If you're one of those people who judge the value of a post by first checking it's length, go no further. If OTOH you're someone who's interested in truth and care about dogs, please read on. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip this.
K9media wrote
Accusations of dog abuse is pretty serious
I agree that accusations of abuse of a dog is very serious.
With that in mind, unless of course he returns with more lies and nonsense or someone else quotes him, this will be my last word on the cyberstalker Steve Leigh.
One of the many reasons that he's been thrown off so many dog training boards is that he used and still advocates the use of a training tool known as a "training table." Like any tool this device has its proper uses and is subject to abuse. When this tool is abused and there's evidence to believe that Steve did so, it's one of the most horrid forms to torture of animals that exist.
I've never met Steve, never seen him train and have never seen any dogs that he's trained. I've asked for years for him to back up his claims that he's trained dogs, but as you can see, he pretends those requests for information don't exist.
Some dogs simply do not have it in their temperament to bite a human being. Yet many owners of those dogs want that kind of training. (This is not meant to invite discussion regarding that mentality, if you wish to do so please start a new thread). Those who engage in table training and have no regard for animals use that tool in this fashion. They place the dog on the table and attach a chain that connects the pole rising out of the center of the table to the dog's choke chain. They approach wearing protective gear in a manner known as "agitation" whereby they use threatening body language to place stress on the dog which can be relieved by biting. If the dog won't bite they shove him off the table.
This table has been constructed so that the dog's rear legs can just barely touch the ground. Probably some of you have seen the photos on Steve's site. The dog is left hanging by his choke collar which tightens around his throat and he can't get back on the table.
He's strangling. Slowly dying. This is allowed to continue until, at the last minute, just before the dog passes out, he's lifted back on the table and allowed to recover. Then the agitator comes in again. If the dog won't bite or doesn't bite hard enough, the dog is shoved off the table again. Again, he's strangled until he nearly passes out from lack of air. Again, he's lifted back on the table.
This is repeated until the dog realizes that unless and until he bites the agitator very hard, he's going to be strangled until he's nearly dead. This is what I believe was part of Steve's regimen of dog training and if he was still training today, he'd be doing it regularly.
It's almost universal that table trainers build their tables indoors, where a casual passer-by can't observe their training. Sometimes, as in Steve's case, they build a special building around the table where none existed before. Sometimes they have a building and put the table inside of it. When I've asked Steve the reason for this he's said that it's so that the wooden equipment (the table) is protected from the weather. Of course this is absurd, a coat of paint will give the protection that's needed. Consider the relative cost of painting a few square feet of wood to that erecting a building. Won't that building need protection from the weather as well? Another response is it that will enable the equipment to be used during inclement weather. Steve lives in Florida, where there's little "really" inclement weather. Yes, hurricanes blow through but they're rarely more than an inconvenience and probably his area has not suffered any major damage for decades. In any case, dogs trained to bite, whether for sport work such as SchH, for police work, or for the military work in all weather. Competitions that test those dogs are held in all weather. The police and military dogs go to work, no matter what the weather. And let's not forget that many clubs of many kinds have wooden agility obstacles that are left outside for years. This "protection from the weather" excuse is just so much nonsense.
The real reason that these tools are used indoors is to prevent anyone from seeing the torture that the dogs are subjected to.
What is my evidence of accusing Steve of this form of abuse? Steve tells us that he learned table training from a very successful (many titles to his name) trainer that I won't drag into this. Years back Steve told people on a forum (during one of his personal attacks on me) that I had accused this trainer of abusing dogs as I've described above. I'd never done so and Steve, with his vast collection of my emails and articles has never been able to back up that claim.
I phoned that trainer who described Steve as "a bit of a nut" and "a different kind of person" and told him that I'd never said anything of the sort, that since I hadn't seen him train, that I couldn't and wouldn't make that accusation. I did say that people I know and trust have told me that THEY HAVE seen him do this. (Strangle dogs on the training table). He got very quiet and replied, (to the effect), "Well we've all done things in our past that we wouldn't do today." My 29+ years of law enforcement experience tells me that this is an admission that he had, in fact, strangled dogs on the training table, that he now knew it was the wrong thing to do and that he wouldn't do it again. Since Steve tells us that he emulates this man, at times engaging in near-hero worship of him, it's reasonable to believe that he too, has repeatedly strangled dogs on the table.
I've asked Steve if he's ever strangled dogs on the table and his response has either been to ignore the question or to demand that I prove that he has if I'm going to make that accusation. But I'm an eternal optimist so it's worth a try again.
Steve, have you ever strangled a dog on the training table?