Three Silly News Stories
It must be 'Silly Season' looking at the press this week. We of course had the one serious story covered in a separate blog about Shock Collars in Wales.
Silly story number one was the introduction of a new non emergency phone number by Dundee Police to take pressure off of the 999 system which was being overloaded by trivial enquiries.
It was decided that a bright eye catching poster was needed to draw the public's attention to the change. After much discussion it was decided to use a picture of an eight week old German Shepherd puppy, a potential Police Dog. Sitting in his handler's upturned cap doing what pups do best, looking cute. Next to the picture were details of the new phone number. A simple idea, people see the cute picture, look at the poster and get the information.
No problem? Wrong, of course there is a problem. What if it upsets one of the few Muslims who live in the force area? They think dogs are unclean so everyone in the Police Service must make a grovelling public apology for the 'insensitivity' of the Police and of course withdraw the poster. Has anyone complained? One local politician out to make a name for himself. I know that there are people of all persuasions who trawl the media looking for some way, anyway, to be outraged or offended but come on, hasn't some senior Police Officer or Government member got the guts to stand up and point out to the troublemakers that it's a picture of a small dog advertising a phone number? That's all it is, furthermore, the number is to help 'the community' a word beloved of these easily offended people who are usually self styled 'Community Leaders'. In many cases of course the last thing these 'leaders' want is a happy and contented community because then their power base would be gone and they would have to revert to their true selves, sad inadequates with a strong dose of bitterness.
It is also of interest that it is now not uncommon to see Muslims with dogs, if only to guard their premises and that a number of Muslim clerics have stated that, even those who do consider dogs unclean make an exception in the case of hunting and 'Service' dogs because they are assisting mankind. A storm in a teacup, or should I say a Police Cap?
Silly story two. Once again political correctness interferes for no reason, and of course, doesn't ask the people who have to do the job. This time it's worry in case a explosive detection dog had to search a Muslim household and as a result offended the occupants. As previously mentioned the dog would be a service dog and therefore if not OK at least acceptable. The only thing that would be offensive would be dog saliva. So what have the brains come up with to prevent potential terror suspects being made 'unclean' by saliva? Yes you're right, got it in one. Fit them with little lace up bootees, that'll solve it???
I have a suspicion that anyone having their property searched with a terrorist connection is probably going to be less than pleased anyway and the arrival of a dog is going to be the least of their worries, unless of course the dog finds 'the hide'. Once again people who don't live in the real world are just looking for conflict. they are following their own agenda.
We did try boots on police dogs back in the 80s when inner city riots were sweeping the UK but found that the dogs were a little less than impressed with their new kit. Some ripped them straight off, others refused to move and those that did tended to stagger as if drunk before picking one of the other options to deal with them.
Silly story three, the top three breeds in a list of the most aggressive dogs are, 1) Dachshund. 2) Chihuahua 3) Jack Russell. We Dog listeners have a saying that to blame a dogs behaviour solely on its breed is like saying all Frenchmen wear berets. Of course breeds have certain pre-dispositions that we've bred into them but almost without fail their behaviour is down to the way that they interact with their owners and the signals they get from them. Owners of bigger dogs are probably more aware of the potential of trouble if their dogs bite. Many owners of smaller breeds either don't believe that their dog would bite anyone or if they do don't think it either hurts or matters. Owners like this often get a rude awakening when they injured party turns up at the Police Station demanding action.
Don't worry what breed or mix of breeds you've got, big or small. If you give them the right information so they can rely on you (that doesn't mean nagging them with sit, down and stay ad nauseum), they will be happy and safe dogs. the best way to achieve this is by contacting me or one of my colleagues and arranging a consultation. You can find a list of qualified Dog Listeners by visiting Jan Fennell's website www. janfennellthedoglistener.com
To read the full 'Ankle Biter' story click on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2254479/Sausage-dogs-are-the-most-aggressive-dogs.html
Silly story number one was the introduction of a new non emergency phone number by Dundee Police to take pressure off of the 999 system which was being overloaded by trivial enquiries.
It was decided that a bright eye catching poster was needed to draw the public's attention to the change. After much discussion it was decided to use a picture of an eight week old German Shepherd puppy, a potential Police Dog. Sitting in his handler's upturned cap doing what pups do best, looking cute. Next to the picture were details of the new phone number. A simple idea, people see the cute picture, look at the poster and get the information.
No problem? Wrong, of course there is a problem. What if it upsets one of the few Muslims who live in the force area? They think dogs are unclean so everyone in the Police Service must make a grovelling public apology for the 'insensitivity' of the Police and of course withdraw the poster. Has anyone complained? One local politician out to make a name for himself. I know that there are people of all persuasions who trawl the media looking for some way, anyway, to be outraged or offended but come on, hasn't some senior Police Officer or Government member got the guts to stand up and point out to the troublemakers that it's a picture of a small dog advertising a phone number? That's all it is, furthermore, the number is to help 'the community' a word beloved of these easily offended people who are usually self styled 'Community Leaders'. In many cases of course the last thing these 'leaders' want is a happy and contented community because then their power base would be gone and they would have to revert to their true selves, sad inadequates with a strong dose of bitterness.
It is also of interest that it is now not uncommon to see Muslims with dogs, if only to guard their premises and that a number of Muslim clerics have stated that, even those who do consider dogs unclean make an exception in the case of hunting and 'Service' dogs because they are assisting mankind. A storm in a teacup, or should I say a Police Cap?
Silly story two. Once again political correctness interferes for no reason, and of course, doesn't ask the people who have to do the job. This time it's worry in case a explosive detection dog had to search a Muslim household and as a result offended the occupants. As previously mentioned the dog would be a service dog and therefore if not OK at least acceptable. The only thing that would be offensive would be dog saliva. So what have the brains come up with to prevent potential terror suspects being made 'unclean' by saliva? Yes you're right, got it in one. Fit them with little lace up bootees, that'll solve it???
I have a suspicion that anyone having their property searched with a terrorist connection is probably going to be less than pleased anyway and the arrival of a dog is going to be the least of their worries, unless of course the dog finds 'the hide'. Once again people who don't live in the real world are just looking for conflict. they are following their own agenda.
We did try boots on police dogs back in the 80s when inner city riots were sweeping the UK but found that the dogs were a little less than impressed with their new kit. Some ripped them straight off, others refused to move and those that did tended to stagger as if drunk before picking one of the other options to deal with them.
Silly story three, the top three breeds in a list of the most aggressive dogs are, 1) Dachshund. 2) Chihuahua 3) Jack Russell. We Dog listeners have a saying that to blame a dogs behaviour solely on its breed is like saying all Frenchmen wear berets. Of course breeds have certain pre-dispositions that we've bred into them but almost without fail their behaviour is down to the way that they interact with their owners and the signals they get from them. Owners of bigger dogs are probably more aware of the potential of trouble if their dogs bite. Many owners of smaller breeds either don't believe that their dog would bite anyone or if they do don't think it either hurts or matters. Owners like this often get a rude awakening when they injured party turns up at the Police Station demanding action.
Don't worry what breed or mix of breeds you've got, big or small. If you give them the right information so they can rely on you (that doesn't mean nagging them with sit, down and stay ad nauseum), they will be happy and safe dogs. the best way to achieve this is by contacting me or one of my colleagues and arranging a consultation. You can find a list of qualified Dog Listeners by visiting Jan Fennell's website www. janfennellthedoglistener.com
To read the full 'Ankle Biter' story click on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2254479/Sausage-dogs-are-the-most-aggressive-dogs.html
Labels: Consultations, Cruel-Training-Aids, Dog-Welfare, Dogs-in-the-news, Jan-Fennell, Police-dogs
posted by Robin Glover at
Monday, July 07, 2008
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