Dangerous dog designation among hot topics at UBCM
Posted September 28, 2016 7:17 am.
Last Updated September 28, 2016 8:38 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – On the agenda at the Union of BC Municipalities in Victoria today is to discuss and vote on three resolutions relating to dangerous dogs.
The idea was brought forward by Maple Ridge and one of those resolutions deals with instituting a province-wide dangerous dog registry. The proposal would see the dangerous label apply to a pet regardless of where they are in the province.
However, one local trainer feels much of the blame for creating unsafe animals actually falls to the owner. “As a trainer, I am definitely seeing dogs that are being trained using methods that are making the behaviour worse,” says Renée Erdman, a certified behaviour consultant and dog trainer. “There’s so much that we can do to prevent dogs from becoming dangerous.”
She adds most of the problems are picked up by owners from places like TV, not proper teaching channels. “If you treat aggression using forceful methods or using things like shock collars and choke-chains and really try to intimidate animals, you’ve really got a ticking time-bomb there.”
Erdman says much of the damage is done during the first year, and it can be nearly impossible to reverse. “Aggression is really derived from fear and fearful behaviour comes from having bad situations happen and scary situations happen, especially during that critical development period of 12 to 14 weeks.”
Right now, a dangerous dog gets a clean slate when its owner moves to a new city or town.
