What do you all reckon to them?

Mine need no classes on growling, yelping, barking, yodelling, "singing" OR jumping out of gardens :D

Margot

HA HA :p lol

:P Do you know who is running them?

It was Ian Dunbar who started them, but they are not easy to manage and he has said he would do things differently now..

Lindsay
x

what is a growl class ? sorry if im being dense ;)

The video is still on sale though, Lindsay.

Sorry, ClaireyS I can't answer your question because I'm not sure what the aim is myself - I know it's about the rehabilitation of dog aggressive dogs.

Hi Lillith,

Yes, the video is in many respects really good and i suspect that's why they are still on sale... if i remember they're the aggression semiinar ones and have lots of info in :)

I would tend to avoid growl classes but plump more for good rehab sessions such as are provided by a few trainers....

Lindsay
x

The only thing that would worry me is that if a dog is agressive through fear (which imo most are,) they are going to learn that other dogs may behave aggressively towards them. On the other hand if they were to be carefully integreated with non-agressive dogs they would learn that the other dogs are friendly and not a threat. My own dog used to have problems with other dogs, and got much worse when she was in a class with a similar dog, however after changing classes and being with friendly dogs she is so much better.

I did attempt this in a controlled enviroment and it didnt do us any harm but thats our side of things.
In my personal situ fear agression was all down to the the lead, let her off the lead and the aggression went away to a degree.
It was an exceptional relief to know my girl shied away from confrontation when off the lead, of course you got the one that didnt but it was worth a try in my case and i dont have anything negative to say about it.
It gave me confidence that i knew exactly what the problem was and could work on that rather than settle with 3am walks.

Zoe, I agree with lucyandmeg's question about the value of putting a fearful dog in a class with other fearful dogs.

I also agree with Lindsay about the better route being rehab with the few trainers that do it - the trouble is finding those trainers.  And making sure they aren't intending to bring out a so-called 'police dog' to teach yours a lesson, making your dog too frightened to do anything and then claiming it as a success when your dog is sitting beside you panting with fear, giving you that "please get me out of here" look.

At the very least, I would want to know very clearly what was going to happen in the class, so I could choose whether or not to put my dog in that situation.

Growl classes are a bit out of date now - lining up a gang of aggressive dogs (for whatever reason) and marching them past one another is not the 'done' thing anymore.
IMO the only method for rehabilitation of any form of aggressive behaviour is the use of teaching dogs which unlike Lilliths beleif do actually guide aggressive dogs to the right type of doggy behaviour - not just bully them.  Teaching dogs are carefully selected and trained, they are there to help dogs remember their communication skills not just frighten them.  Rehabilitation is a delicate exercise and caution should be used as lillith suggests but it is the only real cure for aggression.

>And making sure they aren't intending to bring out a so-called 'police dog' to teach yours a lesson, making your dog too frightened to do anything and then claiming it as a success when your dog is sitting beside you panting with fear, giving you that "please get me out of here" look<

If you read it carefully, you will realise that I am not against the use of trained dogs in the rehabilitation of dog-aggressive dogs.  I am warning about how some people use them!  I also don't think that it helps a dog to feel better about other dogs by having choke chains thrown at it, which is what I know some people do.

My apologies Lillith - I read it as though you thought all teaching dogs were nothing but thugs!
I also do not agree with the use of choke chains in the rehabilitation of aggressive dogs under most circumstances - I have although used this method with a very persistent very aggressive dog to interupt their onslaught on my teaching dog.  Yes you have guessed it I run rehabilitation groups!!

Would anyone be able to tell me where this video can be obtained from please?

What part of the country do you run your rehab groups?

We are based in Essex.

Are there any such classes in Liverpool or nearby?

Hi Gaby,

If you e.mail direct with some more information I should be able to out you in touch with someone closer to home.

mail@k9clinic.co.uk