In my professional capacity as
a pet behaviour specialist, I am constantly challenged by the strange perceptions
of pet owners.
A few of years ago, I was swimming my Springer James in one of Telford Town
Park’s splendid pools. As a two year old, he needed constant supervision,
prone as he was, (once an all consuming scent hits his nostrils) to ‘plot
loss.’ As I was watched him swimming, my whistle was in my mouth, ready to
forestall any sudden, unscheduled adventure.
Suddenly, I spotted a smart, be-suited middle aged man with a scrumptious
but immaculate, young red setter. The setter looked ready to join my James
in the water, and the chap seemed aghast at this prospect. In order
to be helpful, I offered to call my dog out of the water. To this end, my
whistle already to my lips, I blew the recall signal. James looked up, I gave
the recall hand signal, and out he came.
I praised James when he reached me. He was all smiling, all wagging, long
tongue hanging out, and happiness and goodwill exuding from his very being.
Three gallons of water and several strands of vegetation were shaken off his
body. Not all of this attached itself to me. I had neglected to
give him a ‘down’ command before he reached me.
Everyone who has a propensity to depression should have access to
a Springer; they should be available on The National Health. Their sheer
joy of living is a real tonic. However, as you can see, you do need a sense
of humour.
The Setter’s owner looked amazed. He fully understood the great personal
conflict a gundog has in leaving excellent swimming water on command.
He said, ‘that was wonderful, I need my dog to do that, where do you get
those whistles, they’re wonderful, aren’t they?’ He actually thought
that the whistle made James come out of the water! Many people have no understanding
that whistles, clickers, leads, head collars etc. are only, at the best, training
aids, or at the worst controlling aids.
Many people attend two day courses with me, in order to help to gain a reasonable
relationship with their dogs. They all attend with a car boot full of ‘equipment’.
‘None of it works,’ they say. ‘I bought a clicker, and when my dog ran off,
I clicked it, but nothing happened. ’Or, ‘I bought a head collar, and put
in on, but the dog just panicked.’
Guess what? Equipment is there as an aid to training, not to replace it!
Opinions vary as to the use of equipment, food, and so on. The truth is,
dogs are individuals, as are people, and the level of training required by
owners is as varied as the number of owners. Methods also vary with the capability
of the people, and the motivation and capability of the dog.
Food is a useful teaching tool, but does not replace respect or good handling,
and needs to be faded out once a behaviour has been learned. Head collars
might get your dog to walk calmly with you, but will usually not help with
walking nicely beside you off lead. The more you rely on equipment, the less
control you have over the dog off the lead. In my opinion, if you rely on
equipment, this is a judgement call on your relationship with your dog. You
need to teach your dog to obey you willingly on command. Dogs have to
be taught to associate coming back to you when you blow the whistle.
Rather than thinking about equipment, why not explore behavioural training?
Many people do this without putting a name to it, and they are usually people
who have a great instinct for working with animals. However, for the rest
of the pet owning population, this can be a steep learning curve! However,
I do this stuff for a living, and have trained for many years.
Anyone can learn to shape behaviour in their pets, it simply takes a good
teacher, and a willing student. Chuck the equipment!
reprinted with kind permission from Christine Woodall
01746 764332 www.petsbehavingbadly.com
January 2008
