Why a 1-2-1 PURE Dog Listening Consultation is the right choice
This is a question I am often asked “After all” say people “There are so many other training methods, what makes ‘Pure better?” and of course they are right, there are more methods than you can shake a stick at. There are whistles, clickers, electric collars, collars that spray various substances at the dog, collars that emit noise, chains with spikes that stick in the dogs neck, sticks to ‘touch’ the dog with and many more gadgets and gizmos. Alongside all these pieces of equipment are the different ways of training, there is the traditional ‘make him do it’, there is the ‘endless repetition until the dog is bored senseless’ system and then there is the good old ‘walking around in a circle in a church hall with fifteen other dogs’ method. This teaches a dog to walk in a circle with other dogs, usually on leaving the hall most dogs revert to their previous behaviour. Do these systems work? Yes, to a greater or lesser degree on some, but not all dogs. Some systems I consider barbaric, they don’t train the dog they traumatise him. One thing is constant in the above list, they are all unnatural.
During my years as a Police Dog Handler I worked German Shepherd Dogs, Labradors and Springer Spaniels. I also worked with other Handlers using other breeds such as Belgian Shepherd Dogs (Malinois), Giant Schnauzers, Rottweilers, Weimaraners, Border Collies and Bloodhounds. A large variety of breeds trained in a variety of skills but with one constant factor, they didn’t worry about breed differences, as far as they were concerned the only thing that mattered was that they were all dogs. Dogs are descended from Wolves and are pack animals so it became apparent to me that to achieve a really close bond with my dogs I would have to be the pack leader or Alpha male. For this to work I had to be elected leader by the dogs themselves, people who shout and bluster and say “He knows who the Boss is” are only fooling themselves, they’re sure as hell not fooling the dog.
Having decided what the problem with traditional training methods was I had to work out the next step which was of course that we had to understand one another. Dogs can always communicate with one another there’s no English or French or German language for them. Whatever the breed and wherever they’re from all dogs speak Canine. All I had to do now was to become fluent. Another truth then struck me, wolf packs are well organised with a hierarchy that all members understand where every pack member has an important job to do for the survival of the pack, they don’t need training aids and gadgets to organise their lives so why do we?
I started off down the path of trying to understand the dynamics of the Wolf pack and how it could be used with domestic dogs, tremendous progress was made and as a result the quality of work and success rate of my dogs increased greatly. It was very pleasing to be Commended by the Chief Constable of Hampshire in 1988. The Citation read ‘Commended for consistent good work, tenacity and intelligent application of his Police Dog ‘ACCO’ during 1988. It was good to be recognised but in fact all I was doing was allowing ACCO to be a dog without confusing the issue. Then as the Alpha I was able to direct and use his natural skills for the benefit of the public.
As I approached retirement I became aware of the work of Jan Fennell author of ‘The Dog Listener’ who was working along similar lines. Jan had studied the subject after meeting Monty Roberts ‘The Horse Whisperer’ in 1989. Jan devised a structured system using the dogs own language which she called Amichien Bonding. Subsequently in 2000 the book ‘The Dog Listener’ was published which put the method into the public domain. I completed both an foundation and advanced Canine Communication course in this method. As a result I now hold a Certificate in Advanced Canine Communication. In the years since then I have helped hundreds of dogs and owners ‘come to peace’ in their relationship not only with each other but also the big wide world out there which can so distress many dogs.
Pure Dog Listening is not a ‘training method’ in the normal sense of the words but a holistic, natural, stress free way of communicating with your dog. If used consistently your dog will elect you as leader of his own free will making any subsequent training a pleasure. The use of this method is particularly effective in dealing with behavioural problems such as, Aggression, Nervousness, Obsessive or Destructive Behaviour, Failing to Return When Called, Taking Charge on a Walk, Jumping Up and Persistent Barking. Because you will be talking the dogs language he will modify his behaviour of his own free will.
I use this system BECAUSE IT WORKS I have seen many other methods and have approached them all with an open mind but nothing comes close to Pure Dog Listening for consistent success. It is not a magic wand, you will have to do your part but the investment in time and effort you expend will be well worth it. My life and the lives of others were often entrusted to my dogs over many years, they never let me down, that’s bonding.