cockers on its me or the dog

[daunting]

have been wondering the same myself Rachel  ??

[Mary]

Totally agree Rachel, I picked up on all this too but didn't have the time or patience to cut and paste it all as you have So many contradictions

[miche]

They're just digging themselves a bigger and bigger hole IMO. 

[Tracy S]

The best thing Channel could have done was not to get involved with this case but offer suitable alternatives for the family. this was clearly not a case of 'light entertainment'.

Obviously they chose to be involved and the outcome is apparent to all, how sad they didn't have the foresight not to show the programme at all, something they can't take back

[JackieD]

Errr you can't have as much fun with a toaster as a cocker  Sorry I must be cracking up I found that really funny 

[Jan/Billy]

Who said anything about this behaviour being justified if from a byb?  It would have just made me personally feel better knowing that this dog's behaviour had been borne from bad breeding - that's what I meant.

I do not think that dogs from "proper breeders" are totally free of severe behavioural problems - I know I'm no expert but I'm not that naive, and if this dog did have a degree of "rage" this could have shown itself regardless of whether the dog was badly handled or not 

Totally agree!  

A "neurological disorder" isn't a result of it being badly handled by it's owners. A "proper breeder" will not breed from a dog where they know neurological orders exist whereas a back yard breeder more than likely will  

[dreamcatcher]

I havent been on the forum for quite a while but I had to have a look at all your response to  Tuesdays programme, like alot of you I thought it was disgusting the way they showed this poor dog being taken to the vets to be pts. it was very upsetting and I could'nt sleep that night or get that awful image out of my head of it being carried out. Although I do agree that these people dont't seem to have given there dogs even the most basic training I do disagree with the some of the quotes on here that this dog bit just because it was'nt trained, even the best trained dogs can turn and anyone of us could have find ourselves in there situation one day, Nobody can predict a dogs a behaviour, not even these so called EXPERTS!!!!

[Shelley]

How well worded that response from VS admin was. Is it me or is there no feeling within it? Though I suppose it is just us lot who have emotion.

The programme is still bugging me. And again it wasn't so much the content of the programme, but why couldn't they have said before it started that a dog would have been pts? If they had I know I wouldn't have watched it! With them saying at the beginning that it was a weepy I assumed that the owners had re-homed the dog, or he had died from a brain tumour (once I saw that he had bitten at the beginning). Sitting through a programme I always watch,and yes enjoy! Then seeing something that, to me, need not have been shown was awful. Oh how I wish I had a Radio Times... Is that the one which someone said told what would happen?

I have known two dogs who were pts due to being aggressive (one due to a brain tumour), and I don't have a problem with that. It was hard for the owners to make the decision to take them to the vets that one final time. Please, let us not have to make that kind of thing into "normal" TV!!!

Watching people dying in programmes like Holby or Casualty has no effect on me what so ever... I know it isn't real. Come to think of it, death on the news doesn't bother me either.... Unless it is an animal, that is just me though .

And I know that I am not just feeling up set by this because the dog was a Cocker. It wouldn't have mattered to me what the breed was, seeing it go in that car all happy, and then being carried to it's final resting place would still have had me a blubbering wreck

So if anyone from VS board or Channel 4 are reading this, please in future let us know that a dog will be pts before the programme starts, so we can turn over.... Or better still, don't bother to air the programme!

[Cathy]

I have read and re-read the various statements made by VS and her associates - here, and on the offical VS site, but cannot find an answer to a question that has been bothering me for a while  ....


I understand the sequence of events as follows:

Benji bit one daughter, in what could have been considered a "resource guarding" situation.
He was taken to the vets by the family, given a clean bill of health, and on the advice if the vet, he returned to the family home.
He then bit again, a frenzied attack - the mother of the household - in what was described as an unprovoked attack.
He was again taken to the vets, who conducted further examination, and advised the dog was put to sleep.
The family discovered that they had been accepted on "Its Me or the Dog" and so disregarded the advise of the vet, and Benji took part in the show
After the show had finished filming, Benji attacked a third member of the family, unprovoked.
On the advice of the vet (who had already advised this before the third attack) and of VS, Benji was PTS

I don't understand why VS/Channel 4 was prepared to feature Benji on its show after the vets advice had been disregarded.  Filming for the show required leaving Benji within a home with children.
VS says herself, she believes that "once a dog has shown the propensity not just to bite, but to attack (especially unprovoked), that dog can never be trusted not to attack again"     It seems to me to be very irresponsible for someone who believes this to allow Benji (who had carried out one unprovoked attack at this point) to remain in the family home, especially when the reason the family chose not to take the advice of the vet was because of the show itself

VS Admin says here on COL that

In my opnion, it was irresponsible enough of the breeder to take Benji back for the 3-4 days he was with them having a young daughter in the house.

How is this different from allowing Benji to go on living with the family for the purpose of filming??


Can anyone help me out here?  I really can't understand how anyone who believes that once a dog has bitten it is a danger could have allowed the dog to go on living in a home with children while they filmed a TV show 

Thats great rachel - Why don't you post it on the VS ,and channel 4 website.

[Sarah.H]

Can anyone help me out here?  I really can't understand how anyone who believes that once a dog has bitten it is a danger could have allowed the dog to go on living in a home with children while they filmed a TV show 

Well said.  The only clear fact in this sorry mess is that an innocent dog had been badly let down by the people responsiblefor him, and C4 and VS have capitalised on a dangerous and emotional situation.

[nm760]

Having just read all of the posts in this thread I feel that my anguish on Tuesday night and subsequent anger were justified, I think that most of the points I have considered have already been covered so I am not going to re-itterate them in another long post.

Perhaps this is just emotion that makes me feel like writing this and it is not really the case, but I couldn't help feeling that to condemn Benji as a dangerous dog, beyond help was an ideal way of covering up for the fact that the training regime (whether it was followed or not) did not work. I am sure everone here is well aware that training a dog who hasn't even picked up bad habits takes a long time and requires massive commitment - the problem with these shows are that despite the fact that the trainer may have spent weeks working with the dogs off-air, the half hour schedule gives the impression that you can cure a behavioral problem with very little time and effort. I think that this in itself is quite irresponsible, and doesn't really portray the real investment of time required to prospective (first time) owners watching.

I do not require a response from the programme on this, I would like to think that their intentions are true but either way I feel that I would be getting a 'PR' friendly response. We all realise that the bottom line for any programme broadcast is ratings, no matter how dedicated the presenter or production team. Showing a programme which lasted for 6 weeks training dog or even a small group would not be 'good tv', they have to be punchy and to the point to keep the average viewer from flicking channel.

I am not trying to take away from the gravity of this post with my next statement, but no matter how much we discuss this it will not bring poor Benji back. I just want to finish on a lighter note and say that I would far rather watch a 30 minute programme featuring Jimmy and Misty every Tuesday night - I for one would give the 'pilot' a good review 

Tim & Nic

[maxnlilysmum]

Well I think that instead of watching it's me or the dog in future we should all watch Colins videos about Jimmy and Misty.  I cant wait to see new ones with Stevie in them.  They make me cry in a happy way. 

[lyn]

what a great idea.
colin,get the camera out.
i had no problem with the scenes of benjy going to the vet or being buried.they are a fact of life.my problem was that i felt benji was let down by his family and channel 4.i will never watch the program again.i have said before in other posts that the program makers make dog training look easy and we all know it's not.all dogs are different and some are easier to train than others.training a dog is usually a mixture of fun and frustration it is definately hard work(well it is in my house).
rachel,i too had been puzzling over why benji was left in the home with children and then onto a breeder who had a young child(though it clearly stated friend not breeder on the program).i too think you should post it on the vs site.

[Jane S]

rachel,i too had been puzzling over why benji was left in the home with children and then onto a breeder who had a young child(though it clearly stated friend not breeder on the program).i too think you should post it on the vs site.

She has The person posting as the son on VS's forum states that Benji came "from a bad breeder who has since moved" which implies the family were not in touch with the breeder anymore so it seems strange that we are now being told he went back to the breeder.

Incidentally, in case anyone is wondering about vs admin's comment that he/she wouldn't post on here again because of the "welcome message from admin and the general tone of this board", he/she did not receive any message from Admin. Just thought I'd clarify that

Anyway, I think this thread has probably gone as far as it can and most people have now had the chance to express their views so I'll close it later today. If anyone else wants their say, they have a few more hours to do so and then we'll let Benji rest in peace.

[ladylola]

I agree. Rest in peace Benji