I am definitely a country girl. I feel safe and comfortable with fewer people and more animals and fields. I would be happier to walk alone in a wood than walk down a busy high street. I know this and am very grateful that I live in a quiet village surrounded by countryside.
This fact was really brought to my attention when my husband and I went to Wembley. We have been a few times before, but Jon wanted to be in the crowds on the pitch area – so no seats. I agreed knowing that this wouldn’t be my choice and that I may not be able to cope being surrounded by so many people, but I was willing to try. So, we got the train into London, my stress levels are already slightly higher, checking the map to see what underground to use, what time and which platform – I am out of my comfort zone. I have been to London often, and I do love it, but it causes me stress as it’s not my normal. I have to concentrate more, and I worry about things I don’t usually. So I am in a heightened state, but this doesn’t mean I’m not excited as well, but my adrenalin is definitely pumping. A few train changes and we then walk into Wembley. We work our way to nearish the front (well Jon would have been closer I’m sure) and I was doing ok. There was some space around us, and we started to enjoy the warmup acts. Over the next 2 hours more and more people were arriving and our space that we thought we have ‘claimed’ was shrinking. Then Coldplay come onto the stage, the crowd erupts and the dancing starts. I love dancing and was initially doing ok. Yes, I kept being bumped into by the surrounding crowd, but I was telling myself to keep calm! I was enjoying myself, but just really wanted a bit more space. My back started to complain that I had been stood up for many hours. All this started to ruin my enjoyment of the show and after about an hour, I told Jon I needed space. We managed to squeeze through the crowd and get to the edge. Fresh air!!! Wow I hadn’t realised how tense I had actually got, and the relief felt amazing. I was able to stretch my back, to have no one in my personal space and was actually able to see the stage clearer, so was able to finish to show feeling so much better. However, my anxiety hadn’t finished yet. Because as the concert started to come to an end I was thinking about the underground. Most of these thousands of people will be leaving at the same time and all heading towards the station. The walk towards the station was a real challenge to me. Thousand of people all working their way around stairs, barriers, security staff and then a train platform and the train itself. Sardines came to mind. Jon was of course doing his best to help me, to sometimes create a barrier between other people. A few stations along, the train gained space and I was able to sit and travel back to the hotel. So why did I put myself through this? Simple; I choose to. I knew that it would find parts of it challenging but the overall outcome would be enjoyment. Yes, being on the pitch area wasn’t for me, and yes if it was possible, I would choose not to do big crowds, but I really enjoy live music and I really wanted to see Coldplay. So why I am telling you all this? Well, it got me thinking about dogs that need space. We usually call these ‘reactive’ dogs. You’ve probably seen them or might have one yourself. These dogs when too close to a ‘trigger’ such as other dogs or people, will bark, lunge and react in a way that we would choose they did. Well. I felt like a ‘space’ dog during my trip, but the difference is that I choose to do it. I made the decision, I knew what was going to happen, I was able to plan ahead, I was also able to change my mind and move away when I needed to. I didn’t need to ‘bark’ to get space, I simply moved away or was able to talk to myself and keep calm and work through a situation, knowing there was an end coming. What if I wasn’t given choice? What if I didn’t know what was happening? What if I couldn’t just move away and to make myself feel better? What if I was attached to another species that didn’t understand my communication? Now can you see why I am comparing my experience with that of a ‘reactive’ dog? A dog that struggles in certain situations. Dogs that aren’t given the choice. That aren’t understood and are just seen as disobedient? Some dogs would prefer to be a county dog. Some dogs love the busyness of town life. Some dogs are social butterflies, some prefer their own space. I believe we can help either version of dog to adapt to living in any environment, to have skills to be around their ‘triggers’, but it may take time and understanding on how to help them cope if this isn’t easy for them. We also need to understand that they all have their own personality, and we should be their advocate, so they don’t have to experience daily stress. Will I go to Wembley again? Yes! Will I still probably struggle with the crowds? Yes! Will I choose seats next time? Yes! (sorry Jon). However, I gain confidence in that I have choice and know I will be with people that can help me if I need it. Your dog might need some help and support too, so watch, listen, are they doing ok with what you want from them? Do they need something more from you to reduce their stress? If you would like any support, then don’t hesitate to get in touch. Jo x
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I have been wanting to write this for a while but due to me not wanting to risk the criticism I have stopped myself. There are very strong opinions on this subject.
I have previously written about making sure people do their research before working with a trainer or behaviourist to make sure they are accredited and use force free methods, but I have always made my posts quite ‘polite’. However, I keep seeing so many balanced trainers posting videos on Facebook or Instagram that I have to speak up. I want to make sure as many people as possible know that there are other options when training dogs (or any animal) that don’t cause fear or pain. So let’s clarify what a balanced trainer is. They will usually say they are based in science as they use all the quadrants of learning. That means they will use reinforcements and rewards as well as punishment and fear equally, hence the ‘balanced’ term. Their argument is that science shows that an animal can learn by using these methods and therefore get the wanted results so why would they not use them. However, when I read these arguments about the best methods to use to train a dog, the subject that is missing from balanced trainers is ethics and welfare of the animal. Does punishment work – in short – yes! If you threaten me with violence or a knife, I will most likely comply, and I’ll do what you want me to do. However, do I trust you now? Do I want to be near you? No! Am I doing the behaviour due to fear – yes. The prediction of pain – the sound of the buss from an electric shock collar, or metal jangle of the prong collar – I would do my best to avoid the pain. So over time can you see that although the behaviour might be learnt (why risk causing pain) I would live in a world of fear and intimidation. I would shut down and wouldn’t feel that I had choices and therefore just wouldn’t engage. The risk of making a mistake would be too great, so I would simply stop. This might look like a very well-trained dog – to me all I see is a broken spirit; the light has gone from their eyes. Or the other possibility is that I would learn to fight back. To not accept that I had to comply and would react, show aggression by growling or biting. That would most likely result in that person having to use more intensive punishment to get the same result. I would be branded as stubborn, or wilful, or not knowing my place in the pack. Perhaps I am a certain breed, and I need a firmer hand (this isn’t true by the way). The ‘explosion’ of a dog that has just had enough, and the bite that comes out of nowhere. The behaviour is suppressed, not resolved, and it’s likely to rear its head at some point. Dogs are sentient beings which means they have emotions. They can experience stress, anxiety and fear. This can impact their physical and mental health. If humans are the more intelligent species, it is up to us to make sure we use that brain power for the better. We must treat animals with respect and understanding. Punishment, fear and intimidation should not be in any trainer’s toolbox. The consequences of using such methods should be highlighted. The ‘fallout’ is rarely talked about. Yes, we do need to train our dogs to listen and respond to us for their safety and to have manners to live in our human world. However, there are proven force free reward-based methods that achieve these goals and doesn’t cause any negative fallout. We keep our loving relationship with our dogs, and they can trust and rely on us. We work together to achieve the goal behaviour. Ethics and welfare of the animal when thinking about methods used to train are a must. I know most of you on my page will already agree with me, but I can honestly say most of you will have family or friends that aren’t aware and it’s up to us to help educate people. Can I therefore encourage you talk, to have conversations about focusing on having a relationship with your dog that is of trust and respect and not fear and negative consequences. Let’s do our part to change what is considered normal or even needed in training. Let’s be the change! Jo x A Facebook memory came up for me this week of my first Border Collie Finn. We lost him 8 years ago so some of you won’t have met him and I wanted to share our story. I wanted to get a Collie with big dreams of doing agility and having a dog with a brilliant brain to help me on my learning journey. I was 26 and had started on my own dog training journey by then. Finn (was called Misty) was handed in to the dog warden as his original owner had died and the family didn’t want to keep him. He was 18 months old and very fat! Honestly, I have never seen a collie so round, but he was so handsome – my heart said yes! It took us around 6 months to get his excess weight off and during that time his true personality started to show. From a very cool, calm, and sociable dog, he started to develop aggression towards other dogs and people. He would guard high value food items and struggled being brushed and groomed. My ‘chocolate box’ collie dream dog was turning into a nightmare.
We started to keep away from situations, only doing quiet walks, retreating from social events and had to be careful with people coming into our house. I was not experienced enough to work through these issues alone, so sought help from more experienced trainers. I am so grateful for these people, but I had to accept Finn wasn’t ever going to be the dog I had dreamed of. Agility wasn’t going to happen as I wouldn’t trust him in that environment, and we would always have to be careful around unknown people. Once he knew you, you were in the club and he was wonderful, however, no matter how careful we were, some people he just didn’t warm to. Same with dogs; careful introductions most were fine, but the free roaming incoming out of control dogs that we met on walks were a definite no. The embarrassment of walking a dog like this that 'reacts', the looks from other dog owners, some of you will understand. I was a dog trainer - surely my dog shouldn't behave like that! The frustration of putting in so much work to then have it ruined by an out-of-control dog; my heart still sinks when I see it happening today. You are probably now thinking this is a sad story, well it’s not. Finn taught me so much more than I could have ever had hoped for. Showing me that having a ‘challenging’ dog means loving them whilst also some days not liking them is ok. He showed me that my expectations needed to be adjusted to give him the life he needed and deserved. When working with clients that have dogs with similar behavioural issues, I can honestly tell them I have been where they are and understand the emotional roller-coaster ride it is having a dog like that. He was a very loving dog, we had a wonderful journey together and he was the dog I needed to make me the person I am today. He was my teacher, and I will forever be grateful for him. Unfortunately, he was only with us for 8 ½ years. At 10 years he had a brain tumour; he had several aggressive incidents directed towards me, uncontrolled attacks that were not predictable and therefore we made the very hard decision to put him to sleep. He was Jon’s first dog (my husband) having never grown up with pets – what an introduction to the world of dogs! I wrote this to say thank you to Finn. My special heart dog. I also wanted to share him with you all, so you know a little more about my journey of becoming a behaviourist – he was a huge part of my learning journey. Jo x We have all heard this saying, however do we apply it to dog training? I talk to lots of lovely people that have been struggling with a behaviour their dog is doing that is unwanted. Anything from barking, aggression, guarding, pulling on lead, running away etc. The conversation usually progresses with me asking how long this has been going on for, and the answer is usually many months or even years. Now please understand this isn’t coming from a place of judgement – I am here and ready to help anyone when they are ready for help, however there are many problems that if some training had been done in the early days, then these problems would either not have happened, or certainly wouldn’t have escalated so far.
Last night at puppy classes, we talked about food guarding. Now none of the puppies had shown this behaviour, so we spent time explaining some simple training games to use to make sure it never happens; prevention rather than waiting for it to happen and then dealing with it. Putting in the training before the problem arises. We know lots of behaviours that our dogs are likely to do (chasing, scavenging, jumping up etc) so it’s our responsibility to set them up for success. It doesn’t matter how many dogs you’ve had; each one is unique and each one will have different challenges to your previous dog. Also, trust me, ‘rose tinted glasses’ kick in here too as people always say “the last puppy wasn’t anything like this one.” I always agree with this, because as I said, each dog is different, however please understand your situation is likely to also be different. You are not in the same life stage as you were before. Maybe you are older, you now have children or maybe they have now left home (or just aren’t interested in helping anymore), maybe your working pattern is different, or it’s a different breed. There are so many reasons why I recommend that you spend time training your dog, so that they can understand what manners and behaviours you want from them. Training is a lifetime job that means you will continually need to update your skills and knowledge. Dog training is constantly changing, as science keeps showing us different, more effective ways to train. So I encourage you to keep up to date and not just rely on what you have previously done before. Finally, please note that not all trainers and classes are the same. Please know that punishment is NOT OK and NOT required to train any dog. It doesn’t matter what breed you have or what problem you are trying to solve. Research your trainer and make sure they use kind and science-based training skills so you and your furry friend will be in the best of hands. Jo x Ian Dunbar (Veterinarian, Behaviourist and Trainer) asked other trainers and behaviourists, what was the most common mistake people made when getting a puppy. The results probably aren’t that surprising, but I think worth talking about. Firstly – unrealistic expectations. People getting a puppy really had no idea how much time, energy and money would be needed. Puppies require a huge lifestyle change to most and this is not something people really understand or expect. Another finding was that a puppy may have been the wrong choice for some people/families and that an older rescue dog would have fitted them so much better. Thirdly – people were choosing the wrong breed or type of dog usually because people choose for looks rather than understanding what different breeds need or what they were bred for. On a similar theme, it was reported that getting a pup from a ‘bad’ breeder that didn’t raise the puppy well, really did set the new owner up for failure. So again, lack of research before getting the puppy. And finally, that most people didn’t take time to do appropriate training and socialisation to raise a well-adjusted dog. This will take the first year being very proactive, and actually training is a constant, continuing requirement throughout the dog’s life. So what do you think? Do you agree with these findings? In my experience of working with dogs for over 20 years, I think the issues still remain the same, which actually makes me very sad. It’s so important to spend time researching before you get your pup. Find some people with the breed you are interested in and ask questions, talk to several breeders, ask yourself if you really have the time, energy and money to give to this pup. Is a puppy actually the right choice? If you consider a rescue dog from a good reputable charity, they will tell you all about the dog, what it’s behaviour and temperament is, and they will be able to find you a dog to match your requirements. Please understand I am writing this post without judgement, but to spread knowledge and asking people to really take time and careful consideration as to whether adding a dog to your family really is the right thing for you and the dog. Jo x I bet you have heard there are no bad dogs just bad owners? Well, I would like to say that I don’t agree with this. I don’t mean that dog are ‘bad’ it’s just that puts so much pressure on pet parents that if their dog is ‘misbehaving’ then it must be their fault!
I meet so many wonderful dog owners who tell me how much time and effort they have spent training and caring for their dog, but it’s just not going to plan. Their dog is running off or barking at people or growling at them when they try to take something off them to name a few. They tell me how they love their dog, but they just find it so overwhelming and there is so much conflicting advice online they don’t know where to start. These owners who are struggling with their dog’s behaviour are not ‘bad’ people, they are often struggling themselves. When you have a dog that isn’t behaving as you wish, then your whole life can be impacted. Where you can walk your dog, can you take them with you or is it easier to leave them at home, or is leaving them actually an issue. The fear of meeting another dog owner when their dog isn’t under control totally ruin your day. All the emotions come to the surface: fear, anger, frustration, embarrassment and guilt and this is all caused by your beloved best friend. How can this dog that you love and be committed to giving him the best life be causing you so much stress? I totally understand people wanting a quick fix. They turn to TV programmes or the internet and come across people using methods that looks like they work within hours. Why would that not be tempting; if professionals are doing it, it must be ok? To change your dog’s behaviour without causing fear, intimidation and damaging your relationship you must step away from punishment-based training – those quick fixes. Lead jerks, verbal corrections, poking, using choke chains or prong collars (look them up if you don’t know what they are, and yes they are legal!!!) shock collars, aerosols cans, citronella collars etc etc. I know you love your dog and want the best for them, so please take the time and patience to work with them to get to the end goal behaviour that you want. To put it in context, have you ever tried to change your behaviour? To cut out chocolate? Stop smoking? Go to the gym every day? If you have, then you know how hard it can be to change any behaviour. Would you prefer to have a support team to help and guide you along the way or have someone ‘correcting’ you when you get it wrong? Find a trainer that is going to help and support you all the way and you will be so happy with your results. For a list of recommended trainers see website https://abtc.org.uk/ Jo x PS I have a blog on my website if you want more Paws4thoughts! Last May I completed a 50k running challenge. I walk lots of miles but very rarely run so, this was a challenge for me. During this month my left calf would become very tight and quite painful when I was running. However, I didn’t really worry about it, and just had a few days rest and got back to running again to complete the challenge. Over the next few months when I did a longer walk, my calf would again feel tight and slightly uncomfortable, but wouldn’t stop me enjoying my walk with my dogs.
Fast forward another few months and my back has started to hurt. Not enough to stop me doing anything, but definitely getting uncomfortable especially at night-time. Now I really like my sleep, so this was my trigger to go and get a sports massage to get some help. So yesterday I had my first sports massage and you guessed it – it was my calves that were still very tight, and this was causing me to overcompensate and therefore my back was now taking all the strain. From something that started May last year, I am now in a worse position because I ignored it. Why am I talking about my back? Well, it really got me thinking about dogs and pain. For those that work with me, you know I talk about pain often as a major cause of a change of behaviour in your dog. I was watching my dogs run around on our morning walk. They run fast, spin, twist, jump and sometimes slip (in all this lovely mud!). So why wouldn’t they pick up sprains and tweaks such like us? They certainly don’t slow down and rest. They are nearly always ready for the next walk, ball game or training session. Dogs are masters of hiding pain – why would they show it? Doesn’t make sense from an evolutionary viewpoint. We therefore need to look out for other signs that might show pain as a possibility. Any change of behaviour requires a vet check. Anything such as becoming less tolerant of other dogs approaching them, become fearful over sudden noises or being ‘grumpy’ in the evening or not wanting to move from their resting spot. All these issues signal you should get help from a professional. It doesn’t matter what age your dog is, don’t think ‘oh they are just getting stiff in their old age’. Your vet can refer you to physiotherapist or canine massage therapist where they can do a full 'mot' and give them a thorough check up. My dogs have regular physio and massage because I want them to be 100% fit and well if I am going to ask them to compete. However, I would love to see all dog owners think that having your dog checked as part of something they do regularly just like using flea/worm treatments and boosters. I’m going to need another treatment to get me sound again, so just think about how active your dog is and that they might need some extra support too. Jo x PS Did you know ball chasing is a huge no no when it comes to exercising your dog? Sprinting and stopping repetitively is so harmful for your dogs’ hips and joints. I wish I didn’t see all these dogs walkers with their ball chuckers – it really does make me sad as I know how damaging it can be. Having a ‘teenager’ is tough. I don’t care how many dogs you’ve had or how much time you put into your puppy training and socialisation skills – everyone (yes me too) has challenges to deal with during adolescence. If you can accept that, then the journey is going to be so much more enjoyable.
Why do we beat ourselves up with the ‘I should have done’ or ‘why didn’t I do that’ or ‘I should have spent more time’ etc etc. The guilt we put upon ourselves just doesn’t help and in fact probably stops progress. We send so much time focusing on the ‘what if’s’ that we don’t focus on working through the problem. Anywhere from 5 months up your dog will go through their adolescence period. This could mean challenges such as: being destructive, hyperarousal, reactivity (barking/lunging), prey drive, guarding, forgetting even the simplest cues and becoming the over the top, over social dog that must go and see every dog and person in the park! Does that sound familiar? Do you remember going through your teenage years? Everything is changing. Body, brain, hormones are raging, and nothing makes sense. It’s time to explore the world but then fear kicks in and it’s too overwhelming. Do you remember? It’s tough. It takes time. It takes patience. This is the time that you will definitely question whether getting a dog was a smart choice. It all just feels too hard. I am here to tell you it’s all normal. It’s all ok. This is a phase that I really want to give you permission to have days where you just except that your dog doesn’t know what sit means and their manners have totally disappeared. To give yourself a day off to not focus on the really long list of skills your dog still needs to learn. Stop, look, enjoy the now larger fluff ball that you are sharing your life with. Understand that not everyday needs to be a school day. Find out what they love to do and get involved. Focus on managing their environment so that they cannot rehearse the behaviour you don’t want them to do. Dr Susan Friedman said “control the environment not the animal”. I love this because we can control the environment with planning. One of my go to sayings is “don’t set your dog up to fail”. If you know it might go wrong, why are you doing it? Traditional punishment training mindset tells us that we must focus on controlling the individual, but actually we need to focus on the conditions where the behaviour occurs. We can help our dogs learn by making the behaviours we want from them easy to achieve and therefore reward them for those choices. Thus making that ‘good’ behaviour choice more likely next time. The good – it does get better The bad – it’s going to take time and patience and a good sense of humour to survive The Ugly – every dog will have their own challenges (but they can all be worked through) I hope that has given you at least a little peace of mind today. If you do want any support, please get in touch. Jo x Have you ever seen a dog pick up an object, glance at you and run away? What do you think they are doing here? It might be their way of instigating a game with you, trying to get your attention or does it show that they have started to worry that you might try and take their ‘precious’ find as they feel the need to move away from you?
If it’s the latter, then may I encourage you to start working through this potential problem. Resource guarding is a totally natural dog behaviour. Why wouldn’t they protect and guard something they find valuable? Doesn’t matter if you are a dog or a person. Food, toys, socks or even a piece of litter they have just come across. Gundogs in particular have been bred to pick up and hold onto objects, so although all breeds can resource guard, some breeds are more predisposed to it. I understand why you feel the need to take the item off your dog. It’s your sock and you don’t want it chewed; it’s the TV remove control and that is expensive; it’s a stone and therefore might be dangerous if swallowed. There are many ‘human’ reasons why you take the item from your dog’s mouth. However, that is human logic and not canine. Canine logic is ‘finder’s keepers’! If they found it, it’s theirs. When we take it from them you are teaching them you are a thief! You are the one that steals – and there you were thinking your dog was the one that always steals things! You have given your dog 3 options:
All of these responses are not what we want from our dogs, but we have to accept that this behaviour is usually made so much worse by our lack of knowledge of how to read our dogs behaviour and that we need to understand their motives. Let’s talk body language. One of my favourite topics and I will only go into some basics here. In short, it’s our responsibility that if we want to share our lives with our dogs, we must learn how they communicate with us and learn to understand them. Signs that your dog is feeling uncomfortable are: Freezing: your dog is very still, possibly crouching down and very stiff. Whale eye: you can see the whites of your dog’s eye looking at you. Usually whilst they are freezing. Growling: maybe an obvious one, but if your dog is doing a low growl, then they are very clearly saying, back away, I am worried. Snarling: lifting their lips and showing their teeth. Biting: using their teeth is the last step on the aggression ladder. The final step. The other steps haven’t worked and therefore there is no other choice. When you see your dog communicating that they are uncomfortable please listen. We don’t want them to have to progress to using their teeth. No one wants that. If you have children at home, can you see how easy this situation could lead to a bite? However our responses to them showing any guarding behaviour are usually to punish them as they are ‘misbehaving’ so we remove the item they are guarding as a consequence of this unacceptable behaviour. Please stop. Think. From your dog’s perspective, what has just happened? They felt uncomfortable with your presence, they tried to communicate to you to ‘please stop, please move away’ but we didn’t listen. The thing they were worried about happened – they lost their precious ‘find’. The learning occurring here is that you are a thief, you are threatening and therefore next time they find your slipper or TV controller they won’t give any low-level communication such as freezing or growling, they will have to defend with their teeth. Can you see how this is actually just a miscommunication? Your dog is doing their very best to say that they aren’t ok. However, we don’t listen. We actually can make it much worse as we take away their special prize. Take time to train your dog to understand drop and leave cues. Use reward-based training so show them that they don’t need to feel threatened and can then happily respond to your requests of drop or leave. Take time to show them that when you approach them when they have food, toys or anything else, that they don’t need to protect this item. Sharing is a human concept that dogs don’t understand. Dogs are scavengers so very likely to want to pick up lots of items, so it’s our responsibility to train so dangerous situations do not arise. Jo x The joy of social media is that they are always promoting the quick fix or the fastest way to solve a problem with the least amount of effort. Now don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t want to get the quickest results with the least amount of effort? I think most would put their hands up for that. However, when it comes to dog training or modifying behaviour, I want you to be very aware that most quick fixes will involve fear, anxiety and even pain.
I was watching some before and after training videos from another trainers Facebook page, of a young spaniel that pulled on its lead. The owner was struggling to hold onto him as he excitedly pulled up the road. The next video, which said was 20 minutes later, showed the young dog no longer pulling on lead, the owner looked like she was having a much nicer time BUT the body language the dog was displaying actually made me cry. He was totally submissive he had lost his bounce and joy and was looking very anxious and showed many stress signs. I don’t know what the ‘trainer’ did to this dog to get this behaviour, and yes, the results are what the owner wanted however I truly believe the price the dog paid was too high. The damage to the relationship between the dog and owner has taken a huge hit and caused severe damage. I also believe the owner really didn’t understand what damage this sort of training can do. Why would they question it – they had hired a professional? Reward based training is just as it says. You use rewards such as food, toys, praise etc to motivate the dog so that they will do the behaviour that you want from them. I am totally happy to reward my dog for them to do what I need from them. To build a relationship of trust, to spend time understanding my dog and what their needs are. This isn’t about ‘cheese pushing’ as sometimes reward based trainers are called – this is science. Proven to work for all animals. Have you considered that most behaviours we want from our dogs are for our benefit and not theirs? Come back when we call; from their point of view, we are actually ruining their chase game. Walking nicely on lead; we walk so slowly, and they want to get to the park to investigate all the new sniffs, why would they not pull all the way? Don’t bark at other dogs; what if barking makes them feel safer as the other dog goes away? Don’t raid the bin; dogs are scavengers, so why wouldn’t they eat anything they have access to? This doesn’t mean all these skills cannot be taught, and behaviours modified, but it does take time and practise so they can learn. Can you imagine if you did something that you thought was fun and perfectly natural, but you got punished for it? No explanation. Just got shouted at or jerked by a lead or other equipment that causes pain. Each time you did that behaviour you received a negative consequence when it happened. Would you learn to stop doing it? Yes, probably, over time, however, wouldn’t it be preferable to be taught with kindness? To be shown what was expected of you, and be rewarded when you did it right and the environment set up so that you couldn’t fail? Anyone can call themselves a dog trainer or behaviourist. The industry isn’t regulated. Please be careful when choosing someone to help you. If you are looking for someone, then please use the ABTC website which lists all trainers around the country. These people have to be a member of certain organisations where they have been assessed and use positive, up to date, training methods. https://abtc.org.uk/ Having a dog is a privilege, to share your lives together. Make sure your journey together is one of fun, love and understanding. Jo x |
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