are extremely dangerous dogs weighing over 150 lbs that no one should ever work alone with unless they are extremely experienced. The risk of death is significant.

Treat training a dangerous, dysfunctional dog is passive aggressive Pavlov. It is akin to giving a drug addict more drugs…or the child with the temper tantrum the toy. Treats cognitively and emotionally retards the dog’s ability to mature.

Addictions stunt emotional growth in humans:
https://www.rehabs.com/blog/does-adolescent-addiction-really-stunt-emotional-maturity/

Instead, I study the hyper nuanced behaviors of Tonka and other predatorial dogs to downtrain and stabilize them psychologically. To teach each dog that I understand their psychological and emotional hurts. This was thought to be impossible by my peers. It’s not.

I can consistently stand on the proof of my work as they are theorems not conjecture, posits, opines or theories. My work is proven 100% successful across the board without fail. My kill rate is 0%. The scale of which is esoteric, verified and always progressed without treat training the dangerous dog.

There’s a cooler way to train dogs.

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We need to modernize dog training.
Not discount new progress.