Dog trainer caught attacking and attempting to strangle Staffie given unpaid work

A dog trainer who was caught attacking his own pet in a park has been given unpaid work.

Christopher McIvor, 29, attacked the Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Etho in Glasgow’s Yorkhill on June 29, 2025.

McIvor – a trainer of seven years – repeatedly struck Etho to the body and attempted to choke the dog.

The violence was overseen by a couple from their window who contacted the authorities.

McIvor – who runs Christopher’s Canines – claimed that he was trying to prevent Etho from attacking another dog.

However, he was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court of causing unnecessary suffering to Etho.

Sheriff Kevin McCarron told McIvor at sentencing that he “reacted totally inappropriately” to two dogs fighting.

The sheriff ordered him to do 180 hours of unpaid work. He did not impose a disqualification for owning dogs after several professional references were tendered to the court.

The court heard that the couple heard yelping coming from outside their flat and went to their window.

The man stated in his evidence that he saw McIvor “strike” Etho with his hands and kick him “once or twice.”

The witness went on to say: “It looked like the dog was being pulled up by the head against the body. It was highly unnecessary.”

Ryan Sloan, defending, put it to the witness: “If I suggest that Etho was highly animated and acting in an aggressive manner at the time Mr McIvor was engaged it?”

The man replied: “I dispute that.”

The female witness told the court in her evidence that the first thing she saw was “Mr McIvor kicking the dog.”

She stated to prosecutor Amy Clyne that this happened “a few times, it wasn’t just one kick.”

When asked how the dog reacted, she said: “The dog wasn’t particularly barking or going crazy. It was quite still.”

She later said: “He was lifting the lead or rope to pull the dog’s neck up and the dog was clearly being pulled up off the ground.”

McIvor claimed in his evidence that he lifted to dog up from the ground for “no more than five seconds.”

He later stated he had no reason to physically engage with the dog “other than to stop the attack [on another dog].”

When convicting him, Sheriff Kevin McCarron stated that McIvor’s behaviour was “inhumane and unnecessary.”

The sheriff added: “There was nothing happening at that point and it strikes me that your actions were more akin to punishment to whatever happened earlier.”

Mr Sloan told the sentencing that his client continues to profess his innocence.

The lawyer added: “He does express remorse for how the situation arose.”