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We chat about Benton/Fenton the deer-drama dog, ways you can help your community at Christmas, and lots of other fun. We also have a guest spot from Lynn Haigh of Dougals Den on the top shopping for your dog for Christmas.

And don’t forget the Advent Calendar to win some Christmas treats, too!

Listen in and get into the festive mood!

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Lynn and the doggy advent tree!

I was delighted to catch up with Grisha this summer and talk to her in detail about Behaviour Adjustment Therapy (B.A.T.). A podcast for trainers and owners alike. Plus, the podcast has it’s usual mix of fun and news, with me, Karen Wild and co-presenter Jon Buscall

http://traffic.libsyn.com/wildpaw/wp-grisha.mp3

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You can access Grisha’s website here Grisha Stewart, Behavioural Adjustment Training

Grisha will be visiting the UK again in 2012 – Details of the seminar here

Grisha’s book can be downloaded or ordered here on Grisha’s website or buy it on Amazon

(photo by Aaron Lieberman)

We are of course looking towards New Years Eve as well, Christmas seems to also involve fireworks, as do weddings, and yes, even funerals (going off with a bang, as they say)

But what about our poor old dogs in all of this? They must think they are going insane with all the flashes, bangs and whizzes going on. Not good at all.

Time for us to take things in hand and paw, and let’s help our dogs deal with firework fear!

Listen to the WildPaw podcast – a special edition sponsored by the brilliant Dorwest Herbs www.dorwest.com

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You can access the site www.dogsandfireworks.com for all the downloads mentioned in the podcast, too.
Please don’t forget to donate to Dogs Trust if you decide to download; the link is on the site above.

Also thanks to our other sponsors: Brentwood Dog Walker, Collarways and Complete Canine Care.

The other thing I wanted to point out was the owners’ acceptance of work still to be done, and this really is what helping someone with their dog’s behaviour, to me, is all about. I have nothing but admiration for these lovely owners.

“Morning Karen,
Quick update on Missie. We took her to Mablethorpe on Saturday, and she got on really well. In a couple of places, she put her ears down and pulled for all she was worth, but most of the time, nothing bothered her. We stopped against one of the machines that has a crane inside, and you try to get the toys out? That didn’t faze her, and we stopped outside an amusement arcade – lots of noise, again, no problem. We took her into a pet shop, and walked her around. She got lots of fussing from other customers in the shop, again, no problem.

We then took her to the beach. She looked at it, wondering what on earth it was. She introduced herself to the donkeys, but was only curious. Then we walked out to the more solid, damp sand. We thought, oh well, here goes. We let her off the lead, making sure there were no other dogs too close. The sight almost brought tears to our eyes. She ran around, full pelt, about 30 feet away. She kept us in her sights, as we kept on walking. She went up to the sea, at first, not getting her feet wet. Gradually she got nearer and nearer, and in she went. She ended up with her under side all wet, sand on her face and legs, totally puffed!!

The training with the long lead has certainly paid off, as she didn’t leave us far, but ran and ran. She chased a couple of seagulls off the beach but didn’t attempt to run to any other dogs. We can now get her to lay down and let them pass, when she is off the lead. When we have her on a lead, she goes and gets herself noticed, and introduces herself.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy we were to see her chase around, having fun. A totally different dog. To know that we can let her off a lead, have a good run, and know that she will come back to us, is really fantastic.

Our thanks to you, for giving us the basics to start with, and for sending the info about separation, and protection, which is our next hurdle to get working on.
Will keep you in touch with how things are going, but it seems she is more defensive with men wearing glasses!
Thanks again, regards, Val, Nev and Missie.”

Socialised dogs are far less likely to suffer behavioural problems in the future and there are many ways to make this part of your everyday routine!

This is one of our special series of podcasts aimed to get a GREAT puppy for life

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This podcast is sponsored by Enviro-Works Wee-Away – the probiotic pet
friendly way to keep your home clean, visit weeaway.co.uk

“The One Show has thanked viewers for all their comments and criticisms which were taken very seriously. Last night the show featured various differing opinions plus advice from The One Show’s vet on the subject of dog training and care.

“There are currently no plans for this feature to return.”

(Via Dogs Today editor Beverley Cuddy’s blog, a great read by the way)

I am absolutely and utterly relieved. Not delighted, nor pleased, not at all chuffed. I actually feel really sickened.

Of course I am happy that we will no longer be expected to accept the methods portrayed in the name of dog training. I am happy that the dog world united against a person self-styling themselves as an expert. We definitely do not need any more folks like that in the industry. We have conveyed an essential message about the need for proper regulation. *silent hooray* – ABTC (animal Behaviour and Training Council) will be heartened.

Why do I feel sick?

Well, this last week I have been dealing with a number of dogs who for one reason or another have faced destruction and their owners have decided to get help instead. I would have much rather spent my thinking time helping plan out strategies for these people. Yes, I fulfilled my commitments to them as a professional and yes, we are still working together on long term solutions. Nevertheless the amount of energy and emotion spent on making the essential points about harsh punishment of dogs by amateurs has totally interfered with my job. It was my choice of course, but it was not just my effort – lots and lots of colleagues have found themselves in the same situation this past week. We have our jobs to do, and this caused us to spend time defending our profession from an amateur.

Not to mention the reported cases of dogs being put to sleep as a result of Jordan Shelley’s methods – already.

Well, time to reflect, and put things in perspective a little, get some sleep, and look forward to a new day of challenges. Thank you everyone for keeping this argument so rational and I believe, fair. We should come together more often. I hope that we will, in the name of good practice where we can.

Karen x

Last Friday the show featured a new segment called ‘Fix my Dog’ during which viewers were appalled to witness a small Terrier supposedly being ‘trained’ by the show’s ‘Dog Fixer’. Jordan Shelley, who has no documented history of training experience nor qualifications, repeatedly pushed his foot towards the dog and on several occasions pushed his foot into the dog’s mouth. This was justified, according to Shelley, in an effort to ‘invade the dog’s space’. The dog was provoked to bite on numerous occasions indicating extreme distress and fear behaviours that have all been widely documented and reported by the nation’s and international dog experts both on Facebook, Twitter and many blogs on this matter.

Shelley has in my opinion displayed everything that the industry is fighting to overcome. A basic and fundamental lack of understanding of dog behaviour and fear signals are at the forefront of many dog bite incidents. A complete and utter lack of qualifications when there are some excellent courses now on offer that teach such skills. Shelley himself admitted on the show that he has no formalised qualifications nor experience and is self-taught through walking a few dogs instead of studying at school. He copies his ‘hero’ Cesar Millan and although I have no respect for anyone using harsh techniques, at least Millan has better timing and is also changing his approach! Shelley later commented that he would not willingly cause distress to a dog. As we can see, he has been filmed doing this, so he must simply not understand what he is doing. I would be more than happy to sit down with him and go through it stage by stage, using the mass of resources we have available indicating body language of dogs.

Did the BBC seize the opportunity to admit their error and improve the situation? Not at all. Their comment that ‘dog lovers’ may have been upset by the show was found to be patronising and dismissive by many. If the UK’s leading trainers and behavioural organisations, not to mention the mass of rescue and welfare organisations that have complained, are to be ignored in favour of an unqualified, inexperienced self-taught person, what are the BBC actually supporting?

This is a major setback for our profession and I believe has already caused injury to those copying his confused attempts at positive punishment. We all have different ways to do things but I am heartened that we are together on this one – the way to solve this problem is to educate. Educate the BBC, educate Jordan Shelley, and use the laws we have to protect dogs from this kind of treatment to back us up.

How you can help – it’s a chance to get heard on this one so please, please help me and my colleagues to turn this into a work of goodness rather than a witch hunt. Remember that it is the behaviour we did not like, not the person. See below for links. Thank you. Karen x

Please sign the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jordanshelley/
Please complain to OfCom here: (One Show Fri 16th 7pm BBC One) https://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/specific-programme-epg
Please complain to the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms

And for regular updates please join the Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Get-Jordan-Shelley-off-BBC-One-Show/152947724795742

APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors) statement ‘despair’ at methods used by Shelley
Dr Rachel Casey commented here
Dog put to sleep after copying advice given by Jordan Shelley on The One Show
Victoria Stilwell offers free trip to UK to help and declares her worry after Jordan Shelley on The One Show
Dogs Trust head of behaviour and training Lynn Barber statement of Dogs Trust concerns

As you will see Miki has put together a whole resource for anyone with a dog that is blind or may be suffering from progressive blindness.

Have a look on the video page link so you can see for yourself what can be achieved. Little Nono learns to cross paws, spin, even retrieve with Miki’s careful and kind teaching.

From a technical training point of view the videos make for fascinating watching. I hope you enjoy it and thank you Miki for sharing. I hope to get Miki on the blog or podcast very soon.

Karen x

Karen x