08/06/2026
Welcome to Tales from the Ledge at Ulster County Canines
Today we are featuring Flash
Flash represents a question that hangs over Rescue and inspires some of the most passionate and divisive debate within our field.
-what do you do with aggression?
-Can it be fixed? Managed?
- how much is acceptable and what red line, what Rubicon can be crossed to make it unacceptable?
While ii have a particular set of skills, developed over a lifetime working with aggression in shelter dogs; i can only assess a situation, and make a recommendation. Flash, having accumulated a bite history, is here so I can answer those questions. We call it the Social Assessment Program.
What likely causes Flash to bite?
Can it be trained away? If so, how?
If not, can it be managed? Contained?
What sort of environment would he succeed in?
But the natural follow up questions are:
How many resources must be poured into one dog to mitigate that aggression to fulfill our moral obligation?
Conversely, is there a point that pouring unending resources into an aggressive dog to the exclusion of others that are not safety risks itself becomes an immoral act? Are we shortchanging the 'good' dogs we could be saving from overcrowding related euthanasia somewhere, to devote money and kennel space to an unsolvable problem?
I could easily author 20 pages on this topic, dissecting the nuances and variables affecting each question above.
The frustrating summary answers to those questions, unsatisfying as this may be; depending entirely upon an assessment of the entire specific case. There is no cookie-cutter solution. Every dog is an individual. Every aggressive reaction has a trigger, every environment has nuance, every Rescue has individualized resources/facilities/ finances and mission statement. Lastly, with respect to Ian Dunbar, every bite injury does not fit nestly into a scaled diagram. A child, or elderly person will suffer a worse wound than an adult inflicted by the same dog reacting to the same stimuli simply by virtue of scale- a smaller arm will suffer deeper punctures; a smaller person will be more prone to shaking injury.
However, to be sure, a redirected tag or a warning shot by a frightened dog is something to be considered with fsr less concern than a hold, crushing or shaking injury from a fully intended and committed bite attack.
If a dog with a bite history, regardless of the potential for rehabilitation or management, is being considered for placement in society; it is absoluteky imperative that the basic root cause of the bite is definitively determined. Fear aggression and dominant aggression are vastly different motivations, often with vastly different results.
Flash, for instance, is not a monster. He is an overstimulated dog that self-soothes with his mouth. Unfortunately, he sometimes fails to consider what he is grabbing. Hes not targeting a human for being a human, hes targeting a them simply because he feels the need to grab something, anything, and sometimes its a human in front of him. Sometimes its a leash, sometimes a fenced, or a tree, or a ball or a bitey.
Is he adoptable?
Adoptability is a question of demand. Can he be safely adopted? Under certain circumstances, yes. Can he be trained? Taught self control? Yes, again, to a point. He is smart, affectionate and attentive absent outside stimuli.
Is there a public interest or demand for a dog with his habits? For a lifelong project like Flash?
There is a vanishingly small sliver of the population interested in navigating marginal dogs like Flash. However, in the peaceful, low trigger park here at ucc, Flash is a calm, focused affectionate dog. The potential is there.
Flash comes to us from Ready for Rescue, a non profit org based in NYC. He is enrolled in our Assessment Program, but available for foster or adoption to a qualified home through Ready for Rescue.
To support our work, as always, contributions can be made through venmo
(6184)
Paypal.me/UlsterCountyCanines.com
Or via check to UCC, po box 98, saugerties ny 12477
