Does Your Dog Wag To The Left Or Right?

Scientists never tire of researching all manner of bizarre things, often with little or no benefits resulting from the outcome.

This weeks 'What Was the Point Of That Trophy' Goes to the Italian scientists who after much research have 'discovered' that dogs react with different body language indications with their tails, depending on whether they're happy or not!

Dogs that are happy such as when seeing their owner apparantly wag their tails with a right hand bias. On the other hand, dogs that are unsure of the situation, or on the edge of 'flight mode'. Yes you've guessed it. They favour a more left styled wag!

At first thought it could, of course, be useful because many people think that wagging tail=happy dog, wrong!! All that a dog tells you by wagging its tail is that it is in a heightened state of awareness. It may be considering a number of options such as licking you to death, biting you, running away or any number of other behaviours. So,it would great if by just looking at the dogs rear end you could assess his moods and intentions.

This is where the benefits of this research become a little less obvious. The bias is so subtle that it requires video analysis to detect. It is not obvious enough for you to make an on the spot risk assessment at the time. Not a lot of use for the postman then!

It is however an interesting piece of work, all knowledge is beneficial but as a 'hands on tool' it has a long way to go.

You can see a short videoclip here.

Cruel Gadgets, Electric Shock Collar Arrives

As promised by a dog owner and mentioned in an earlier post I was sent an electric shock collar which they had bought on advice to deal with a behavioural problem. It arrived with me earlier this week and as a result I am able to share the delights of this piece of equipment with you.

First of all you may want to know, 'Did it work?' Well, if I tell you that the donor paid £195.00 for it, has now decided that it is not the way to go and has sent it to me free of charge, that might be an indication of its training value. They could have easily sold this on ebay and recouped some of their money but had more integrity than to perpetuate the use of such cruel equipment.

So if this equipment is so bad why do people some of whom are obviously dog lovers buy it? Because they are at the end of their tether. They hit a problem that they can't seem to resolve, maybe they go to the usual 'Dog Training Club' for 'Obedience Training' and that doesn't work so they look for other options and, if they are very unlucky they will either find a 'Trainer' who will take the dog away for a period of time (at vast expense) and return it 'Trained' often by the use of such equipment as the shock collar or spiked collar plus of course a bit of brute force and bloody ignorance. You can usually spot this type pretty quickly because they won't want you anywhere near the training venue. They will tell you that your presence will distract the dog. The truth is it would seriously disturb the owner. Ask yourself 'What have they got to hide?' The owner might also see this equipment on the the internet or be sold it by a 'Dog Training Expert' as a quick and easy fix.

The manufacturers of this sort of equipment are very coy in the description of their products. The one that I've been sent is described as a 'Remote Trainer'. Of course it's a bit of a giveaway when you open the packing and see the control unit has two buttons marked 'Trigger' and a power button which turns almost 360 degrees marked 'Intensity'. When I was a Police Officer we used to call things like that 'Clues'!

Let's open the packing. First of all the control unit, an innocuous piece of equipment until you read the control instructions. Slightly larger than a mobile phone with a rechargeable battery. It of course has a charger unit supplied.

Next we have the 'Dummy'collar. The manufacturers recommend the dog wear this for four or five days before starting remedial training. The collar is worn so that the box is held against the dogs throat with the electrodes making contact with the skin. If you have a hairy dog you are advised to trim the hair around the contact points to ensure better flow of power. Why don't we throw a bucket of water over the dog at the same time? That would really ensure a good contact. Of course the dummy is inert and only designed to get the dog used to having two lumps of metal sticking into their throat all the time. I like the use of the word 'only' don't you?

Now we get to the action part, the live collar. When you are ready to start 'remedial training' then you remove the dummy collar and replace with the real thing. Hey! What's this? Another dial on the collar itself! it's marked 1-5 what fun we're going to have trying out varying shock levels! Once the live collar is in place training commences. If the dog does anything that you don't like Zap!

Of course the instruction book gives no guidance how the equipment should be used. It does tell you that you can correct (give him an electric shock against his throat) a dog up to one mile away. How you can see what the dog is doing at that distance is something I've not been able to workout. The blurb also says 'The natural choice for sporting dog enthusiasts who need deep penetration of woodland or undergrowth'. In both scenarios if the dog is unsighted, even leaving aside the obvious cruelty issues. How can you correct an animal without knowing what he's doing? He might even be on his way back to you when you shock him. A good move?

There have been instances with this equipment where exactly the opposite result to that desired occurs e.g. Using it to 'cure' poor recall. Dog doesn't recall at once, trigger pressed, dog shocked and panics, runs away. Or even less successful when being used to deal with chasing behaviour. When shocked the dog can interpret the cause of the pain to be the jogger, cyclist or other object of interest and attack their perceived tormentor. There have also been cases where the dog realises that the trainer is the cause of all the trauma and then..... Can I have a new trainer please? I've split this one.

The people who say it doesn't hurt suddenly find other important things to do when offered the chance to try it out for themselves. Have I tried it on myself? Yes. Will I be trying it again? No! Is it cruel? Of course it is. I find it difficult to understand that such evil equipment is on sale in the 21st century. It has no purpose other than to cause pain, except of course to make someone a lot of money.

I don't know where this equipment comes from but certainly the charger unit comes from Japan and the rest appears to be of identical manufacture. Perhaps I'm wrong but when you look at what happens to contestants in Japanese Game Shows it might explain why it is considered acceptable to inflict cruelty on animals.

There are other factors to be considered in the use of this equipment. The frequencies used in transmitting the 'correction' are shared with all the other owners of similar collars. So, there you are out walking your your dog who is now so worried about being shocked that he is doing nothing (like playing or just enjoying his walk) that might incur your wrath and involve further distress. Suddenly, another owner anywhere upto a mile away decides to 'correct' his dog and your dog gets a jolt as well. For what? He's already doing nothing through fear and he's still being shocked. It's lucky that this is a country of dog lovers. What would happen if we didn't like them?

Having this sort of equipment around the house can lead to tragedy. What happens if very young children get hold of it and use it in 'play'? There was a case of child abuse reported this week from Spokane U.S.A. which resulted in a child's death. One of the favourite tools of abuse used by the offenders was an electric dog training collar.

What can you do if you have a dog problem and you are being encouraged to turn towards gadgets for a resolution? Firstly say No. Ideally contact me or any of the other 'Dog Listeners' using the 'Amichien Bonding' techniques pioneered by Jan Fennell. All of these real Dog Listeners hold the 'Advanced Certificate In Canine Communication' and are authorised by Jan to offer this service. The title Dog Listener is hard earned and jealously guarded and all of us are regularly monitored to ensure quality of service to the client. A full list of Recommended Associate Dog Listeners and Preliminary Dog Listeners who are working to their full accreditation can be found not only for the UK but Worldwide, on Jan's website www,janfennellthedoglistener.com. With a Dog Listener you will know there will be only natural methods used. No stress for you or your dog(s), no gadgets and definitely no cruelty. If you decide not to follow the Amichien route then I urge you to ensure that you are in full control and have the final say on all matters relating to your dog whatever method you choose. When the training is over the trainer will go away. You will have your dog for better or worse for the rest of its life. It's best to get it right first time. Make sure you get the genuine article, there are people claiming to be Dog Listeners who have no right to the title. If their name is not on Jan's list they are bogus.

All of this is building up to seek your support for this years International Day of the Dog on 29th April 2007. Further details can be found on Jan's website. My project is to persuade people not to buy cruel training aids in the first place but, once they have, to hand them in to sites which we hope will be available on the run-up to the event. You can of course contact me direct (anonymously if you wish) and pass the equipment to me for publicity purposes. If you know someone who uses such equipment ask them to visit this site and approach it with an open mind. If they want to discuss any of the points raised I'll be happy to do so.

If you are in any doubt as to what this sort of equipment can do have a look at this clip I found on the internet. The collar being used in this sequence is to prevent a dog from barking and therefore is not as powerful as those used in 'Remedial Training'. I think it's a fair bet that drink had been taken by those in this experiment. Remember the participants are aware of what is going to happen and are doing it of their own free will. That would not apply to a dog. The participants can choose to stop at anytime. Again the same would not apply to a dog. They just have to wait until the 'superior species' chooses to stop torturing them (or not).

Progress on Cruel Training Aids!!

Great news! We are making an early start. As I mentioned in my previous post my intention was to build towards 29th April 2007 The International Day of the Dog (IDOD) to encourage caring dog owners who have been badly advised to hand in the various cruel gadgets they been sold to deal with behavioural issues.

As I've said so many times before THEY DON'T WORK!!! At best they replace one problem with another usually much worse. How do you then deal with that? More pain, more stress, more trauma?

Anyway let's be positive. Since my last post on this subject I have been contacted by two dog owners who have got the campaign off to a good start. One has an electric shock 'Training Collar' which they bought to deal with a particular problem and now realise that it was counter- productive. They are now sending it to me to educate people as to the sheer cruelty of such equipment. When it arrives I will post pictures here. The second owner was advised to buy a riding crop to 'encourage' their dog to sit instantly and to reinforce other obedience exercises. That piece of equipment is now also out of circulation.

Watch this space for updates.