The controversial strategies of a US harmful canine coach who will quickly be holding seminars within the UK have brought on the RSPCA to warn they may do irreversible hurt to frightened dogs.
Social media star ‘The Dog Daddy’ – who has thousands and thousands of followers throughout his varied social media platforms – has taken his present on the highway, and has scheduled coaching seminars for aggressive and reactive dogs in London this coming weekend (September 9 and 10), earlier than heading on to Italy and Australia, later this month.
The RSPCA warn that Augusto Deoliveira makes use of aversive coaching strategies and tools designed to trigger ache and worry in dogs to cease harmful behaviours, and needs the general public’s assist to seek out out the place his “secretive” classes are being held.
Their canine behaviour knowledgeable informed NationalWorld strategies like these in The Dog Daddy’s viral movies can generally traumatise dogs a lot they’ll not be helped, whereas the coach says he’s giving dogs who would in any other case should be euthanised a second likelihood.
But who precisely is he, and why are his strategies so controversial? And what does the RSPCA say is one of the best methodology for serving to aggressive dogs?
Here’s all the pieces it’s good to know.
Who is The Dog Daddy?
The Dog Daddy’s actual title is Augusto Deoliveira, and he’s a US-based canine coach with a big social media presence – sustaining energetic Youtube, Tiktok, and Instagram accounts.
Deoliveira is thought for his considerably unorthodox look, and could be seen carrying designer tracksuits and sun shades in almost all of his movies – and has a big pawprint tattoo with the phrases ‘canine daddy’ throughout his neck. His movies typically function stunts like walking 5 German shepherd dogs off-leash down Hollywood Boulevard, or coaching a previously wild bear to lie down on command.
He additionally holds frequent travelling seminars the place individuals deliver alongside dogs which might be aggressive or reactive in the direction of both people, or different dogs. According to his web site, these three-hour coaching classes cost US$400 for one canine – or about £320.
However, his coaching strategies have raised some eyebrows within the animal welfare group. In a few of his coaching movies he advocates for using prong collars – collars with metallic prongs that poke into the canine’s neck when it pulls on its leash – for aggressive dogs, a coaching methodology the RSPCA is in opposition to.
Deoliveira has come below hearth for a lot of of his coaching movies, which even sparked protests at a recent seminar in Canada. Videos of those seminars, which have been seen by NationalWorld, present him jerking dogs off the bottom by their collars to cease them from biting him.
Why is the RSPCA involved?
The RSPCA stated it was involved about experiences Deoliveira makes use of aversive coaching strategies and tools designed to trigger ache and worry in dogs, and fearful the classes would “unfold coaching strategies which risked compromising canine welfare”.
Esme Wheeler, RSPCA canine welfare knowledgeable, stated: “The RSPCA has obtained considerations about coaching strategies utilized by The Dog Daddy, who is predicated within the USA and is because of go to the UK in September.
“We, like many organisations, have vital considerations about using aversive coaching strategies and tools [like] prong collars, that are designed to trigger ache and worry. These can compromise welfare and are utterly pointless,” she continued.
The RSPCA stated it has written to Deoliveira and raised its considerations with him, “and have additionally made him conscious of the laws in each England and Wales of which he should adjust to when coaching dogs”.
Prong collars particularly usually are not unlawful within the UK. Ms Wheeler informed NationalWorld the charity was additionally involved about “any strategies which goal to deal with behaviour issues with out addressing the underlying trigger or altering how the canine feels”, as this elevated the possibility of the behaviour taking place once more.
“Behaviour change takes appreciable time, there are very hardly ever any fast fixes and the longer a behaviour has been practiced the longer it’s going to take to resolve. Videos akin to Deoliveira’s present fearful and frightened dogs who could also be inhibiting their response on account of worry of anticipated penalties,” she continued. “There isn’t any justification for inducing states of worry or anxiousness in any animal, it’s wholly unacceptable.”
The RSPCA’s recommendation for house owners involved about aggressive behaviour was to begin with, to get their pet checked by a vet to rule out any sickness of damage that might be inflicting the issue. “Research has discovered that between 30-85% of behavioural points in dogs have a contributory or causal medical [or] ache concern,” she stated.
Their vet might then refer them to an acceptable, certified knowledgeable, she stated, like an Animal Behaviour and Training Council-registered scientific behaviourist.
“Dog trainers all around the UK use moral, science-based and reward-based strategies to coach dogs very successfully. Where dogs have behaviours which house owners discover unacceptable, akin to aggression or destruction, appropriately certified behaviourists obtain long run modifications in behaviour by way of using established and validated strategies of behaviour modification, which don’t topic dogs to coaching strategies which can trigger ache or misery,” Ms Wheeler continued.
“It can be vital to notice that dogs who’re exhibiting ‘aggressive’ behaviours are in a detrimental emotional state which can be brought on by ache, worry or frustration. In the case of behaviours that are rooted in anxiousness, the applying of punishment or any punitive, painful strategies will solely serve to accentuate the worry.”
Accredited behaviourists all too typically witness the devastating penalties of one of these coaching, she stated. “Some dogs could have been left so traumatised by way of these strategies that they aren’t in a position to be rehabilitated and should even need to be euthanised. “
The RSPCA stated the venues for the upcoming seminars has not been introduced, and at earlier occasions haven’t been confirmed till hours earlier than the present. Their “secretive nature” has prompted the charity to induce anybody with info to go it alongside through social media – however not the charity’s emergency line.
“We are eager to debate our considerations with the venues internet hosting this coach.”
What has he stated about controversy over his coaching strategies?
In a response to criticism of his coaching strategies posted on Instagram, The Dog Daddy stated he has helped “hundreds of homeowners and dogs”.
“They haven’t any grounds for the assaults in opposition to me, they rely solely on their beliefs that their strategies are the one strategies,” he wrote. After “twenty years” of coaching dogs and dealing with different trainers he stated he had “discovered precisely what’s efficient and what’s not as efficient” at serving to harmful dogs enhance their behaviour. “In many circumstances it’s both the coaching begins to work quick or the canine [has got to go], or get euthanised.”
“I don’t use extreme pressure, nor do I choke or droop dogs by the neck… My shoppers and observers in my lessons sarcastically describe my dealing with as mushy and delicate,” Deoliveira continued. He stated his strategies “open doorways for my shoppers to have the ability to have their dogs slot in society and [make them] extra in a position to adapt to our loopy world”.
“I invite any of these trainers to work with a canine that I choose… however they are going to be fast to give you an excuse for why they gained’t do it. It’s clear and evident that they can’t do it. Their strategies usually are not efficient relating to the category of dogs I significantly work with.”
