It’s ok to punish a dog to get what we want

It’s not all that long ago that children were sent up chimneys to clean them, and young children are still being used as slave labour.

These children are seen as possessions. Things to use and abuse as their “owners” see fit.

But in civilised countries we just don’t think that any more! Hooray!

Another thing that’s changed is our approach to animals. More and more countries are building animal protection into their law books. For wild animals, farm animals, and for our pets.

Plenty of ideas in this free 8-lesson email course for changing your life with your dog!

   

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But there’s one place where people have a blind spot

And that’s aversive equipment.

Equipment designed to inflict pain.

You can save as many whales as you like, but if you still think it’s ok to put an electric shock collar on a dog (or force a 5-year-old child to work in a factory), you’re barking up the wrong tree!

I understand why you may think that shock collars, prong collars, choke chains and the like are ok to use on your dog. There are a lot of people - some of them calling themselves “dog trainers” - who are heavily invested in using these instruments of torture.

Why? The answer is simple but shocking.

Because they don’t know any better.

The only way they know to get results is by punishing the animal in their care. Whether the dog understands why it’s being punished doesn’t seem to cross their mind.

The fallout of using pain and intimidation to get quick results is a closed book to them. They don’t even bother to look at what happens later.

Using inhumane equipment to reach their ends is making them inhuman.

You wouldn’t want to be a part of that, would you?

The science of getting the results you want in animal training, without lifting a finger to harm the dog, or even ever saying NO, has been proven for almost a hundred years.

We are so behind!  

What’s good?

The good news is that more and more countries are changing their laws and BANNING these awful devices. I’m fortunate to live in one of those countries that has seen the light. **

Tell me, would you punish a child for doing something you don’t like?

Or would you rather TEACH him how to do what you DO like?

Would you give your child an electric shock if he didn’t answer you immediately?

The very thought sends shivers down my spine.

And I get those same shivers when I see that people are brainwashed into thinking it’s actually ok to administer pain to an animal.

The fact (and that’s proven scientifically) is that “training” done via methods of punishment does not last. And has many side-effects that make everything worse.

The child who’s punished for stealing a biscuit is not going to know why it’s wrong to steal. He’s just going to make sure he doesn’t get caught in the future!

The dog who’s punished for being afraid of something is now going to be afraid of his owner as well. His first fear is now superseded by the more immediate fear of the person holding the lead, or the electric transmitter. (They actually call it a “controller”. I rest my case.)

Rhyme and reason go out the window.

In both cases, you’re just teaching avoidant behaviour, not resolving the issue.

The future is bright!

Do you want to learn a way to actually communicate with your dog, and - miracle! - get HER to make good decisions without you even having to tell her?

Join me on June 10th!

The way forward is open for you to choose to do things with your dog and stop doing things to your dog.

See you on June 10th!

It's ok to hurt a dog to get what we want

** Countries that have banned electric shock collars now include:

• England

• Scotland

• Wales

• Denmark

• Norway

• Sweden

• Austria

• Switzerland

• Slovenia

• Germany

• Canada

• Australia

Plenty of ideas in this free 8-lesson email course for changing your life with your dog!

   

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Shouldn’t my dog come when I call him?

Many people believe that dogs arrive with us with a perfect recall - fully operational.

How wrong can we be?!

People think that as their dog SHOULD listen to them and come when called, then he WILL.

So they sit astride their high horse of SHOULDs and OUGHT-TOs and watch their dog disappearing into the distance without even a flick of his ear.

We expect to spend years - many years - teaching our children what we want them to learn.

So why on earth do people think that they don’t need to TEACH their dog to come when called?

What actually happens is that your tiny new puppy arrives with what you THINK is a recall. But in fact it’s just his infant clinginess and need to stay “close to Mum”. He has an instinctive need to stay close to the mother-ship and be protected.

As time goes by, your pup gets BOLDER and more venturesome. As he moves into adolescence, he gets further and further away from you (and further and further into possible trouble) and you find that your previously-dependable recall is no longer there.

Suddenly you have a “bad dog”, a “stubborn dog”, a dog who “never listens”, a dog who winds you up “on purpose”.

And this is the most common age when dogs are surrendered to a shelter for someone else to deal with. How tragic is that?

And if you’ve started with one of those dogs handed in to a shelter - who you’ve fallen in love with and have given a home to - then YOU have the task of undoing an awful lot of early learning from his puppyhood!

But it’s quite possible!

Even famously “deaf” breeds - who get on a scent and become totally immersed in it, or who spot a tiny movement in the undergrowth in the distance and barrel after it at high speed (that would be my Cricket the Whippet!) can learn to pay attention to you and demonstrate a stunning, instant, fast, spin-on-a-sixpence, recall.

Imagine how life with your dog will change when you’re able to say his name quietly and he’s right there beside you?

Imagine how it will be when you see your dog disappearing after a rabbit and you can call, just the once, and have him hurtle back to you?

You’ll be glad to know you never have to treat your dog any differently than you’d treat your small child! There’s never any need for nasty gadgets, tellings-off, yanking the collar, and so on

And I can show you lots of kind methods that really work.

Mark your calendar for June 10th!

I know it seems miles away, but it will come round in no time. I’ll have something for you that will transform your recalls FOR EVER!

AND it will transform your relationship with your dog, and your enjoyment of him. After all, that’s why you got your dog in the first place, isn’t it?

I look forward to seeing YOU on June 10th, ready to learn the mysteries of making your dog a brilliant family dog.

Meanwhile, check out my book with loads of games and ways to get on the road to getting that recall re-installed and fully functional.

Yet more answers for you in this free 8-lesson email course for changing your life with your dog!

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Shouldn’t my dog come when I call him?

Is it possible for a dog to be reactive to the unexpected?

I had a great question recently:

“Is it possible for a dog to be reactive to quiet and ‘the unexpected’?”

The person who posed this question was puzzled that their dog seemed able to cope with busy or noisy situations, but would react violently to any sight or sound when the environment was otherwise empty or quiet. The owner was worried that his dog may be unusual or wrong in some way.

As I answered, it became clear that quite a few owners of reactive dogs are puzzled by this. So I’m giving you my answer as it may answer a question that you have too!

This is a good question! It baffles and misleads a lot of people.  

Picture this: you are visiting your local shops. It’s afternoon, the shops are busy, there are mothers with pushchairs, delivery vans, people with shopping bags, boys on bikes … How do you feel?

Absolutely fine and comfortable, I’d bet.

Now imagine you go there at 1 in the morning. The place is deserted. You hear footsteps getting louder, and peering into the gloom you can just make out a figure heading towards you. How do you feel?

Most of us would be on high alert at the very least, possibly really alarmed.

The same man ambling through the crowds in the afternoon probably wouldn’t have bothered you at all.

There is a technical name for this - it’s SEC or Sudden Environmental Change.

Dogs are designed to spot things which are different, things which shouldn’t be there. They can single out something amiss and focus intently on it. This is one reason why they have earned their place in our homes down the ages. They are alarm sensors!

So your dog is behaving absolutely normally.

Want to learn more? Check out this free email course that will give you lots of Aha moments about your reactive, aggressive, anxious - Growly - dog!

     

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Sudden Environmental Change? Wha’?

There is a reason so many of our working dogs are so useful in their work. Take German Shepherds for instance, who can spot an intruder or an escaping criminal in a split-second, and take action.

Border Collies, those wonderful sheep-herders, can instantly spot a ewe whose ear is twitching in the wrong direction, indicating that she’s about to break and take the flock with her. The Collie can get round in an instant to block the ewe and make sure she keeps going in the right direction.

In the image at the top of the page, young Coco Poodle just has to check out this strange sign in an otherwise green and empty landscape.

Sighthounds can spot the tiniest movement in a still place at a huge distance. Something moving in the landscape could well be dinner!

Dogs searching for evidence may not have a specific scent or object in mind - they’re just looking for something that shouldn’t be there.

And this is why your dog may react dramatically to the doorbell, or a car door slamming outside your home.

WHO IS THIS?

WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?

ARE WE UNDER THREAT?

For this ability alone, dogs have earnt their place by our fireplaces for so many thousands of years - it’s about 30,000 years, in fact.

Dogs’ gifts

The fact is that the hearing and sight capabilities of the dog so far outweigh our own. When it comes to their noses, they are unparalleled, and are the reason dogs are an important tool for the police, and in airports and ports worldwide. They’re far quicker at discovering evidence and identifying contraband than much of the sophisticated machinery also in use!

Is it possible for a dog to be reactive to quiet?

FETCH IT! teach your dog to retrieve anything

• Does your dog like chasing toys … but expect you to go out and fetch them?

• Or does she remove your fingers when you offer her a toy?

• Perhaps she just thinks toys are to be taken to her bed and buried …

Not any more!

The latest in the popular series of how-to books from Brilliant Family Dog (currently with over 250 5* reviews at Amazon) has arrived!

Fetch It! Teach your Brilliant Family Dog to catch, fetch, retrieve, find, and bring things back!

takes you step-by-step from a reluctant retriever to a fetching fanatic! It’s suitable for people who want to play with their dog in the garden and on walks, folk who compete with their dog, and those who just want their dog to clear up her own toys, fetch your shoes, and find your car keys!

It’s such fun to be able to play fetch and catch games with your dog. And provided you keep an eye on the temperature of the weather, you can get an awful lot of running done without too much effort on your part! There’s guidance in the book on safety so you won’t make any mistakes.

Can you imagine how your dog’s stock will go up with your family and friends, once he becomes a genuinely useful member of the family (apart from being cuddly and adorable, of course, which is his default setting)?

From fetching the post delicately off a hard flat floor without damaging your mail, to bringing her lead, fetching the phone, or finding your jumper, there are lessons here to teach your dog to become a retrieving wizard. And she will LOVE it!

What’s in the book?

• What sort of retrieves are there?

• How can I reward my dog? - super-important!

• Retrieve articles - what will help you, and what to avoid

• Teach your dog to catch - super fun chapter, this!

• Step-by-step to a reliable Play retrieve

• Playing Tug for impulse control

• Step-by-step Formal retrieve, for competition and assistance dogs

• Adding the vocal cue - how to ask politely!

• Fun - this chapter includes, amongst others,

Fetch my shoes, Where’s my jumper, Fetch the post, Where’s your lead, Stack the dinner bowls, Fetch the tv remote, Find my keys, and how to teach Search

“I just have to let you know how thrilled I am. Dodger and I have been playing in the garden and I’ve been throwing his ball. He’s been running after it and then bringing it back. So I’m really chuffed!”

Avril and Dodger, her previously non-retrieving Staffie

5* Amazon review 

My dog is lovely but quite excitable, which made some things really tricky ... The advice in Beverley's books is clear and simple to follow, and best of all it teaches your dog to think for itself and make good choices without any commands. Seriously, if you want a nicer, better-behaved and calmer dog, read these books and follow her steps.

Go and check out this page now where you can choose ebook or paperback. And if you live in an Amazon-free zone (they do exist, I’m told!) you can ask your local bookshop to order it. It’s currently at a super-reasonable introductory price.

Plenty of ideas in this free 8-lesson email course for changing your life with your dog!

   

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Your dog wasn’t born knowing this! You have to teach her

I hear this so often:

• “My dog pulls me all over the place on the lead”

• “My dog criss-crosses in front of me so I trip”

• “My dog has pulled me over in the road!”

• “My dog is always ahead of/dragging behind me”

as if it’s the dog’s fault!

How can your dog comply with wishes that are never expressed?

How can he understand if you don’t explain to him?

How can he know what you want him to do if you never teach him!

It really is no use complaining to others what your dog does on a walk, if that’s what you allow him to do.

And if you don’t take active steps to change this, that’s what you’re doing. By “active steps” I don’t mean moaning and crying and yelling “get back” or “stop!” or “*$**&** dog!”

What I mean is a proper program of Loose Lead Walking. There are plenty of them about. Mine is here - Let’s Go! Enjoy companionable walks with your Brilliant Family Dog:

Students of From Wild Puppy to Brilliant Family Dog and From Challenging Dog to Brilliant Family Dog also get the benefit of this full program, along with step-by-step videos so they can get it right fast!

There are others, of course. And as long as you’re not using nasty gadgets, horrid collars, slip leads, retractable leads, tightening harnesses, tightening head collars - or any other aversive nasty, you should be ok.

And the system you choose needs to be proactive - that is to say you teach the dog what it is you want, rather than continually correct him for what you don’t want.

Continually punishing someone for doing something they had no idea was wrong is … WRONG! It’s also counter-productive. Your dog will think, “I’d rather have the sustained pain of choking into my collar than be told off the whole time and I don’t know why.”

Yes, that’s quite a lot of thought to impute to the humble dog. But I think you get the gist.

If you can teach your dog what you want and give him a choice in the matter, you’ll find things go much more smoothly! AND get the result you want. 

Not just walking nicely on the lead

And it’s not just Loose Lead Walking where you need to give your dog an inkling of what you want, not expect him somehow to divine your desires magically.

It applies to anything you’d like him to do - sleep in his bed and not yours, sit at the kerb before crossing the road, travel calmly and quietly in the car, greet visitors politely, leave your food alone on the kitchen worktop …

I’m not saying you have to do all those things - they’re just examples of what you may like to actually teach your dog, rather than expect him somehow to know.

And none of these things include yelling “Gerroff! Stop! LEAVE IT!”

Once you follow a proven program and teach your dog what you want, you have peace and harmony in the home. You can trust your dog to do what you would like him to do, and he can trust you not to tell him off for breaking secret rules.

You can ask him to do things, not command him. How often do you command your house-mate or spouse? “Make me a coffee. I said make me a coffee! Make it now!”

Of course you don’t do that! You ask, politely, courteously, and ready to hear and respect the response you get. “I can’t right now, I’m in the bath,” doesn’t lead you to a meltdown, any more than “I can’t sit right now, there’s a dog staring at me over there,” should.

When it comes to it, we all want a peaceful and loving life with our dog - isn’t that why we got a dog in the first place?

Owning a dog is definitely a two-way street. You have to make sure your side of the street is open and has readily-understandable messages flowing down it. Then you’ll be able to hear your dog’s messages and come to an understanding with him.

“When the long line is on your harness you can wander about. When the short lead is connected, you walk beside me. Deal?”

Be sure you’re in conversation with your dog, not being a drill sergeant!

Plenty of ideas in this free 8-lesson email course for changing your life with your dog!

   

  THIS FREE ECOURSE IS A BONUS FOR YOU WHEN YOU SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EDUCATIONAL EMAILS AND OCCASIONAL OFFERS FROM ME. YOU CAN UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME.
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Window barking and fence running

I can’t tell you how many owners of reactive dogs tell me their dog is a nightmare because he barks all day at the window.

“He barks at the window at everything he sees”

“He looks out of the window all day, if anyone comes past he barks and barks.”

“He spends his days attacking my front window as people pass by”

Or races up and down the garden barking at anything the other side of the fence.

“He also fence fights with our neighbour’s dogs when they are out so that is a daily challenge”

“The biggest issue is that whenever our neighbours walk past our garden fence she goes on the defensive, jumping up the fence to try and get to them”

“He will run the fence if allowed”

There are two problems here

1. The dog is driving the owner mad, so there’s disharmony in the house, frustration from both owner and dog, maybe wrecked furniture or lawn, worry about what the neighbours think.

and

2. The dog is continually wound up like a coiled spring. He’s getting no rest, and his cortisol levels (that’s the fight or flight thing) are continually elevated.

We all know how an overtired toddler is impossible to manage. Dogs are the exact same. This dog who spends his days on guard duty at the window, straining for any movement he can see, then leaping about scrabbling and barking at the window, is getting no rest. He’s getting tenser and tenser.

By the time you set out on your walk with him he’s already on his toes, on full alert! There’s little chance of escaping your outing without some kind of incident - barking and lunging at anything that moves, and going nuts on sight of a dog, or a bicycle, or whatever upsets your dog.

The dog who heads out to the garden for a quiet sniff about is not going to get that if he’s hurtling up and down the fence screaming at anything the other side.

I’d go so far as to say that you are going to have little impact on changing your walks to calm, quiet, and enjoyable, if you don’t first fix these problems at home.

So how on earth can I stop it?

Like most problems, it’s always best to prevent it even starting. But that’s with 20/20 hindsight! If you’ve already got this as an established problem, it’s no help to you to say don’t let it start!

But you can mostly certainly change it. For good.

Let’s start with the windows

You need to prevent your dog’s access to the windows that are causing the problem. Probably the front windows. So first stop is not to let him in that room unless you are with him to manage the situation. If you’ve got a tiny home, or an open-plan one, you may find baby gates help (baby gates are most definitely the dog-owner’s friend!).

Or move to Plan B. Which is to use window film! This wonderful invention will still allow light into your home, but present a fuzzy image to your dog. He can only see something really close up to the window, not out on the street. You can get all sorts of designs, and it’s really easy to apply - and just to whip off when you want (you won’t want: you’ll be so pleased with the calm it brings you’ll never want to take it off!).

And you don’t need to cover the whole window. Just the part your dog can see out of.

You may need to move your furniture about a bit, so he doesn’t have a handy perch!

So window-barking is now eliminated! Hooray. You’ll wonder how you ever stood it before. And you will see a distinct difference in your dog who is now getting something approaching the 17 hours (yes, seventeen hours) of sleep he should have every day for optimum health and lowered stress.

“But I don’t want to cover my windows!” Then unless you can keep your dog away from them another way, you will continue this mad barking and over-stimulation, which will prevent you making the important changes in your reactive dog’s behaviour out of doors! Your choice …

So what about fence-running?

Putting film on your fence is not going to work!

If you can, talk to your neighbours and arrange things so that you are all not driven mad. See what this resourceful student does to prevent these senseless and energy-sapping battles at the fence:

“My neighbour and I text each other for the all clear before letting them out!”

Those of you without such amenable and sensible neighbours will have to manage it all by yourself. Careful observation of your neighbour’s timetable will help.

 But in any case, you will always be out in the garden with your dog!

If necessary, you could have her on lead. It’s essential to teach your dog a new way of being in the garden. You’ll find simple counterconditioning very helpful. You just post treats into your dog’s mouth whenever there’s something over the fence that worries her. This way you’ll change her emotional response to the frightening thing.

You may have to start this from inside the house! Wherever your dog is calm enough to take treats will get you started.  

No more barking and screaming!

These problems are very simply solved. Note I didn’t say “easily”. It takes application and observation. But the solutions are simple and straightforward.

All it needs is a little effort on your part, and the deafening noises, frantic behaviour, and over-arousal, will all be a thing of the past.

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