cattle prod - Page 14

Admin, my problem is when someone anonymously stalks one over the net for years, even goes so far as to  establish a FB account using an assumed name for that purpose, resenting that it continues here is not being insecure.  I for one am very happy and thankful to Oli that we are now able to see who hits either of those buttons.

Most of you can rest assured that if I disagree with you, i'm going to tell you and if I think it's worth it, tell you why :)

That's how it should be, Zdog.

Returning to the question of using cattle prods, posters might be

interested in this:

"Since I didn't realize other people thought in words instead of pictures,

for a long time I could never figure out why so many animal handlers

made obvious, elementary mistakes.  Not all of them do;  I've met lots of

good animal handlers in the meatpacking industry.  But I was always

surprised when I found an animal professional doing something that was

just plain dumb.  Why couldn't they see what they were doing wrong ?

 

I remember one situation in particular, where the owner of a cattle -

handling facility hired me as a last resort before they tore the whole

place down and built it back up from the ground.  He called me because his 

cattle wouldn't walk inside the narrow passage leading to the squeeze chute.

 

The problem wasn't that the cattle were afraid of getting their shots.  Most

cattle don't even know they're going to be getting shots inside the chute.

Besides, a lot of animals barely feel their shots anyway.  New dog owners

are surprised by this.  They'll watch their dog cower and cringe as the vet.

examines him, then not blink an eye when he sticks him with a needle.

Some vets say that's the difference between a dog,  who isn't anticipating pain,

and a person, who is.  Thinking about a shot makes it worse.

/... 

"The problem at the cattle facility had to be something they were doing

wrong, since the cattle were perfectly fine before they got there. But the

owner couldn't figure it out. He needed to fix that situation fast, because

skipping vaccinations isn't an option ...Cattle are extremely succeptible

to bovine viral diarrhea and to respiratory diseases ... If they don't get their

shots, infectious disease will sweep through the herd, and kill 10 % ...

So you have to vaccinate, and in order to vaccinate you have to have your

cattle walk into the squeeze chute.  These cattle wouldn't do it, and the

owner was starting to panic.

 

Things had gotten so bad, the handlers were using cattle prods ... Prods

will get an animal moving, but they're stupid things to use, because they

can panic the animals and make them rear up, which is dangerous for the

workers.  Prods always stress an animal, and when an animal is stressed

his immune system goes down and he starts getting sick, which means

higher veterinary bills.  Plus stressed animals gain less weight, which means

less meat to sell.  Dairy cattle who've been handled with prods give less milk."

 

Source:   Temple Grandin,  ' Animals in Translation.'

 

I remember that story, about the cattle. I have many of Temple Grandin's books. All it took were a few minute changes, and the animals then moved docilely into the chute. The same thing can be said for many dogs. More force is not necessarily the solution. I have had very hard, very serious dogs that respond to e-collar corrections so slight I barely feel then (I don't feel anything under about 20 on Dogtra collars), and soft dogs that ignore anything under 50. I think there are many instances when people use the wrong correction, and thus have to use a very forceful one, rather than finding the right one. Once in a while, you encounter a very stubborn, very insensitive dog that is resilient to dang-near anything... But that's rare. -- I've never had any interest in joining a club that says "this way, or else," because I've been training for a goodly amount of years, and I've yet to discover a single method that works 100% of the time on 100% of dogs. I would never advocate the use of a cattle prod on a dog. I have worked many hard dogs. I would much rather tame a maniac than motivate a lump; but I prefer to use smarts, rather than force, to elicit desired behaviors in a dog.

One of my principles of training: the best trainers can get the maximum results from a dog with the minimum of force or compulsion.

And yes, I believe in corrections, but they don't have to be harsh!