A Hammond Police K-9 officer is on administrative leave this week after the YouTube video was posted by a citizen who saw him striking a K-9 dog and lifting the dog by the leash off the ground repeatedly. The officer lifts the German Shepard by the leash and appears to be striking the dog with another leash in the stomach area.
I cannot discern what the dog did wrong except possible tug at the leash.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. issued a statement:
“Anybody who loves dogs as much as I do is always saddened and shocked anytime you hear of a dog’s abuse. When you find out it happened with an employee of yours, it makes it that much more shocking and disturbing. Please know that the Hammond PD does not condone that type of behavior of any of it’s officers, nor is it tolerated in this administration.”
What will be interesting is if the officer will contest the claim that this is abuse. The law allows for dogs to receive physical punishment. That is not considered abuse. The officer could challenge the claim that this is abuse as a legal matter. People routinely spank dogs and even kick dogs or yank their chains in acts of discipline. Spike and electric collars are often used. That could lead to a serious objection to discipline. While I share the mayor’s view, it could make for a difficult legal challenge.
So what i’m seeing here is that it is perfectly normal and acceptable to hang a dog by it’s neck. No abuse there, hm? If that is how it is done, then how it is done is severely questionable.
Clearly this is not an accepted method of training, if it was do you really think the chief of police would have said this
“Anybody who loves dogs as much as I do is always saddened and shocked anytime you hear of a dog’s abuse. When you find out it happened with an employee of yours, it makes it that much more shocking and disturbing. Please know that the Hammond PD does not condone that type of behavior of any of it’s officers, nor is it tolerated in this administration.”
PS: I didn’t watch the video.
Completely unacceptable!!! Even if you are a police officer!!! Animals do NOT deserve to be treated in this manner!!! Shame on this police officer!!!
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/hammond-officer-on-leave-after-video-shows-him-hitting-police/article_b99e0ed2-7491-56a3-afe6-3fc83516adc6.html
Excerpt:
“Bob Fleming, a K-9 dog trainer and owner of Landheim Training and Boarding Center in Dyer, has 35 years of experience training dogs.
A police dog has a higher drive than regular pets, so different training techniques need to be used to ensure safety.
“Their drive is so high, control techniques for an average pet wouldn’t necessarily work,” Fleming said.
He told The Times after watching the video that the officer likely was using a ball to reward the dog for its work, but the dog wouldn’t respond to an order to let go.
From watching the video, he believed the officer used a specific technique called a choke-off that forces the dog to drop what it’s holding.
Fleming said he teaches officers to only use a choke-off as a last resort.
“I don’t like to see a trainer use a choke-off too much because over time, it could result in injury,” he said.
He added the officer in the video may not have been taught other techniques and could have believed what he was doing was correct.
Striking the dog and lifting it off the ground, however, is not a training technique, and Fleming believed those actions were unnecessary.”
Maybe this cop should find another line of work. It might be best if he didn’t have much contact with animals… or people.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/indiana&id=9524100
“His dog has been removed from his control.” -from the previous linked article
Wonder about his wife and kids, if he has any. Swell guy.
Paul Schulte; What you were doing was rescuing your dog. what the officer in the video was doing was punishing the dog abusively. Thr purpose of dog training and discipline is correction.
According to “The Koehler Method of Dog Training”, yanking on a dog’s leash is useless. The purpose of discipline is correcting behavior. Unless a dog knows why it’s being disciplined, correction doesn’t take place, and the dog is left guessing what its master wants. It’s possible that eventually, the dog could figure it out, they’re smart, but at great expense in time and aggravation.
Karen is right, this dog clearly doesn’t understand why its handler is abusing it. incidentally, Koehler advocates lifting a dog in this manner for only one reason – when the dog bites the handler.
I use The Monks of New Skete as my training method. There are many out there.
I agree with you, professor. Additionally, I would like to know the policeman’s history, if any, of domestic violence or other abuse and his abuse, if any, of the citizenry in the carrying out of his duties. He definitely has problems. If the chief is that concerned to place him on leave for the abuse of the K9 dog, is he that concerned about citizen abuse?
All animals, not just companion animals, should be recognized under the law as sentient beings and the laws should penalize law breakers for any abuse. That would include animals that are routinely and hideously abused in nature, in factory farms, in sea worlds, during hunting season, and in circuses.
I recently adopted a four year old Great Dane and have needed to find answers to some behavioral problems. As you can imagine a dog like this is a dangerous animal if she is not properly trained to respond and obey instantly. One thing that has been brought home to me in my research is that when a dog, especially a heavy one, pulls or is pulled forcefully with a choke chain it is almost impossible to not injure the animal’s trachea. That alone should eliminate this type of correction.
This is plain and obvious abuse. K9’s do not get ‘trained’ by getting lifted by their leash OFF THE GROUND and hit on the under belly by someone he is supposed to trust and obey. Don’t be ignorant! This man doesn’t deserve to work with a smart dog like a police K-9 unit German Shepard! Funny how people are so quick to blame the ‘bully breed dogs’ when it’s the human who creates the hatred. This officer should be ashamed.
We should hang the officer by the collar and him spin around and whip his belly! Wonder how he’d feel about that. He doesn’t deserve to own or work with this specially trained dog.
This was ABSOLUTELY NORMAL correction to get the K9 to release the ball in his mouth.
You’d really want your dog to release his bite on command if he had a person held with at bite, wouldn’t you?
Nothing to see here, folks, but what the hell do I know? I only used to be a Military Working Dog Handler.
Another look at the video. The only reason the officer has any control of the dog is b/c he holds the leash. The dog doesn’t recognize him as “alpha”. Beating the dog won’t change that.
As Cesar has pointed out, he doesn’t train dogs, he trains their owners/handlers. This officer needs some time with Cesar.
Retired LEO: that may look bad, but, it is a way to control a “wayward” dog. No K-9 Officer is out to hurt their dog. Have been between two dog’s on a warrant it was a useful method to get the dogs attention. And, it prevented danger to other officers.
You people are retarded if you don’t think this is abuse. How would you like to be yanked off the ground by your neck? There shouldn’t be any more “investigating” and he should be fired and should never be excepted to be a police officer again. Plane and simple.
Paul – I’m sure your dog would prefer the weight on her collar than drowning in a canal! Lucky you had hold of her.
Maybe Cesar Milan should pay their training program a visit.
I couldn’t watch the whole video – too upsetting. It looked like the dog’s hind legs came completely off the ground. And yet he was showing submission, plaintively giving little wags of his tail to get back in his master’s good graces.
GSDs are very heavy dogs. That kind of weight focused on a choke chain or collar around his neck could have inflamed his trachea and caused his airway to constrict. This was hanging, not a leash correction.
If the cop got that frustrated with his dog, he should have stepped away. They can be strong, boisterous dogs, and he clearly didn’t know how to train him correctly, and lost his temper.
There’s something we say in riding, “It’s ALWAYS the rider’s fault, not the horse’s.”
what was the problem with the dog? he wouldn’t “indicate” on demand?
This is completely unacceptable!!! Who does this officer think he is?!! Above the law….and to beat on an innocent animal who is going to defend this POS!!! Perhaps this officer needs to find a new job!!!!!! I pray the dog is ok!!!
No idea if the officer used correct police dog handling procedures or not. He may need more training and the dog may need more training. But, slapping a dog with a leash with the force used here or lifting him off the ground as seen in video does not rise to the level of animal abuse. As David Gray notes, the dog is wagging his tail immediately afterwards pulling on the leash. He does not seem to be hurt or scared in any way.