Video of SD attacking girl in Africa

[Angie]

:caution:

This is video of a large dog attacking a child.  It is in reference to a news story we were discussing recently.  While the video is not overly graphic, it is disturbing.  After the initial bite, the rest of the attack occurs behind a table and out of view of the camera.

:caution:






I don't think its been posted yet, so sorry if it has...its the CCTV video of the "Service Dog" Rottie attacking the girl in Africa (Dog whisperer guy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b3Eg1KLjeU

[Kirsten]

I had difficulty making out a lot of what happened.  What was clear was the first time the girl left the screen, that dog was already focused on her and was direct staring.  The dog was already standing at the beginning of the clip, and the handler was oblivious to his dog.

The article, if I recall correctly, said he just stood by and did nothing.  I'm pretty sure I saw him drop to the ground in the direction the dog went. 

The girl did not make contact with the dog.  She did not step on him, she did not run toward him, but past him.  That was prey drive.  And the handler couldn't have seen what was going on because he was standing with his back to his dog, talking to someone.

[Roxie]

What a horrifying clip.

[blkpanther0001]

I replayed it several times, the girl was not running past the dog or towards the dog she was walking fast past the dog.

the handler did immediately drop on the dog behind the table.

[Lin]

That was horrible... The child was no where neat the dog, you can see him leap out towards her and bring her to the ground and towards the table..

[robbertbobbert]

I'm not surprised in the slightest, but the comments on the video (on the youtube page) are hideous.

"This is why certain dog owners should have muzzles on their animals."
"blame the parent but y was the dog in there is the guy blind"
"can't blame the parent, I love his show but he was not watching that dog and it was prob part of the dogs rehab"
"LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO, "
"when i first saw read this i thought it was Cesar Millan, Rottweilers are about to get heat now..sigh."

Um.... nothing about this is the parent or child's fault. Blame the ill-trained dog, but moreso blame the incompetent owner. Having a muzzle has nothing to do with it. The dog was not fit to be in public.
What REHAB!? REHAB!? I understand they think it's Cesar Millan, but it's REHAB to illegally take an aggressive rotweiller into a restaurant?

And... as far as I understand... rottweilers already do "get heat." They're on a lot of breed-ban lists for housing and stuff, at least as far as I've seen. I know it's not to the extent of pits, but still. People don't exactly treat them like they're Yorkies.

[Angie]

Here's the dog in question being played with, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pifrl1F4Oz8&feature=channel_video_title

SOrry, Kirsten I didn't do the caution thing correctly.  Its the first time I think I've done one. Thanks for modifying it for me

[Kirsten]

The dog is wearing an "illusion" collar (designed by Millan), which puts a slip collar high on a dog's neck.  In this position, the collar is more effective because it gives harsher corrections with less force from the handler.  How?  By pressing on more sensitive tissues, such as the dog's larynx.  He's also wearing a spiked leather collar, and at one point I think I saw a prong collar too.  Why does a highly trained dog that works well off-lead need all that high power training gear?

Cole's working collar is a plain leather buckle collar.  Its function is to provide a place to attach his tags and the end of his leash.  Control comes from his training, not from a special training collar.

I will put multiple collars on a dog when I am weaning off one to another or as a safety backup (such as a slip in conjunction with a prong).  But there should be no need with a trained dog who can work off lead (and is regularly worked off lead).

[Angie]

I got a "martingale chain collar" with my dog. Its a purple collar with a buckle that has a partial chain in the front. What is this type of collar all about? I don't remember them explaining about the chain martingale, maybe they did but I don't remember.

I agree with you about the other stuff I wonder what he is going to do with the dog, hopefully not take it out in public again. I can't find much about it from him.

[Stephanimal]

bobbert,

In the article it stated that the handler/owner rehabbed the dog for service work and that he is a Ceasar Millan of Africa. I think that is where some of the comments have come from. I think that was mentioned in the original news article posted to SDC.

I wouldn't even say the little girl was walking fast--normal pace for a 4 year old. I feel bad for her and her family. That dog should have never been there! It was not fit for SD work or public access for any reason. I hope they fine the heck out of this guy or some type of punishment!

[Kirsten]

There is nothing wrong with a martingale as a working collar.  It is classified as a type of limited slip collar.  When you attach your leash to the ring in the center of the chain, and pull on the leash, the collar will tighten, similar to a slip collar (sometimes called a choke collar).  The difference is the slip collar can close down to nothing, and the martingale or limited slip collar can only close so far before it turns into a regular buckle type collar.  When the collar is adjusted correctly, the two side rings touch when the collar is snug but not strangling the dog.  That is the tightest the collar can become when you pull on the leash

Why a martingale with a chain insertion?  The sound.  When the links of the chain run through the metal side rings, it makes a distinctive zhing sound.  During training with either a chain slip collar or a prong collar, that sound becomes conditioned as a correction.  The sound alone can correct a dog, even if the collar correction does not follow.  Dogs trained on a prong collar will often take a correction from just the sound of the collar being shaken, so if you need to tune something, you don't even have to put the collar on to do the tuning.

Martingales have an additional purpose, not related to training or corrections.  Because the collar becomes smaller when the leash is pulled, it is very difficult for a dog to back out of a martingale collar.  In that way, a martingale collar is safer than a plain buckle collar because the dog is less likely to get loose from it.

Your program may have issued that collar for either or both reasons.

Working collars include the buckle collar, the martingale, and the slip collar.  Prong collars, head halters, illusion collars and the like are training collars.  A training collar should be used temporarily, not as a way of life because there is no need for them on a trained dog.

[robbertbobbert]

bobbert,

In the article it stated that the handler/owner rehabbed the dog for service work and that he is a Ceasar Millan of Africa. I think that is where some of the comments have come from. I think that was mentioned in the original news article posted to SDC.

Ah thanks! That rehab sure did go well...
As far as I'm concerned, if I dog needs to be "rehabbed," service work is probably not the place for it.

[state_of_nowhere]

So, how *do* you get a dog off of a small child in an instance like that? I had been taught to try to find something else to force into the dog's mouth behind whatever it had a hold on (not sure if that makes sense, I may not be explaining it well). Rottweilers are pretty strong-jawed dogs. How did they get the girl free?

[Kirsten]

You're thinking of a break bar, which pretty much only works with bully breeds.  The problem is once you get the mouth open, most dogs will then turn on you.  Breaking a bully breed dog off of another dog is not so risky with a break bar because they are unlikely to redirect from dog to human.  Now if they were going after a human, I honestly don't know what you would do.

For the average dog, the safest way to break a hold is to lift the dog's hind end off the ground by the hind legs and pull while running backwards.  This knocks them off balance and without that balance it is difficult to maintain a grip.  It also puts you at the far end of the dog from the mouth, and gives you continuing control of the dog after the release so he doesn't just bite something else.

http://leerburg.com/dogfight.htm  This should work with most dog breeds, including a Rottie.  No method is 100% of course, but this is about the best there is.

:caution:
Skip the video, which is not related to the article on breaking up a fight.  Be aware there are some graphic images in the article of severe bite wounds on humans.

[Smithcat]

:caution:  mentions injury to / death of a dog




There is one method which IS 100% reliable...........a. 40 calibre lobotomy.
I have successfully used this method ONCE, only after other methods failed.