New dog, old tricks

There are many seemingly incurable urban legends about disciplining a puppy which people still apply in this day and age such as rubbing a dog’s nose in their mess or hitting with newspaper. While this creates mistrust some puppies stop their problems in a natural course of events and not by these archaic methods of inappropriate punishment. People feel the need to teach badly behaved dogs a lesson. What animal owners can never grasp is that hitting an animal or inflicting pain is the most effective way to stop their pet from coming to them.

One has to create a better world for our animals. There should be an unwritten contract between man and animal where the pet will want to be with that person because it feels comfort, trust, a bond, consistency, assertiveness, belonging – a system they instinctively understand in the canine hierarchy. There has to be a leader and there have to be rules!

Most people are under the misapprehension that dog training is a mechanical process which requires subscribing to a dog training school only to teach the dog to behave. Up until five decades ago dog training was mostly for competitions in obedience when dogs were kept only outdoors. Now that dogs are mostly indoors, people have less free time, dwellings are walled-in and smaller, more body corporates try to lobby against keeping pets, television indoctrinates viewers to believe that animals think like humans do and so the deleterious influences are vast and rife, to the point that dogs create more problems for people and therefore the training methods, reasons for socialisation and obedience and the types of courses are a far cry from what used to be.

Precision training is not relevant to the needs of the average dog owner. More people attend classes today but the percentage is still far short of the requirements to prevent the millions of dogs which are euthanased annually internationally through the lack of human understanding of canine requirements.

Unfortunately some trainers have not changed their methods in fifty years. Some dog breed clubs are still using techniques which are outdated, ineffective, and unsuitable for pet ownership such as attack work, whicg is a complete waste of time for people and dogs. Some trainers remain neophobic and arrogant and may obtain results based on the fact that some training is better than no training.

Some dog clubs and trainers do not interview pet owners about the behaviour of the dog in the home environment. This needs to be known before any training can be instituted. Dog owners are not cross-examined as to the purpose of the breed. Why did they choose a Border Collie for a townhouse? Why did they choose a hyperactive terrier such as a Jack Russell when their time is very restricted? Why did they choose a Golden Retriever when they will never work the dog? As a result some trainers offer guidance on training within a false environment. A dog needs to be obedient in multiple situations. Sometimes people are kicked out of the class because the puppy exhibits an aggressive response, is unruly and disrupts the class or is taking forever to learn. It is obvious that consideration must be given to the rest of the class attendants but these problem dogs should be dealt with separately and more intensively until such time as they can fit in or all attempts at obedience prove to be hopeless.

Some dog clubs start with heelwork exercise and seem to employ some kind of unwritten law that everyone must walk in a clockwise circle with the dog only on the owner’s left side. Some dogs develop problems with this predictable pattern of habit and become difficult to handle, hold and control. Some renowned behaviourists and trainers have found that walking slightly faster in an anti-clockwise direction changes the attitude of such dogs during obedience classes. There has to be more flexibility and unpredictability, alleviating routine and boredom.

v Read more on this topic next week.