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Hi Ryan,
I like Jeff and spoke with him on multiple occasions. He truly wants to help dogs and save their lives. With that being said, I don’t want this to sound bad against Jeff, but he toying with things that I have tried over a decade ago and I can say for sure it doesn’t survive the test of time and can have lots of side effects. Who doesn’t want a quick fix? Therefore, it sells well and presents well at a seminar. Ultimately, you cannot ignore the full spectrum of canine ethology.
For starters, you do not “fix” resource guarding. Just like you don’t fix prey drive, pack drive or any other drive. He is likely going to punish the dog for showing food aggression, and it will look like it works with the trainer who has punished the dog standing near the dog. But, is the dog “fixed”? No, it is situational. It will be temporarily suppressed in that exact situation without generalizing. It actually teaches the dog that people will punish you for showing food aggression if they have a leash or ecollar or whatever on. But, then what happens when that person who punishes the dog isn’t in the room and the 10 year old boy approaches the dog? That dog now knows people are dicks and will likely beat the weaker individual to the punch. Punishment for resource guarding is never a good choice. Before anyone tries to “fix” it they need to understand it first.
About the jumping. Here is Gary Wilkes method. I saw the video of Jeff with the dog for the jumping (can’t find it now) Gary’s video is just the same except he is replacing the leash jerk with blunt force over the top of the dog’s head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3TMl64lbc
So the list of possible side effects here could be a mile long:
He claims that dogs will not retaliate with a bite. So, what happens when someone tries that with the three year old intact male Rottweiler?
Suppose you are raising the pup to do personal protection training? Now you have to deal with all kinds of hesitancy issues, because the dog doesn’t know that ALL jumping will won’t result in a bonk or leash jerk.
What happens when no one is there holding a towel or has a leash and prong on the dog?
I can go on and on… besides the fact the fact that any method that puts a bad taste in the mouth of the average person isn’t likely to be followed through with.
It doesn’t take much effort to understand why the dog is jumping and teach the dog what is the correct behavior first before applying any kind of punishment.
With food aggression isn’t take much effort to teach the dog that we are not a threat to their food and to train the dog commands if we need to direct the dog away from the food or drop something.
There will always be side effects when corners are cut, that is why I have “attitude” in the foundation of the training which includes respect within. We are teachers for these dogs, and not just looking for instance submission to our every whim. If we are not careful we go back to a time where people just whipped and kicked dogs for not being completely compliant.
Before addressing a resource guarding plan, everything should be understood in the self-help section from beginning through leadership.
