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Children as a Mirror – The Great Water Fights!<\/h3>\nChildren as a Mirror – The Great Water Fights!<\/h3>\nLet’s imagine Joe, Frank, Bonny and Cathy.\u00a0 All these kids love to play hose water fights. Joe and Frank both tend to hold one other child down and blast them in the face until someone intervenes, or the child starts crying.\u00a0 Bonny and Cathy blast every other child in the face whenever they get the chance.\u00a0 All have been told in the past that this is not acceptable, but continue.<\/p>\n
Their caregivers have had enough.\u00a0 Joe and Bonny caregivers decide the best way to deal with this is to strap the children to a chair.\u00a0 However, their chairs are close enough to their hoses that if they really want to, they can still reach over and grab their hoses.\u00a0 Once in a while Joe’s target is in range and Joe tries to blast him in the face with the hose.\u00a0 Bonny occasionally just grabs the hose and blasts children as they pass by.\u00a0 Each is scolded each time they lash out, but are still kept tied to their chairs and close to their hoses.<\/p>\n
Frank and Cathy’s caregivers however take a different route.\u00a0 When they target another child, they are given a warning to stop, if they continue they are taken out of the area, away from their fun.\u00a0 If they do stop, they can continue to play.\u00a0 After a few sessions of loosing\u00a0 out all their fun, Frank stops targeting his one child\u00a0 and Cathy begins to avoid squirting other children in the face.<\/p>\n
Joe and Bonny, despite getting reprimands, still continue to target other children inappropriately.\u00a0 Frank and Cathy learn that if they target children under any circumstances, all their fun ends.<\/p>\n
Now, to another 2 children.\u00a0 Johann and Greta hate the water fights and are scared of all the other children as a result.\u00a0 Johann’s caregiver decides that the best way to help him deal with his fear is to drag him around and let him get blasted.\u00a0 He yells and charges at other children when they approach, and he gets reprimanded.\u00a0 He doesn’t pay attention to the reprimand because he’s too scared to understand.\u00a0 Greta’s caregiver decides that she needs to spend time away from\u00a0 water fights and the throng of kids and takes Greta to a professional Therapist, who helps Greta deal with her fears of water fights and other children.<\/p>\n
What do these analogies have to do with leashes in off leash parks?\u00a0 The above are very similar to 1) Bullies\u00a0 (dogs that single out one dog and torment them); 2) Socially inept dogs (dogs who don’t handicap play or play too rough with nearly everyone); and 3) Fearful dogs.\u00a0 Fearful dogs need a special protocol and the safety of being away from fear triggers during most of their rehab, so a fearful dog shouldn’t be on leash (or off) in an off leash park for some time, if ever.<\/p>\n
Allowing dogs on leashes in an off leash park does them disservice without a coherent, solid plan<\/strong> to help them learn how to play in an more appropriate manner.\u00a0 Indeed bullies and the inept shouldn’t even be in an off leash area until they have proven that they can control some of their impulses with a few well padded dogs first (dogs that have enough experience to deal with any outbreaks) .<\/p>\n Bullies and socially inept dogs while training may drag a leash.\u00a0 Constant supervision is important so the instant they go too far they can be wrangled and taken out of the park (time-out as correction).\u00a0 Leaving and going home will have even more impact (huge penalty).\u00a0 Solidifying these rules in the dogs mind requires consistency.\u00a0 During the beginning of training, they shouldn’t be in off leash parks.<\/p>\n Putting these dogs in situations where they will fail is unfair to them.\u00a0 Putting them in situations where they have a chance to succeed however, is important.\u00a0 When they have a real choice, they can succeed but those choices\u00a0 should be heavily biased toward success and not to failure.<\/p>\n Socialization means positive experiences.\u00a0 If a dog continues being frustrated or scared, the experience is not positive.\u00a0 If the dog gets worse, the experience is not positive.\u00a0 Only having the right tools to interact in a way that allows all a positive experience should we consider something beneficial.<\/p>\n Dogs don’t have to be friends with everyone, nor do they have to be social if they don’t choose.\u00a0<\/a> Some excited dogs forget manners when excited.\u00a0 So is it fair to put them into situations where they will fail?\u00a0 They don’t fail because they want to, they fail because they don’t have the tools to control their impulses.\u00a0 They have trouble controlling their impulses because 1) a bullies target is close by, but can’t get to them to fulfill impulses; 2) everyone around them is having fun and they want to have fun too; and\/or 3) they’re surrounded by animals scaring the heck out of them.\u00a0 I don’t believe these situations are fair to these 3 types of dogs.\u00a0 We can’t force an animal to socialize.\u00a0 Putting them into situations where they are frustrated is not likely to improve frustrations or reactions.<\/p>\n As a professional trainer, and currently a dog walker as well, I believe our responsibility is to ensure that if a dog is a Bully, Socially Inept, or Fearful, that those issues need to be dealt with before off leash areas are introduced.\u00a0 When these dogs lash out at other dogs, either from frustration (1 and 2) or fear (3) other dogs often react in return.\u00a0 There is no measure of fairness for any of them.\u00a0 Dogs who were targeted now look like little hooligans if they bark or bounce around the dog on leash and the dog reacting often continues to display and gets yanked around because he’s on a leash.<\/p>\n Leashes can be in an off leash park but should be used sparingly and under supervision with a goal to removing them in time.\u00a0 I use leashes on puppies, and closely monitor them.\u00a0 Dropping a leash on a puppy and letting them frolic around without supervision is not a valid use of a leash.\u00a0 Bullies and the socially inept need work outside<\/em> off leash areas before they get a chance to play in those parks.\u00a0 At first, they will be on leash or dragging the leash once inside.\u00a0 As stated above, if they have an oops<\/em>, they loose out on further chances of play.\u00a0 As they get better, these oops moments happen less and less.\u00a0 They succeed,\u00a0 they learn and they are happy.<\/p>\n We have to remember that currently Dog Training and even more so Dog Walking are completely unregulated industries.\u00a0 Anyone can hang a shingle out and call themselves a Trainer or a Walker.\u00a0 Make sure that the professional you choose can give you good, scientifically backed reasons for their actions.\u00a0 Be your dogs advocate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Children as a Mirror – The Great Water Fights! Let’s imagine Joe, Frank, Bonny and Cathy.\u00a0 All these kids love to play hose water fights. Joe and Frank both tend to hold one other child down and blast them in the face until someone intervenes, or the child starts crying.\u00a0 Bonny and Cathy blast every … Continue reading Leashes in off leash parks<\/span> But don’t they need to be around other dogs to be social?<\/h4>\n
So what do you do?<\/h4>\n