Working Dogs

There is a popular blog that I read which had an incident with working dogs that caused a lot of responses, some not all what the author of the blog liked hearing. She wrote a follow up post regarding her working dogs that had me concerned.  In it she defended their actions (or excused them) based on their breed.  As if what they had done was okay because they were only doing or behaving the way they were bred to do.  I agree with her to an extent.

All dogs are bred for one thing or another, most dogs however no longer are used for those purposes and are used as family pets only.  However, there are some dogs that are still utilized exactly for what they were bred for and they are referred to as working dogs.  Some of these dogs are used specifically and only for working purposes and some are both working dogs but also treated like pets.  It is this latter group that the line between working and pet can often get blurred.  But no matter whether it is solely as a working dog or as a pet, that dog needs to be trained.  To leave a dog to it's natural instincts is a dangerous thought.  Actually, in my opinion, anyone who thinks it is okay to leave a dog out in the field "working" without ever having any formal training, should not be allowed to own those dogs.

Consequently, it is these same people who are too frightened to get between their dog and whatever item/person/animal it thinks it is rightfully guarding off or attacking.  Again, if you are too frightened of your dog when it goes into attack mode, you should not be allowed to own that dog.  Obviously, that breed of dog has too much power for you to control.  Control is the key word here.  You must be able to control your dog.  Whether it be a working dog or not.  It may be a inconsequential victim this time, but next time it could be a lot worse and you could be facing charges if not something a lot worse.  Your dog is your responsibility!  If you cannot control your dog then you should not be allowed to own it.  That requires repeating because so many people don't get that!  Yes, I know, shocking!

All dogs should know the commands stay, come, lie down, and leave it.  There are a ton of more commands out there but these are the ones that all my dogs must learn and obey. These commands are the ones that are going to keep her safe as well as any of her unsuspecting victims.  If they do not know these commands, then I can guarantee you are going to have a problem.

All dogs would love nothing more than to be left doing what instincts tell them to do, but we all know that is not in the dogs best interest.  In the case of a LGD that urge to leave them to their own instincts is even greater because their instinct is to do exactly what you want them to do.  Guard your flock.  However, these breeds don't know a coyote from your neighbour's cute little Pomeranian.  If it walks or moves and is too close to the flock in their opinion, that cute little Pomeranian is going down.  Which you can pretty much guarantee is followed by a lawsuit.  Which is really nothing compared to the horror you will feel knowing your dog has killed your neighbour's beloved pet.

Of course in the case of LGD you are not around the majority of the time to help your dog identify the correct intruder so there will be mistaken identities no doubt about it, but if you do encounter your LGD and your neighbour's cute little Pomeranian locked in a death bite, you should be able to call off your dog with a simple command or two. Dog's enter into what I refer to as the "red zone".  That is when attack mode moves into kill mode.  When that occurs it is next to impossible to pull your dog off it's victim.  Even more reason to work with your dog, teach her those vital commands, and have complete control over your dog.  Only then can you really love and appreciate your dog to it's fullest.