Were do I start?I run up and down the country with the sole objective of stopping dogs getting returned to rescue centres. I hold down a demanding full time job so my dog work has to be done at night after work and after I’ve attended to my own dogs. This equates to me being on the go for up to 18-hours, 3 or 4 nights per week. On top of that, I donate most of my earnings back into the rescue system. I’m not looking for sympathy. I choose to do this work and the plus side is that my advice is generally welcomed and appreciated. I find my dog work extremely rewarding and I know that sometimes I make the difference and stop dogs being dumped in rescue centres or being put to sleep.
Every now and then, situations occur that make me question if all this hard work and sacrifice is worthwhile.
I recently experienced a situation where I had given some pre visit work advice via email and telephone. I visited the client and spent over 2 hours working through numerous situations. At the end of the appointment, the client didn’t have any cash and asked me if it would be OK to write me a cheque or pay me next time. I said next time would be fine because I usually donate my earnings or use them to subsidise other people who cant afford to pay for training so its no hardship for me to go unpaid now and then. The following morning I wrote a mail to the client covering the things we had worked on and outlining things that should be progressed etc.
Later that day, I received a mail stating that the client wanted to delay any further sessions because the whole experience was way too stressful for her and her dogs. I think delay was a nice way of saying “forget it and don’t come back”. This decision had been prompted because one of the dogs had wet his bed overnight. The owner accredited the bed wetting to an extremely stressful training session. She was concerned that because the dog had a rough past and because she had not had him for long that my training session had put the dog back. This owner reckoned that the dog had been distressed because he had let out a light squeal when I took hold of his collar to remove him from the room. This wee dog was really content and happy by the time I left the house. He was sitting with his neck arched, ears forward and tail wagging. This is not the behaviour I’d expect from a stressed out puppy.
I always try to look at everything positively and this post is not a jibe at the owner. To be honest, she has the dog’s best interest at heart and she’s trying her utmost to ensure that her dogs have as happy a life as possible.
I’d hazard a guess and put the bed wetting down to the dog wondering if his situation is about to change again. He may have come to associate a new handler with a new home. Does wetting his bed constitute absolving him from any future training or discipline? I think not.
The reality is that any training program is a behaviour modification process. By definition “modify” translates to “make a change or transformation”. To change a behaviour there has to be a crossover point. This crossover point usually means “No, your current behaviour is unacceptable and I wont tolerate it anymore”. The owner’s intolerance is normally the reason that I get called in the first place.
My training methods are based on positive reinforcement and negative punishment. PUNISHMENT, I hear you say? Well, we all use some kind of punishment when we modify behaviour. Negative punishment is when you remove the dog from a desirable situation or when you remove a pleasurable stimuli. E.g. if the dog is trampling over your flowers in the garden, you remove him from the garden for a few minutes then allow him out again. The idea is that you translate that the flowerbed is out of bounds to him and he will be removed from the garden each time he enters it. In time, the dog gets the message and refrains from assaulting the flowers in the garden. THIS IS NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT. Negative punishment does not cause any pain or physical suffering.
I hate being negative and I don’t like crossing paths with anyone but I deeply resent being labelled as a heavy-handed trainer.
I do excerpt my dominance on dogs but not in an aggressive or bullying manner. I’m NOT in favour of any kind of positive punishment even rattle bottles or choke chains. I will not tolerate petulance and I refuse to be pulled, jumped upon or bitten by a dog and I will react swiftly to remove a dog from a situation if it attempts to dominate me. I place myself in a leadership position and reward the dog for complying to my requests. I like to think of myself as a good boss to work for. I do have standards and I’m demanding but I will reward generously and consistently. All my videos on this site show happy dogs willing to work NOT quivering wrecks frightened to step out of line.
On the plus side, this experience had a few aspects that are worth mentioning.
The first is that the owner was humanising the dogs. The dogs were being treated as equals and as such were operating like equals. The owner had received letters of complaint regarding the noise that the dogs were making in the house and in the garden. The dogs were constantly jumping up on visitors. They had also been allowed to run loose and had previously ran up to strangers and jumped all over them. This kind of behaviour is simply not acceptable. These behaviours need to be modified and there may be an initial period where the dog will feel out of place because he is not being allowed to operate in the fashion he is used to. Owners need to realise that after this initial crossover period the dog will start to conform and be much more content.
The other resounding aspect of this case was that the owner appeared to be extremely mindful that the dog had been mistreated previously. Lets get real. There is nothing I or anyone else can do about the incidents that occurred in the past. We CAN modify the dog’s behaviour and make his future more enjoyable. People need to stop getting hung up about the past. We’ve all experienced pleasure, pain, hurt, mishap and misdemeanour. We don’t have to mention it to everyone we meet or let it affect our future. I sometimes believe that owners use dogs to express their own emotions. I’ve no issue with that as long as it doesn’t put the dog’s welfare at risk.
On a serious note, there are amendments to the dangerous dogs act being presented to the Scottish parliament. These new laws could make life very difficult for owners who let their dogs interfere with other people. Owning a dog in the UK is going to become much more demanding than it is at present. The days of letting unruly dogs disturb neighbours are numbered. This owner could potentially end up being charged under the dangerous dogs act if her dogs continue to operate in this fashion.
Some owners like the notion of having an obedient dog but have no idea of how to put it in place. Some people go through life getting their own way by throwing strops or by getting moody.Dogs dont care if you're moody.You'll have to be better than that if you want your dog to obey you. Dogs are pack animals that are guided and dominated by a strong and worthy pack leader. Don’t think you can reverse thousands of years of evolution by “being nice or throwing a strop”. Share your space or food with your dog and suffer the consequences of canine equality. Be inconsistent or unreliable and your dog will repay you with similar attributes and acts of petulance.
There is a huge void between love and respect and a dog may love you but he will not respect you unless you show him that you are a worthy leader.
I’d like to thank the owner for this experience. I’m sure it will make me a better trainer.
