I find the story of how Cotton, a dog belonging to Diane R. Krieger, ended up being “disarmed” very sad and a little bit disturbing.
Cotton displays aggressive behavior toward people. The present tense is very deliberate: even by the Krieger’s own admission, Cotton still bites people. He even bit the photographer while the pictures were taken for this story.
Maiming a dog (yeah, I said it) is not a solution.
I’m not going to critique the article point by point, as it would be a bit tedious. For example the article opens with “Not even Cesar Millan‘s ‘idiot-simple’ method could ease Cotton’s biting problem…’” Cesar Millan methods are “idiot simple?” Then why does the show open with, and return from every break with a disclaimer?
The article goes downhill from there. Cotton has a bite history, but he runs free contained only by an invisible fence – dooming unexpected guests. He managed to slip a leash when the photographer came as “the restraint has yet to be invented that Cotton couldn’t wriggle out of.” More likely the restraint has yet to be made that Ms. Krieger can be bothered to correctly fit to her dog.
Reading the article I can’t help but think that the family didn’t really stick with any one method for any length of time, bouncing from “miracle fix” to “miracle fix.” Of course, given that the most popular dog training show is consistently showing dogs miraculously “rehabilitated,” it’s not really surprising is it?
So when a veterinary dentist says he has a “miracle fix” (Krieger’s words, not mine) it’s not a surprise that Cotton was subjected to it.
Please consider these two quotes:
For all the technology, Nielsen says the most profound effect of canine disarming is psychological. “You can see it in their eyes almost the moment they wake up from the anesthesia,” he says. “It’s like they’re wondering, ‘who took away my knives?’ ” An epiphany that humbles and subdues them for all time.
And then Krieger goes on to discuss an amusing (if you’re not the one who just lost part of your teeth) comparison to the Bumble in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Later:
As for Cotton, he seems to be in denial. When he gets the opportunity, he still pounces at any man who ventures onto our property. A few days after the disarming, our gardener Guadalupe Davila obligingly offered his booted foot for Cotton’s delectation. After 30 seconds of ferocious gnawing, Cotton had only succeeded in lightly scoring the thick leather.
Another miracle cure bites the dust. Along with part of Cotton’s teeth.
2 Comments
I am VERY disturbed by this. How is this acceptable?
Acceptable? No. Legal? Unfortunately, yes. If you noticed, the story is over a week old. It took me that long to write something that wasn’t just me venting over this. I’m with you….