This is a personal incidet so no links to stories.
Last night in the middle of the night, my neighbors home security system went off. My neighbor called me from out of town and wanted me to check things out, and said that the Cops were on their way. She has some potential problem dogs. I got there just as the Cops showed up and identified myself as only being her neighbor, explained quickly about her dogs being potentially aggressive but I could handle them. The dogs were locked inside the house, and they checked around to make sure the outside was secure. They wanted to know what my qualifications were to handle her dogs, as I showed up without any leashes. I simply explained "Dog Whisperer" and I did not have any need for leashes. I address the dogs mind, so I did not need a leash to control just the dogs body while leaving potential for aggression. They seemed to be skeptical of my ability.
I followed around them around to the back of the house. Her back door had been opened enough to trigger the alarm, but was not fully open to allow the dogs out. They advised that they wanted to check inside the premesis to make sure she was not being robbed. I advised that the barking I heard sounded like it was only directed at all of us and there was no vocal indication that any of the dogs had been injured. If there was a robber inside, they would have sounded much different, or there would have been no barking at all. This put the Officer into a much calmer state of mind. I also pointed out that since my neighbor was not home, it could have been the dogs trying to get out to go to the bathroom, or severe wind that triggered the alarm. This reinforced the idea that this was most likely a false alarm, which I believed to be an appropriate reaction to a false alarm. Although the weather being a factor, just stating the obvious showed them that I did not have any reason to become aggressive in the situation. This also helped to keep the Officers calm.
It was not my house so I did not want to go in without permission from either my neighbor, or the Cops. They did not want to allow me to be the first into her home due to the possibility of someone being inside. We calmly decided that the safest way to handle the situation would be to allow me to secure the dogs first and remove them from the equation, but not to enter. We could see the utility room was secure without opening the door. They backed off, I grabbed the two potential problem dogs, then got out of their way. There were three Officers there. One stayed outside, and the other two went inside. I showed the one outside how to handle dogs, while the dogs were trying to be aggressive toward the Officer. I corrected the dogs, and they became submissive. I explained that the submission is not what they want because the dogs were still in a very excited state and did not reward the dogs submissive behavior. So I held the dogs down calmly until they relaxed, then rewarded the dogs for relaxing, not submitting. It took an extra 15 seconds of effort. Once the Officer understood the CALM submissive state, I explained that the dogs were safe and secure, and released them. The two dogs are the types that would fear-bite anyone. I advised dont pet them and only brief eye contact, but most importantly, express calmness. The Officer agreed and I released the two fear biters. One went over to relieve themselves, the other approached the Officer in a calm manner, sniffed their leg, then promptly sat down on their foot. Let it smell your hand, then you can pet it. The Officer did, and was able to pet one of the fear biters. The other dog came over, the process pretty much repeated, and the Officer quickly earned the trust of both fear biters. The Officer that stayed outside was, by their own admission, not great with dogs, and said that there needs to be "more people like me" that are "just good with dogs". I dont think it takes that much to learn to speak dog. Just reward calmness instead of expecting submission as the calmness vs excited is where most dog incidents occur.
The other two Cops that were inside just went into the house, announced themselves as Sheriffs Office, saw that nothing was out of place, damaged, stolen, or any other indication that a burglary had taken place. It was a bit messy and some dog poop on the foor (from dogs being locked inside), but nothing looked out of the ordinary. They came back outside, we all talked with the owner on the phone, the dogs were put back inside, and we all went on our merry ways after some brief chatting. They didnt even bother to ask me for an ID, and just filed a report of "weather triggering false alarm".
This is probably the most boring Cop Story Ive ever posted here, but really, this is the way that most of the Cop Stories should end up, not in Dog Shootings, not in 911 caller assaulted, not in bystander injured, but a total non incident for an actual non incident. The moral of the story is that a bit of calm cooperation on both sides can be far more effective than aggressive submission.
Originally Posted by Zippyjuan
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