All life is a journey, one day is sunny and warm, with birds singing, flowers in full bloom and everything we do goes so well..... and then there are days when the wind blows, rain pours down, the toast gets burnt. Of course our mood plays a large part in how we perceive and how we react to the inevitable problems that arise each day, what we are happy to do today may be an insurmountable hurdle tomorrow.
We all know this, so why is it that when dog owners talk of wanting their dogs to be 'trained' there always seems to be the assumption that once 'trained' the dog will somehow miraculously react in exactly the same way every time something happens? I saw this thinking at work when I heard a lady, who 'prepares' dogs in rescue for their future lives with new families, talking of how she pulls the tail of a dog to teach it to accept this because the children of a new family will undoubtedly do the same. Once her "process" is complete the dog is deemed "safe"
The life span of dogs is comparatively short and they will go from puppy to senior within just seven years, with all of the changes associated with aging process, from their physical condition, their ability to learn and their own, remembered, experiences. All of these factors influence every area of their lives. With that in mind, let's look again at the 'logic' of the 'tail pulling' and imagine a slightly different outcome from our guaranteed "safe" dog.
Let us suppose that this 'trainer' gently pulls the tail of a relaxed dog and then pronounces that it is now safe and 'trained' to accept this and the dog then goes into a family who have been assured of their safety. The first time that an excited child grabs at the tail and gives a little jerk, this will be a completely different experience for the dog to that which it encountered whilst in rescue, although it's still 'tail pulling'
When a larger child jerks violently on the dog's tail causing extreme pain and the dog turns to stop this the only way it can, with its teeth, then the dog will be seen as being in the wrong, the rescue organisation will be criticised for letting a 'rogue' dog be passed on and usually the dog will be killed.
A dog's reactions to any given situation, like ours, are determined by so many factors, and will inevitably change depending on; circumstances, experience and relationship with those involved. It is our responsibility to ensure that our dogs can make the right decision in any circumstance from the information that we give them and our response to their actions. We have to accept that there is no such thing as a 'trained' dog, there are only dogs that respond to life in ways that are dictated by their experience, experience which is the responsibility of the owner/Carer.
The glib attitude applied to dogs can be seen in some of the phrases regularly used by owners; 'socialised', 'friendly', 'good with children', phrases that can lead people into a dangerous sense of false security from where everyone loses.
Before you allow a dog to walk off lead away from home, when close to other people, dogs, cars etc just think if you would dream of doing this with a cat, a horse or a ferret. Of course you wouldn't because we all accept that other animals are never guaranteed to be predictable and we would have no idea how they would react to things they see and hear.
Why we think a dog is unique in the animal world and will behave in a uniform and robot like fashion because it's been "trained" is a mystery to me. It's your job to help make sure that your dog is exposed to as little threat and abuse during the course of it life as possible to ensure it is never put into a situation that could result in it being labelled dangerous. This should be easy to do as we understand our world far more than our dogs and we are best equipped to take the steps necessary to ensure our special relationship is the best it can be and the least stressful for our dogs.
Jan Fennell
22nd March 2012
