24 thoughts on “Humane Handling of Fearful Dog in High Stress Environment

  1. I’ve also found that with feral or under-socialized dogs, you can use a covered crate. We did have one feral dog that had no leash training, so went into an alligator roll when putting on a leash. We just put a covered crate in a corner and when he felt overwhelmed, would immediately go in. We closed the door and loaded the crate.

    The biggest issue that I see with ACOs is their inability to use body language that is unthreatening. They are usually big, boisterous and approach head on with a big scary stick. In human terms, it is like a having a big guy approach us with a gun or knife – wouldn’t you fight back too?

    1. And, as we’ve seen in many grabs from MAS, once they get them in the noose on the chokepole, they don’t even use it humanely. It’s abuse in my opinion.

      1. I should also mention that the dog I spoke of is now happy and healthy and in a home. He is still shy with strangers, but is sweet & loving with his family.

  2. Many puppy mill and hoarders dogs will act like feral dogs. Animal control people should be trained to deal if fearful dogs in a kind manner.

  3. Steve needs to train the MAS staff into how they need to change their ways. I love Youbiscuits coverage of MAS by the way.
    Its all in the way the person is towards the dog, it was done quietly and the dog was not stressed. Great to watch.

  4. Except that if you back the wrong dog into a corner like that, he will come at you teeth bared. Most dogs won’t of course, which is why the method used in the video works in most cases.

    If the dog you need to leash is exhibiting fear aggression, I will give them treats, and if they are too fearful for that, I will sit in their run with them with my back to them and let them sniff me on their own terms, and then stealthily drop the slip lead over their head when they aren’t paying attention.

  5. Without question this video is a vast improvement to anything demonstrated by MAS staff, but I must say, part of it made me uncomfortable. At one point, while loading into the crate, he’s knelt down eye to eye, (teeth to face) level with the dog on a tight, short lead. Obviously he’s going to be more in-tune with the situation than I would be watching it online, but I still felt a little red flag should be mentioned.

  6. Can a petition be started online to either: get rid of hooks and staff at MAS, and no hidden stray areas, they need to be up for adoption.

    1. Good point Heather.

      The thing that gets me is that, even if the person had no training and no idea how to get any training, wouldn’t any caring person in this situation simply put his foot down and say “Look, I have no clue how to humanely move this dog and I’m definitely not going to be dragging him by a chokepole so you need to get someone who is properly trained in here right now to move him”?

      1. It looks like I’m the new kid here… I haven’t been following the shelter very long, so I haven’t seen any petition. Thank for the information

      2. I have written letters to the mayor and hooks with no reply. Also tried to post a comment on mayor’s facebook page. Was the petition(s) delivered to who? The mayor or the governor? More needs to be done for these animals. Once they are moved to new facility and there are no webcams, the torture will continue. God help those poor animals.

  7. This is exactly what I would’ve done with this dog, but I am not sure if I would’ve been clever enough to feed the lead through the crate like that.

    At the shelter facility that I used to work at, many yards had ‘double gates’ where there was a metre or so of space in between gates to stop escapees. This space was very useful in reducing ‘chasing’, as it meant we could trap the animals more effectively without the stress of a chase.

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