Topper and Vinni
I received an invitation in the mail to attend a Puppyworks seminar at the Marin Humane Society outside Novato, California. The cost was upwards of $300 for the three-day event. On the roster were such dog luminaries as Terry Ryan and Leslie Nelson, who'd been around for years and were well respected in dog circles. Trish King of Marin Humane was teaching a few classes as well, but the star attraction was to be Sue Sternberg of Roundout Kennels in upstate New York.
I had heard of Sue Sternberg. She is very controversial, especially with pit bull people and those of us who rescue them. She is responsible for the plastic hand widely used to test dogs for food aggression. If a shelter is using the plastic hand, they probably subscribe to other Sternberg methods. It would be at this very seminar I'd learn other industry terms like 'whale eye'.
I once saw a beautiful dog running around Lake Madrid. He was probably part Rhodesian Ridgeback and had rich, ruddy coloring with the telltale wedge head of a pit bull. Harold was a gorgeous dog. He gently allowed me to pick him up and lift him into the back of my truck. I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me. He was just a big gentle boy. I took him to CCACC hoping we could help him find a good home.
Julie Chen, the same volunteer who’d almost fostered Girl, decided Harold had ‘whale eye’. Because she had green volunteer status and bred sighthounds, she was considered quite the authority. He was supposed to have growled when an air conditioner repairman walked down the aisle by Harold’s kennel. I’m not saying he did not growl, but the level of noise and clanging in that facility is near deafening. A dog’s reaction should not be criteria for euthanasia. However, based on this and the words ‘whale eye’ written across his kennel card, Harold was put to sleep. Julie suggested with a smile, since I was close to Harold, perhaps I should sit in on the euthanasia. My jaw dropped open. I had no response. She intimated that she sat in on many of the euthanasias performed at CCACC.
Doc never misses an opportunity to refer to CCACC as being 'the best shelter in the world' whenever he's being interviewed. In a shelter reputed as being one of the best in the country, I could not believe they didn't have a better system in place regarding temperament testing. For such a formidable facility and the hub of some of the best dog minds in the area, I felt Harold should have had more thorough consideration. I felt the system let Harold down. I had let Harold down. I had picked him up that day with the thought that I was helping him by taking him to a place of refuge. Instead, I had driven him to an early death.
The Sue Sternberg flier was circulated widely. I was excited about attending the event. It would be like a vacation in October with lovely weather and the lush Marin Headlands providing the backdrop. I made plans to attend with Dante Peterson. We could discuss our non-profit work and bounce fundraising ideas off each other on the drives to and
from the event.
I had received an email from the young woman who'd organized the affair. She was enthusiastic about Round Up's work with pit bulls and wanted to inquire about using some of the dogs in our program to be evaluated by Sue Sternberg. I forwarded the information to Colleen who refused, hands down. Usually when Colleen was this adamant, a control issue was involved. This time, though, she had a very good reason.
Colleen was not a fan of Sue Sternberg's invasive assessment technique. This was the first negative reaction toward Sternberg I'd experienced. I had gotten caught up in all of the preliminary excitement and pushed aside my own instincts. I was learning another lesson about listening to my gut feelings.
The event was successful in number. There were several hundred attendees, many of whom had brought their own dogs. I was struck by the atmosphere in the larger room where we'd gathered for the first of the Sue Sternberg lectures. Another attendee commented she felt like a supermodel when she first walked into the room. There were very few men in attendance, but a strange sense of testosterone permeated the air. In other words, it was tense. The dogs were on short leads and it felt weird to me, like a Leni Riefenstahl film. My initial excitement began to dissolve.
Sternberg is internationally famous for having written several books on dog temperament and evaluation. Her teachings are so commonplace, that her name has become synonymous with temperament assessment in shelters across the United States and beyond. She exhibited her method for us over and over during the seminar. She will push the animal until she is fully satisfied the dog will not go off under any possible circumstance. The dog might have been pulled from a kennel, scared and confused in this strange, noisy environment. Sternberg's own former employees have referred to her technique as invasive, as if someone were poking you again and again while you were trying to eat or rest. Most people will turn and say, "Hey, quit, you!" A dog will bark or growl in response and be labeled as dangerous.
Sternberg looked something like a gym teacher to me. She was sporty and athletic with short brown hair and a wide mouth she used to make funny faces and accentuate her points. She opened with a comedy routine about Starbucks and her chai tea fix. She was entertaining for a kennel person, however, I had the feeling I was at one of those mandatory comedy traffic school classes.
During the first session, she warmed us up with tales about her kennel and her cattle dogs. She told us they did what they wanted and everything in her house was chewed up. I could relate to the chewing. When Rowdy Cowgirl first moved in with us, she chewed up a Johnny Cash record and a Moby tape.
Sternberg started off with a speech about her style of evaluating. I perked up, interested in making new strides toward problem solving. According to her handout, Sue was looking for a dog "who enjoys lots of stimulation" combined with a "high sociability index." She relied on a caveat that explained "love and training do not change heredity and basic temperament. Abuse and neglect are neither an excuse nor a cause for aggression."
She relied much on video to promote her program. To illustrate fence-fighting, she showed us a dog-eared old video starring an old shepherd called Buster. She used a tug on a long lead to get Buster wound up and excited. She made sure to note his showing of teeth and his tail up in the air. Old Buster was a good subject. He had some resource guarding issues with a toy Sternberg kept grabbing at and he wouldn't release. One thing for sure, Buster was way out of his league. I wondered why she didn't attempt to train some of those bad habits out of him. That alone would have been worth the price of my ticket. Was the answer to kill the dogs without looking for a way to correct these problems?
Maybe Buster had never had a toy before and didn't know how to play games. Badass or not, Buster has made Sternberg a buttload of change performing over and over again in that glitch-filled old video tape.
The next part of the session was dedicated to evaluation. Up first was a young pit bull from a nearby shelter. This would have been a Coastal County dog had Colleen not wisely vetoed the idea of bringing CCACC shelter dogs to the seminar. When I had an opportunity to meet the director of the young pit bull's shelter later on that afternoon, I found her to be a lot like myself. She was newly introduced to the pit bull breeds and wanted to find some solutions to growing problems such as over-population and finding suitable adopters. She had brought a few of her shelter's dogs to the event in hopes that a world-renowned behaviorist like Sue Sternberg might help.
Sternberg gave the crowd their money's worth as she gave the young piebald pit bull the Sternberg once over. She sized the dog up before assessing him as a trial lawyer would go over a witness. She did stress to neuter young.
Whenever to a female dog, she used standard AKC terminology. We must have heard the bitch word about a thousand times before lunch. In modern society, that term is politically incorrect. In fact, it's downright offensive and disgusting. I get the same feeling when I hear a racial slur. I sensed there was more behind Sternberg's vehement use of the term than kennel standard. The term reflects as much on the person using the word as it does the society allowing the use. Female dog is much more preferable and respectable.
Sternberg would predict how certain dogs would behave later in life had they not been euthanized. For instance, if the dog didn't pass her extreme temperament test with all of the prods and invasive manipulation, she was certain the dog would attack, perhaps maul and even kill. Why hasn't someone then written the definitive book on all dogs and their behavior and be done with it? We could all just read that book and fix all the dogs. There would be no more dog bites, no more maulings, no fearful dog aggression, separation anxiety and on and on.
The little pit bull puppy was playful and seemed like a normal dog. He was curious and had typical puppy traits. He wasn't a normal dog to Sue Sternberg. Her big thing was do your need me, do you want me, are you trying to get away, or are we in this thing together. I have spent some time around dogs and it takes a bit of time to build a relationship with a dog. It took me months to realize I couldn't live without Girl and Mookie.
Sternberg recommended euthanasia for the puppy. When a big-time expert like Sue Sternberg says a dog is going to harm a human being, there aren't too many options for that dog. If I hadn't considered the meaning of the word adoptable before, I had pause to think about it then. I remembered something vitally necessary to assess dogs. I'd gotten so caught up with what the pros were saying I'd ignored what I had known all along. It was something the dogs had taught me and something I could not learn from a book or a seminar. It was all about the feeling I got from a dog in my own gut. It was my bond with that particular dog.
I remember people telling me I was crazy to take a pit bull like Girl out of a shelter when I didn't have background history on her. Even though she had been running on the streets and I had no idea where she was from, when she looked into my eyes, I knew Girl was a good dog. I knew she would try as hard as she could to do what I wanted her to do. That is something you cannot be taught. I had spent a lot of money for the seminar but would come away with one valuable lesson. From then on, I would remember to heed my own instincts.
I wasn't able to speak to the woman from the little puppy's shelter again. I didn't want to know what was going to happen to the little boy who'd made the grave error of showing his nature, of playing full throttle, of not needing Sue Sternberg too much and failing the plastic hand prod test. I do not trust this test and think it quite cruel. Imagine poking some old hungry truck driver while he's getting down on his chicken fried. You're likely to draw back a bloody nub.
We had a slight break while Sternberg made some jokes. Everyone laughed a little too hard. Perhaps she was attempting to dispel the pall of doom in the room while we thought about the puppy being put to sleep. She went on about the Starbuck's chai and dropped a reference to McDonald's, where she takes dogs for a cheeseburger before she has them euthanized.
The next dog was a large female Rottweiler from the Humane Society where the event was being held. I must say, the facility was indeed a lovely place. Trish King was one of the staff trainers and well known in dog circles. She had volunteered the rottie for Sternberg to evaluate from their kennel. King sat with the rest of us in attendance while she held onto her little Cairn terrier, an over-aged Dorothy. She was an enthusiastic supporter of Sternberg, often leading the rest of the audience in bursts of applause. Sternberg has a near religious zealot following amongst dog professionals.
The Rottweiler was a typical rottie. I found out a little about the breed when I acquired a Rottweiler as one of my dog walking clients. I wanted to understand Rottweilers better and learned they were butchers' dogs, trained to guard the meat. I've met more than one rottie enthusiast with a funny story about their dog and the dinner table. One fellow said his dog would sit by the table while he prepared dinner and not allow anyone near the food until the man gave him the release command. This dog even protected the food from himself, not allowing himself to eat until he got the go ahead from his master.
The Marin rottie was a beautiful girl, large and glossy as a healthy Rottweiler should be. Rotties share some of the same stigma and mythology attached to the pit bull breeds. People read something bad about them in the paper or see a story on television and attribute the behavior as a genetic characteristic of the entire breed. You never hear the story about the sweet rottie following her little girl to school. It's a nice story but doesn't sell newspapers.
Sternberg went to work on the dog, prodding and poking her all over and getting no response. The rottie just sat there and let Sternberg do her business for the crowd. Sternberg let us know she was putting SCAN into effect. SCAN is her program, standing for sexually mature, cautious, arousal and no signs of friendliness. Rottie was a prime candidate for SCAN according to Sternberg.
I wondered if Mookie, Rebel or Girl could pass the SCAN test. Mookie hated having his nails clipped and being brushed. I would clip his nail and he'd bite the air. The bite is an air snap and not a real bite. It was a game Mookie played with me. He would never have bitten me. I knew that. He was a dog who'd come to us with quirks. Maybe those strange behaviors were acquired from the treatment he'd received from the Rastas. Maybe Mookie did not get to spend the required period of time with his littermates necessary for a socially well-rounded dog. Whatever the reason, he had those quirks, so Mookie and I made a game of nail clipping. It became our practice to brush and air bite. It might not be the standard taught in obedience, but it worked for Mookie and it was fun for us. It became part of our routine and our special bond.
Rebel is fond of a prod. In fact, he hikes up his short little leg so that the prodder can have better advantage. When he's done, he simply gets up and moves away. Rebel's always been his own little red man. Girl loves to have a good prod above her hip beneath her rib cage. She'll even turn and give you a good show of her canine tooth as she curls up her lip in ecstasy. It's scary looking the first time or two, but it's Girl's way of acknowledging that you've found her spot. With just these three dogs and their funny habits, it's awe inspiring to consider all of the other dogs out in their world and their special peculiarities. Each dog is an individual and has complexities as do we humans.
The female rottie took her prodding with an indifferent attitude. She had no reaction one way or the other. The
only one who had any reaction was Sue Sternberg. The more the rottie sat and did nothing, the more Sternberg got her own panties in a wad. It was kind of funny to see a grown woman poking away in a frenzy and the big dog laying there ignoring her. Finally, out came the plastic hand and the bowl of dried kibble. The rottie didn't even seem to care about the bowl of food. All in all, the dog was just sort of there. When Sternberg finished with her assessment, she dropped her head dramatically and said she was forced to recommend euthanasia for the dog. She said this dog had the capacity to hurt someone and her findings led to euthanasia as the only option.
The enrapt audience gave her a rousing vote of encouragement. I felt like a leftover SDS at the Republican National Convention. I had been raised in the south during the civil rights movement and was no stranger to lynch mob mentality. It terrifies me to this day. What in the world was this seminar I'd found myself in the midst of? Trish King assured Sternberg that the Rottweiler would be exterminated. There was a collective sigh of relief as members of the crowd reached down to pet their own closely harnessed dogs as if to say, "Good dog. You're a good dog. We are safe."
Trish King conducted a seminar a few years later at a local city pound. She was reported to have opened her workshop with a statement that she did not like Rottweilers and she was afraid of them. Now, I don't know that many rotts, but I see them walking with their people at parks and on city sidewalks. I am always amazed to see their big German butts happily bouncing alongside while looking up at the person holding the leash. I'm sure the breed has its share of unruly citizens, as do all of the breeds, but I've been lucky enough to witness the good citizens in my travels.
When we broke for lunch, Dante and I ran into a guy who'd previously worked in the kennels at CCACC. He offered to show us around the Marin facility. We gratefully accepted. I was surprised to see such a low number of cats and dogs in the adoptable section. In fact, there were not that many kennels and spaces for adoptable pets. If memory serves me correctly, there was more square footage in the plush gift store - where I'd purchased some expensive Premier gentle leaders - than the adoptable area.
He showed us the crematorium where people could bring their own pets to be cremated after they'd passed on. It helped raise money for the shelter but was also used to cremate the shelter's own euthanized animals. We traipsed back to the kennels nobody else sees in shelters. The donating public is usually only aware of the few cozy hotel style digs, such as the lobby in CCSPCA. Most of these dogs end up with their lives depending on the say so of one person. At CCSPCA, most people don't see the animals behind the scenes. For wealthy organizations that have the opportunity to effect change, this just ain't right.
In the far corner of the stray section sat the female rottie we'd witnessed fail the Sternberg assessment. Next to her was the hugest pile of steaming diarrhea I'd ever seen. It was fresh and wet and stunk to high heaven. There was even steam coming off the top. She had the same look of disinterest she'd worn throughout her episode with Sternberg.
I said 'hi' to the dog. She turned to look at me, her tongue hanging out. She seemed to be one of those dogs that likes to just lay there and hang out. I sure didn't get the feeling she'd like to kill me or anyone else for that matter. She hadn't even expressed an interest in killing Sue Sternberg when she was being assessed. Dante let out an audible “aww” which expressed perfectly how we felt. Here was a dog who’d been condemned to death because she’d failed Sue Sternberg’s test in front of the paying crowd. The audience had reacted like people at a circus when Sternberg recommended euthanasia. The entire time the rottie had undergone the prodding and evaluation, she’d needed to go to the bathroom. Not only was this poor dog not exercised properly before being pushed and pushed hard, her insides were about to explode with diarrhea. I saw that with my own two eyes.
What kind of a dog trainer doesn't let a dog have a chance to go outside and poop before enduring as grueling a test as the Sternberg assessment? What kinds of experts were these people anyway? We had spent good, hard-earned money to learn about dogs and what makes them aggressive. All I'd learned so far was how to kill 'em. If I had my doubts before, they were confirmed now after seeing this poor girl about to die. I am wrong about things from time to time, but I am willing to admit when I am wrong. I do have a pretty good gut feeling about dogs. The signals we learn from behaviorists and books are certainly worth noting. A dog will usually tell you what they are feeling if you're watching and listening. I have found, in my experience, that dogs are quite clear in their communication with us. My own errors took place when I was not focused and allowed my thinking to become clouded.
This dog was going to be killed because her signals were incorrectly read. Sue Sternberg is an ambitious and powerful person. Even CCACC used her methods. Trish King had assured Sternberg that the rottie would be put to sleep. Everyone was safe. How many other animals had been unfairly euthanized due to an improper assessment? How many other Sternberg seminar graduates were reading a dog improperly and influencing shelter temperament tests? I do not care to venture a guess. There is a huge misconception that euthanasia is the only solution for the overwhelming population of unwanted animals. This is tremendously wrong. All it takes is one person who is willing to look for a solution and I was about to go looking for that solution.
The CCACC attendees learned a great deal from the seminar that weekend. Two shepherd mixes from the adoptable side, Vinni and Topper, were put to sleep for food aggression by way of the plastic hand the following week. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.
From the chapter Buster and Sue - Pit Bull Nation by Cindy Marabito
