Level 1- Dog growls, lunges, snarls-no teeth touch skin. Mostly intimidation behavior.
Level 2- Teeth touch skin but no puncture. May have red mark/minor bruise from dog’s head or snout, may have minor scratches from paws/nails. Minor surface abrasions acceptable.
Level 3- Punctures ½ the length of a canine tooth, one to four holes, single bite. No tearing or slashes. Victim not shaken side to side. Bruising.
Level 4- One to four holes from a single bite, one hole deeper than ½ the length of a canine tooth, typically contact/punctures from more than canines only. Black bruising, tears and/or slashing wounds. Dog clamped down and shook or slashed victim.
Level 5- Multiple bites at Level 4 or above. A concerted, repeated attack.
Level 6- Any bite resulting in death of a human.
Cesar Milan has over simplified aggression for dogs. In his mind all dogs are aggressive from fear or dominance. He calls every dog that performs Level 2 or above a 'red-zone' case and overall makes it sound as if they were a lot worse than they actually are. As the above scale illustrates, there are several different levels of severity in aggression. Liwanu for instance; was at worst a 3+ which in the big picture isn't that bad. It's not good and it doesn't make him less of a danger but it doesn't mean he needs to be put down for being vicious. Levels 5 & 6 are the ones that most likely will need to be humanely euthanised because most owners are not capable of putting the time, energy and money into rehabilitating them. I really hate the term 'rehabilitation' because Cesar Milan has decided to use it as a catch phrase. Using R+ methods aggressive dogs can be healed and eventually can be integrated into a very average lifestyle. I would never consider an aggressive dog cured, it's more like being a recovering addict. Each day that the dog is able to maintain appropriate behavior is a success. There will be back-slides and gains, it's part of life for everything and everyone.
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4 comments:
Thanks for pointing out the vast differences between the knowledge expressed by Ian Dunbar, based on years and years of experience and research as opposed to the "TV land" espousals of Cesar Millan, a man who came into this country as an illegal immigrant, holds no degress or certifications, no professional memberships and by his own admission, "has read a few books" and has "a gift." (see Wikipedia) It's really dangerous that the general public is gaining its knowledge from such an impostor.
Sue
Great post. I agree with you, dominance theory is not the best way to approach aggresion in dogs. Dunbar's proposals are much detailed and fit into scientific modification of behavior (although some things he uses are still based on old school training).
Millan tends to be very confrontational with dogs and in his show almost every dog is labeled as aggressive, even those who doesn't display aggressive behaviors. It's just a high rated TV show. Not a good reference for dog training and behavior.
If anyone can successfully take on the present day Neanderthal method of 'training' found, at seemingly endless hours, on television (and you know who I'm talking about), it's Ian Dunbar. I've worked my entire professional life to eliminate seriously bad dog trainers and I have to say that, at this point, I can't watch that program for more than fifteen seconds at a time without getting up and yelling at the screen. Thank you, Dr. Dunbar; I'll root for you from the peanut gallery. ;o)
J. Connor, Ph.D.
Who knew my sweet little thing - who has snapped at me when I pissed her off - was a red zone dog?
Thanks for sharing this!
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