They are often victims

Styrian gives “problem dogs” a second chance

Georg Resch takes in dogs with a difficult past. What he accuses many pet owners of and how he works with four-legged friends.

Dog "Ossi" was still a puppy who had done nothing to anyone. Someone was bothered by the little German shepherd barking in the garden. He put a shotgun in the young animal's mouth - and pulled the trigger.

"Ossi" survived seriously injured. Just as he survived several poison attacks. But at some point, when the abuse and neglect became too much, he bit down. And had to leave immediately.

The brown Staffordshire terrier "Sir", however, was to become the evil face of the underworld in a major German city and frighten opponents in dubious circles. For this purpose, means were used that we do not know. Nobody could get close to the dog.

Evil? "They were made that way by humans"
Today, both are with Georg Resch from Eastern Styria - and worship their master, as you can see at first glance. They, the bad guys, the dangerous ones. "They were made that way by humans," says the 37-year-old police officer who, with his Hartberg-based company RG Dogs, gives problem dogs that nobody wants a second chance and also trains special dogs for international forces.

His recipe? "I gain their trust." Without this deep trust, it won't work between humans and animals, he tries to tell anyone who has problems with a dog. "But the real problem is that many people get a dog without considering everything: that they owe it patience. That they have a responsibility for the rest of their lives. That they have to work with the animal."

"They just wanted to get rid of the burden"
A family recently handed in their dog to Resch: "They said he was nipping. I assured them that we could get it under control." After a long conversation, the dog trainer realized that there was no solution to be found. "They just wanted to get rid of the 'burden'". This always shocks him, "because it's so typical of our throwaway society. What no longer fits is thrown away.

The "Devil's Dogs" association

• Resocializes biting dogs that no one else wants to work with and teaches people how to work with their conspicuous four-legged friends
• Admission freeze: No more dogs can currently be admitted
• The "Teufels Hunde" association is urgently dependent on donations. You can do good with just 1 euro a month and sponsor a dog!
  IBAN: AT92 3802 3000 0005 3090
  BIC: RZSTAT2G023
• You can follow the work on their Instagram channel

The fact that it is a living being is completely removed from our consciousness." He has no respect for such people: "Anyone who gives up their dog without a shred of emotion, who doesn't care what happens to it, is also letting every human down."

Nowadays, anyone can act as a trainer, without any training, just a trade license! A lot of scams are being perpetrated with this

Georg Resch

There's a lot of shenanigans going on with dog trainers
Resch also hates the term dog trainer: "That's also completely wrong in the system. Today, anyone can act as a trainer, without training, just with a trade license! There's a lot of fraud going on - and I'm getting more and more distressed four-legged friends that some dog trainer has 'worked' with." But everything could be under control.

Like one of the most common problems - leash aggression. Resch: "There are only individual solutions. The problem usually lies with the owner. They see another dog coming, tense up on the lead and pull their own animal towards them. It instinctively thinks: 'Aha, my owner is scared, so the dog is dangerous - I'm going to attack!' This can be easily solved with exercises and lots of eye contact."

The police officer specializes in Malinois, the Belgian shepherd dog. And has a warning: "We will have a social problem with this breed. Because this is a working dog that prefers to be challenged 24 hours a day. Not one to lie on the couch. And they can become aggressive if they are underchallenged. Many people underestimate that."

Need more home and dog sense
Just like this: "Nowadays, many people only choose a dog based on its appearance, not on breed characteristics and whether the dog fits in with the family. This leads to problems. We need more common sense about dogs and homes again!"

Info: rg-dogs.com