Objectivity vs Subjectivity

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200829626843802

I saw this link on uncle wee's facebook 2 days ago, and it gave me an unpleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, a friend of mine was video-ed to have tugged quite strongly to a dog he was handling at the local park.

Upon viewing the video for the first time, it looked like he was too harsh on correcting the poor dog. Another volunteer shared this video, for reasons not logical to me.

I could be biased because the accused is my friend and I was the one who taught him the tugging method. I feel somehow guilty for this occurence.

But lets put all that aside and analyse the video.

At 2-4 seconds, Dara could be seen 3 metres away from the Dazzle. It is a known fact that Dazzle/Daffy will attack her upon close contact. I have personally handled Dazzle during the event and she barked at Dara from 10 metres away.

My friend tugged her at 3 second with one hand. He was holding on to a 1.5l bottle on the other, and may not be able to shorten the leash in time, had Dazzle not been tugged when she rushed forward.

At 5 seconds, Dazzle turned to Daffy, which rushed forward reactively. It is unknown if aggression is present at that moment, but would not be ruled out (SJ mentioned that they have been observed to fight outdoors even though they are sisters)

At 8-10seconds, Daffy can be seen trying to rush at something. I would assume it could be at Dara or other "hostile" dogs.

At 18 seconds, Dazzle could still be seen tugging away at the leash, something which she has been habitually doing. It is known that she could be over tugging and suffocating herself.

At 22 seconds, Daryl can be seen tugging furiously as well.


My conclusion : Daryl, dazzle and other dogs are not at fault! The handlers are the ones who did not inculcate the good habits and behaviours of how the dogs should be walking beside them.

It somewhat angers me when other people do not observe and analyse the situation objectively and "judge a book by its cover", or in this context, judge a human by solely one observed action.

I do not deny that my friend could have over-tugged Dazzle in this situation, or that he did not take the necessary precautions (such as shortening of leash) when other dogs are near.

Having said that, I would rather he over tug Dazzle than end up having to break up a dog fight, which could be more disastrous.

At the end of the day, the humans are responsible for guiding the dogs on "walking etiquette", which I shamelessly will affirm that I have tried my very best , no matter which dog I walk.

I definitely can't say the same for other handlers. =/

What say you?


Signing Off,
-Khai