Godt nl oct 2012rev

The Guild of Dog Trainers

Balanced, Intelligent Dog Training

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E d i t o r

Welcome to your October newsletter.

It is very clear with the information received that our members have been extremely busy over September with the Guild’s Dog Awareness campaign and so this is the main feature of this month’s edition.

Unfortunately or fortunately I was on my holidays, but before I went I managed to promote the week with a press release in a local magazine, I was very pleased with the response and gained some new clients. As you can see in my photo I am proud to wear my new Guild polo shirt. The shirt is one of the new items in the Guild’s merchandise section and is of excellent quality.

Well without further ado, put the kettle on, settle down and enjoy this months delights.

editor@godt.org.uk 1

In this issue…

Page 1

A word from your editor

2

Index

3-4

A Word from the Chair Sue Williams

5 – 19

Dog Awareness Campaign • • • • • • • •

Sandra Cowe, A-Grade Dog Training Carol Clark, Down Dog Training & Behaviour Services Jenny Warne and Janet Edwards at Dolgellau Vets Hounds of the Heath by Elaine Brown Pets at Home by Sam Herd St Francis Home for Animals by Gary Roberts K9Swim by Rachel Bean Good owners are responsible dog owners by Elaine Brown

20 –25 Members profiles & Articles Justin Kumaran, Halo Dogs, writes about his thoughts on Leadership.

26 - 28 Barking Times Topical Dog news and fun!

Caption competition

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Dates For Your Diary

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Next Issue!

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A Word from the Chair Sue Williams Bsc I hope everyone has had a great summer despite the weather. My summer has been brilliant and I’ve been really busy with my Dog Display and Llama Display teams. It has been so much fun working with the animals and performing at so many events throughout the UK.

The dog displays promote ‘socially acceptable’ dogs along with effective kind training which is why the ‘Dog Awareness’ campaign is something I felt to be really important.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in the campaign your support has been fantastic. I am passionate about responsible dog ownership and you guys have certainly been busy getting the message out there!

I had the pleasure of being involved with a number of events and I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with members some of whom I had not met before.

As well as the ‘Dog Awareness Week’ lots of other exciting things have been happening within the Guild including the addition of Guild branded polo shirts and rugby shirts to our merchandise. This has been as a result of Lisa Tennants hard work so a big thank you to her for organising these.

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There is a new section on the website titled ‘Educational Material’ this contains factsheets kindly provided by some of our members.

The factsheets are available for members to print and handout at training classes etc if they so wish to.

The intention is for further fact sheets to be added and although they can be accessed by anyone at the moment, in the future they will be in a section only accessible to members.

As many are already aware the Guild has a new open Facebook page.

The Guild of Dog Trainers (GoDT) This has been created to further promote and raise awareness about us as an organisation, if any member has anything they think would be applicable to be posted then please email it to James Hearle james@godt.org.uk Please make sure you have ‘liked’ it and encourage friends, colleagues etc, the more who know about the Guild the better.

The original Facebook group page will remain as a closed group for members only.

Members of the Guild of Dog Trainers Nick Jones has kindly set up and is running a Twitter account for the Guild and I’m sure he will appreciate more followers. http://twitter.com/GuildDogTrainer #GuildDogTrainer Over the last few months we have had lots of new members join and I’m sure you all like me are delighted and extend our warmest welcome to the Guild.

As an organisation we are constantly making changes and additions to improve if any members have any suggestions then please email them to me suewilliams@godt.org.uk 4

And what a busy week it was, well done everyone!

Well here are some of the events organised by our members, if you haven’t quite got around to writing about yours then please send to editor@godt.org.uk t o b e f e a t u r e d i n t h e n e x t n e w s l e t t e r .

Sandra Cowe A-Grade Dog Training S a n d r a C o w e o f A - G r a d e D o g T r a i n i ng i n Milngavie, Scotland, launched herself into D o g A w a r e n e s s W e e k 2 0 12 b y o r g a n i s i n g a range of activities aimed at the local community.

This began with Dog Safety talks to all schoolchildren at the local primary school, looking at how to greet (and how not to greet) a dog, understanding canine body language and what to do if approached by an unsupervised dog – they were an enthusiastic and receptive audience who should now be more clued up on dog safety, b o t h w i t h d o g s t h e y k n o w , a n d t h o s e w h i ch are new to them.

The next activity was an information stand at the local vet practice open day, where current and prospective clients were given the opportunity to ask questions and be given advice on a variety of training and behavioural t o p i c s , w h i c h w a s w e l l a t t e n d e d by adults, children and their canine family members.

Finally, Sandra organised a competition aimed at, and open to all local children from 5-11 years, in w h i c h t h e y h a d t o c o n d u c t r e s e a r c h a n d a n s w e r q u e s ti o n s o n d o g s , t r a i n i n g , b r e e d s e t c – w i t h o v e r 15 0 e n t r i e s r e c e i v ed this was then judged by the local vet, and the two winners r e c e i v e d p r i ze s o f b a s k e t s f u l l o f d o g r e l a t e d g o o di e s !

All in all, a very busy, successful and satisfying week for AGrade Dog Training, Milngavie! www.a-gradedogtraining.co.uk 5

Hot off the press the winners are‌..

Steven Glen (age 11) & Carolyn Robb (age 6)

Carol Clark, Down Dog Training Carol held a Free advice sessions at Jollyes during the week.

Although the sessions were fairly quiet those who attended really enjoyed them and said that they were a good idea.

So much so that Carol is holding another one on the 1 s t December to coincide with Jollyes promotion day.

In addition to this during last week Carol focused on responsible dog ownership in her 5 classes and feedback was all positive. http://www.downdog.co.uk 6

Picture taken at a Dog Awareness event At Dolgellau Vets Sue Williams With Guild members Jenny Warne And Janet Edwards

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Hounds of the Heath

by Elaine Brown During the week of 16th-23rd September 2012 members of The Guild of Dog Trainers ran events to promote The Guild’s Dog Awareness Week.

Working in partnership with Suffolk Wildlife Trust I launched “Hounds of the Heath” – an exciting new canine community at Knettishall Heath Country Park.

How do you find a balance between creating a nature reserve as a safe haven for birds and wildlife to breed and run free, but equally allow access to dog walkers to explore and exercise their dogs? That was the conundrum faced by Suffolk Wildlife Trust when they purchased Knettishall Heath – one of Suffolk’s largest surviving areas of Breckland heath.

Knettishall Heath is steeped in ancient history.

The Bronze Age round barrow, Hut Hill, dates from 2400-1500BC and the 120 mile Icknield Way, which starts at Knettishall Heath, is possibly the oldest route in Britain, dating back Breckland is one of the UK’s M y a b l e a s s i s t a n t M e r l o t to 4000BC. biodiversity hotspots and the designation of much of Knettishall Heath as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) reflects this. So you can see how important it is that Suffolk Wildlife Trust protects this very special landscape.

As the purchase of Knettishall Heath was finalised I was approached by Suffolk Wildlife Trust for my help in engaging dog walkers on the heath.

Dog walkers were by far the most frequent users of the heath but, at times, dogs were being allowed to disturb livestock, ground nesting birds and wildlife.

I developed a strategy to address the problem.

The aim, of course, is to encourage responsible dog ownership but I decided that we shouldn’t overtly use that particular term – to me it sounds nagging and can switch people off. Instead we have organised a series of fun events, group walks and training sessions, keeping everything upbeat and exciting in the hope of shifting attitudes where necessary and carrying people along with us.

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We launched the project with some razzmatazz.

A press release, social media advertising and posters pretty much everywhere led to a really great turn out at the launch event.

We offered canine activities for all the family, including a dog themed treasure hunt for children, a fun dog show and agility have-a-go.

We handed out leaflets detailing our plans for future canine events at Knettishall Heath including group walks, training workshops and dog themed family and children fun events.

This inaugural event was a great success exceeding our wildest expectations, on the day we signed up over 50 “Hounds of the Heath” with more dog owners joining the group on a weekly basis.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust had never engaged with dog owners in this way before so it was a real accomplishment for them.

Hounds of the Heath Launch

But it doesn’t stop there….

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This is just the beginning of a strong partnership between a wildlife organisation and a local dog trainer. The canine community we have created forms a strong conduit for communication between dog walkers and the management of the site. We are actively encouraging dialogue and listening to views and ideas of ways that dog owners can work and play together at Knettishall Heath.

I am planning training workshops on recall, walking nicely on the lead, off lead close control and a fun activity workshop for children and their dogs – including safety around dogs.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust has, very sensibly, identified that in order to change attitudes it needs to engage with dog owners in a positive way. In return for dog owners showing consideration and respect for each other and the environment, the Trust is offering a great deal. After listening to views they are fencing an area where dogs can be exercised off lead during the bird nesting season when dogs must be kept on lead on the open heath.

It’s a win-win for all parties.

For me, it has had unexpected benefits. Since the press release of our Hounds of the Heath launch, I have been contacted by two other nature reserves to work with them on similar initiatives.

Let’s hope we can inspire the development of similar canine communities elsewhere.

For further information about Dog Learning Zone go to

www.doglearningzone.co.uk

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Sam Herd On Saturday 22 n d September we had a very successful Dog Awareness day at the Pets at Home store in Stockport.

The day was hosted by Sue Williams, Chairwoman, Debbie Cordingley, PR, Lisa Tennant and I.

Looking resplendent in our Guild polo shirts, we set out our display with Guild of Dog Trainers posters, leaflets, information and hand outs, positioning ourselves in a prime location to cover the store and the adjoining veterinary practice; welcoming anyone who came with a question or showed an interest.

The response from members of the public was outstanding.

As well as the large volume of perpetual human and canine traffic passing through to the store, there were people who came especially to see us, seek advice and find out more about the Guilds trainers and their methods. The hand outs that we produced using the Pdf’s were a big hit with people, to take away and follow up any advice that we had given and highlight balanced training methods.

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We were accompanied by our dogs, pups Roly and Harley, and Harry the Boxer. The dogs didn’t let us down, not only did they attract even more attention for us, but did an exemplary job of behaving well, making friends with young and old alike (including the odd new canine chum!) and promoting socially acceptable pets. By the time they had finished socialising even the most timid of the children were happy to approach them, having been shown how to do so correctly.

It was great to meet Joe Astre a brand new member of the Guild who knew of the event and came to say Hello.

We were also joined by a couple of local dog trainers who had been invited to come and meet us. They expressed an interest both in the guild as an organisation and in joining us.

The feedback from the staff was very positive, thanks to comments from their customers’; we are invited back any time.

GoDT’s New Internal Relations Officer “It’s good to have chance to say ‘Hello everyone’. I was very pleased to be accepted as a member of the Guild of Dog Trainers and especially to take on the role of Internal Relations Officer.

As a lifelong animal lover and having owned a wide range of pets as a youngster, I finally got my first dog 18 years ago. Along with and following that one there have been many others of various shapes, sizes and types. I think we have been through just about all of highs and lows that come from living with and training dogs. I didn’t realise until I had one just how addictive these creatures were to have around. So much so I now work with them full time. I run my own Dog Walking and Pet sitting business as well as conducting 1 to 1 training sessions encouraging kind; fair reward based training methods and promoting socially acceptable dogs I am looking forward to being actively involved in GODT campaigns in the future and hopefully meeting some of you.

Sam Herd www.canines-catsandco.co.uk 12

Gary Roberts T h an ks t o e ve ry one wh o ca me al o ng t o t h e w or ks hop at S t F r an ci s d ogs ho me f or d og aw ar ene ss o n Su nd a y.

We h a d som e re al l y g re at f eed ba ck and m ad e som e much n eede d m on ey fo r t he ho me. Th e que sti o n a nd an swe r s ec ti on se ssi on hel p ed wi th p r obl ems f rom t he u su al t oi l et t r ai ni n g an d r ec al l ty pe i ssu es t o o ne or t wo m or e s eri o us r equi rin g co ns ul t a ti on s.

D o na ti ng m y fee t o St F ra nci s fo r the con sul ts s o loo ks l i ke I 'm e ati n g po t n oo dl es a gai n ne x t wee k!

Mo s t p opul ar p a rt w a s i n tera c ti o n wi t h s ome o f t he resi d en ts o f t he h ome w ho are al way s h ap p y to te ac h vi si ti ng h um ans s ome n ew t ri ck s !

T r us tees & ma n ag emen t w an t m e t o do i t a g ai n so we mi g ht d o so met hi ng si mi l a r ev er y 3 mo nt hs o r so .

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A Swimming Good Time!

By Rachel Bean Guild Member and Veterinary Nurse, Rachel Bean, organised her Dog Awareness Event at K9 Swim, Manchester's biggest and newest Canine Hydrotherapy Pool. “The thread for the evening was 'Health and Fitness' which is an important part of being a responsible dog owner and this is what I wanted to get across to the visiting general public. My 17 years as a Veterinary Nurse means that I am passionate about pets and promoting responsible ownership�.

The evening was attended by other Guild members including Lisa Tennent, Sue Williams, Samantha Herd and Debbie Cordingley. They were instrumental in chatting and spreading the word about The Guild of Dog Trainers during the evening and did a great job.

The event was also attended by members of DDA Watch which are group passionate in educating the public about owning a dog that may get caught up and labeled as 'type' according to the Dangerous Dogs Act. It was interesting to hear how easily this can happen to innocent people.

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One of the DDA Watch supporters, Sean Pogson, happily dressed as a fairy and jumped in the pool for local Animal Charity 'Pennine Pen' based in Oldham which was hilarious!

The event was well attended and had a steady flow of dog owners keen to see dogs swimming in the new pool.

We started off by demonstrating a 'fun swim' with my 3 year old Labrador 'Wisp' who didn't hesitate in showing off her pool diving skills.

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A fun swim consists of using balls and floating toys to motivate a dog to swim the full length of this 11 metre pool.

Owners too can get in and swim with their dogs - a great idea!

The next demonstration was with Marti Woods, the Hydrotherapists own young German Shepherd 'Dizzy'. Marti is training Dizzy to compete in Schutzhund using clicker training which although not used to a great extend is proving to be a very successful method. Marti demonstrated how some simple exercises in the pool can be used for extra fitness in a competition dog.

These methods will be used for dogs such as the Police Dogs with the Manchester force.

The third demonstration was with a shy Greyhound. This was to demonstrate how the pool can be used to help with stress and help a dog relax. It was amazing to see this greyhound relax to where he almost dozing off in the warm water. This gave me an opportunity to explain to people how hydrotherapy can be used in behaviour programs and I recounted a couple of cases where hydrotherapy has been useful in improving a dogs confidence.

It can also help with general high energy dogs that owners find difficult in the house due to their excess energy.

We had local representatives from 'DogLost UK' too which are a voluntary group who help lost dogs get reunited with their owners by email campaigns - all great stuff.

Overall it was a successful evening with everyone learning something new. The feedback was all positive and we look forward to doing more educational events at the centre.

Thanks again to the Guild Members that came along and joined in the fun and thankfully didn’t end up in the pool!

Rachel Bean RVN MCFBA MTGODT http://www.k9swim.com K9 Swim also featured on ITV2's Top Dog Model program on the 26 t h September and very impressive it looked too. http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=325616 16

Good Dog Owners are Responsible Dog Owners

By Elaine Brown The 16 t h -23 r d September 2012 was The Guild of Dog Trainers’ Dog Awareness Week. Each day covered a topic built around the principles of the Guild’s Balanced Intelligent Dog Training.

Using the Guild acronym we kicked off our campaign by looking at “G – Good dog owners are responsible dog owners”.

Most of us would like to think we take good care of our dogs.

It starts when we get a puppy or offer a home to an adult dog. From that point on our life will never be the same again! Our dogs give us unconditional love, companionship and provide health and wellbeing benefits from lovely long walks and relaxation when snuggled up for a cuddle. In return isn’t it only fair that we give our dogs a good and safe life by taking responsibility both inside the home and outside in the environment?

We are what we eat We know that nationally we are developing a problem with obesity but do you know that this applies to our dogs too? It is estimated that between a quarter and a third of dogs in the UK are either severely overweight or obese and that if the trend continues almost half of our dogs could be overweight by 2013. Being overweight does, of course, directly threaten our dogs’ health and lifespan. As we, and only we, control our pets’ diet we owe it to our dogs to provide them with as long and as healthy a life as we possibly can. The good news is that it is never too late and, with the help of our vet, we can achieve positive and lasting change towards a healthier diet and lifestyle for our dogs if we need to.

Play it again Sam – and again, and again…. Alongside a healthy diet good dog owners provide appropriate exercise and play.

Young puppies shouldn’t have too much exercise. The Kennel Club recommendation for puppies is five minutes for every month of life up to twice a day; once they are fully grown and developed they can go out for longer. But our dogs also greatly benefit from mental stimulation – encouraging them to use their brain and work things out for themselves.

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Instead of playing mad chase or ball throwing games for hours, which can over-stimulate a dog, good dog owners hide treats or toys around the house or garden and encourage our dog to find them, play hide and seek with our dog, lay a scent trail for our dog to follow, or teach our dog some useful tricks. Dogs undoubtedly love learning in this way; it helps to build the bond between us and helps our dog to focus on us because we are great fun to be around. Building focus is important to good dog owners because it forms the foundation of everything we do with our dogs, especially when we are out and about.

It’s worth spending some time on focus games with our dogs

Community Spirit Good dog owners help our dogs become well-mannered members of the local community. Most dogs are very social animals, which is one of the reasons we love them so much. They can help us make new friends because we have a common interest, join us on adventures to discover new locations and fire up our enthusiasm for perhaps taking up a canine related sport or hobby. A big part of our dogs becoming sociable is for us to teach them basic manners and etiquette; once they have these we can take them pretty much anywhere.

Good dog owners train dogs to have self-control which means they will behave calmly in public and around distractions.

But one thing our dogs cannot do for themselves is clean up after them; until we can train them that particular social skill good dog owners show respect for our environment and dispose of those little bags in dog waste bins or take them home with us!

Education A good quality dog training centre is the best place to start on our dogs’ manners.

The Guild of Dog Trainers’ website has a site map to identify qualified and experienced trainers in most parts of the UK. Good dog owners are aware that legally we must keep our dogs under control so we train the basics, at the very least. This includes walking nicely on the lead and an excellent recall means that our dogs do not become a nuisance to others. Training our dogs to come back to us when called, first time, every time means that other people with dogs, children, joggers, cyclists or small furries can pass us safely without the fear of being chased or jumped upon excitedly by our dogs. If this seems like a distant dream then a visit to the site map of local trainers on the Guild’s website is a great first step to having this dream come true.

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“Can we say Hi?�

Dog training classes are also great at helping with the social niceties of our canine friends meeting and greeting as they provide lots of opportunities to interact with a variety of other dogs and people.

Good dog owners realise that some dogs can become very frightened and stressed when another dog comes rushing over uninvited; which can manifest itself in the other dog barking or snapping. Just like us humans some dogs need more space than others so good dog owners are polite and ask before allowing our dogs to approach another dog.

This is as much about the safety of us and our own dogs too because other dogs that are nervous or frightened can be unpredictable.

Meeting and greeting etiquette for children and dogs is especially important - to keep children safe good dog owners train children that they must always ask the owner before being introduced to a dog as some dogs get worried by the high pitched voices and rapid movements of children.

Good dog owners realise it is worth investing a bit of time and effort to educate our dogs in basic manners, focus and selfcontrol to help them become polite, well-behaved members of our family and larger community.

When you own a dog like this responsible dog ownership is easy!

Elaine Brown is a Member of the Guild of Dog Trainers at Master Trainer level.

She runs Dog Learning Zone, a training, behaviour and therapeutic care centre in Norfolk.

Dog Learning Zone Training - Behaviour - Therapeutic Care

http://www.doglearningzone.co.uk 19

Justin Kumaran, Halo Dogs, writes about his thoughts on Leadership.

The first thing we must learn is why and how to be the Alpha.

Whether you own a dog or not, I think it fair to suggest most people in the world will have heard of the term Alpha Dog, Pack Leader or some equivalent variation.

We know that when we take on the responsibility and indeed, privilege of caring for a domesticated pet dog , we must be the ‘Leader of the pack’, but do we truly, deep down and honestly understand this often flippant title, and more importantly, do we know how to be one.

Before we buy our first car, we usually have learnt how to drive to varying degrees of success. So the owners of the 750,000,000 cars in the world all have owners who understand how to drive them. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the 100,000,000 domesticated pet dogs in the world.

I simply cannot stress enough the vital importance of getting this bit right. This is unequivocally the most important and kindest thing you can do for your Tiddles and sets the foundation of a harmonious human-Tiddles relationship.

Unfortunately in my experience this is also the most often over looked aspect of owning a pet dog and usually, not always, missing with dogs with behavioural problems.

We know African Wild Dogs, Arctic Wolves and the Gray Wolf all have a social structure fundamentally based on the principle of hierarchy. Through aggressive research we know that the domesticated pet dog is a direct descendant of the Common Gray Wolf, general consensus believes the domestication process started through both natural and artificial selection circa 15,000 years ago and probably in the Far or Middle East.

This means whilst our ‘Tiddles’ is not a wolf, there are some similarities. Much like the human species are not apes, though there are many similarities.

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It is wrong to observe a domesticated pet dog, our Tiddles, as a wolf. The evolutionary process has made Tiddles a species in their own right. However we can gain much understanding of many behaviours and psychology from observing their ancestors. Why does Tiddles steal food at any opportunity? Why does Tiddles roll around in the smelliest of unpleasantness she can find? Why does Tiddles enjoy chasing squirrels and urine marking her territory? When I observe Tiddles, I see a combination of both rudimentary behaviours based on survival in common with Wolves and evolved behaviours to cope with the modern world in which they and we now live.

Let’s begin by briefly looking at a wild wolf pack.

A pack of wolves vary in numbers, averaging around 10-12.

There is an Alpha at the top of the pack, a Beta next in line and an Omega right at the bottom of the pecking order.

The ones in between don’t have titles.

The Alpha has earned his place by being the strongest, smartest and most handsome wolf, sometimes the female can be the boss or even they share power and work together. He may have had to win fights and challenges from other contenders for this coveted position, however this physical behaviour is more often seen in captivity. Along with the top title come many perks and equally many responsibilities. In a pack only the Alpha couple reproduce, why would a pack want pups from lesser ranking wolfs?

The Alpha is responsible for leading the hunt for food, does most of the work and then eats first too.

After the Alpha has had his fill, the lesser ranking wolves take their piece of dinner away somewhere quietly and eat in peace.

The Alpha ensures the survival of the pack, ensures they live close to a food and water source, dictates the boundaries of their territory and leads the offensive and defensive attacks on other neighbouring packs. The Alpha sleeps in the comfiest spot, enjoys his pick of the opposite sex and pretty much does what he wants, albeit with the responsibility of ensuring the survival of the pack. When his work is done and he is no longer able to fulfill his role through illness, injury or age, he will step aside for the challenger and indeed, victor to his position and depending on how he behaved whilst in command, will either be allowed to follow the pack and eat what’s left of the latest hunt or will at best be expelled from the pack with minor injuries, or be killed.

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So back to me and Tiddles. I cannot hoodwink Tiddles into thinking I am Alpha dog, for Tiddles knows I am not a dog.

If this was possible then the whole evolution of domestication was in vain and unnecessary. Luckily however from the process of domestication, at around 8weeks old, Tiddles who up until this point was happily playing with her mother and siblings now begins to break the family ties and look toward humans for the play and affection she once enjoyed from her relations. It is important to understand this, because this usually begins the downward spiral for many a pet dog.

Many dog owners enter into the relationship with eyes and hearts glazed over with emotion. Understandably, until you have learnt the language I call ‘Doglish’ you can only apply human emotion and logic.

Most puppies are chosen because they are the cutest, or we feel sorry for them, or they chose me or “Awwwwwwwwww I want them all!” This is based on a primal need of acceptance.

We love the fact that our puppy appears to love us, so we love them back. We find it endearing that this sweetest little fluff ball of cuteness needs us. What we are failing to see is this behaviour from the puppy is normal and has been bred into them over thousands of years. What we are failing to see through our emotionally glazed over eyes is this is the beginning of a relationship with a descendant of the wolf.

Wikipedia says: Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task".

Oxford Dictionary says: Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this: We are not all great leaders.

Being a leader, much like being good with dogs is a learned skill.

A leader is someone inspirational, someone who you just can’t do enough for.

Being a leader is not the same as being a manager, some managers are good, many are not and I’m sure we all know managers who abuse their positional authority and are nothing more than bully’s.

Being a good leader takes natural talent, passion, much self criticism and lots of self sacrifice and hard work. If we take for granted the affection showed by our new pup, we are abusing this position, much like the rubbish manager.

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When we take on a pet dog, we must immediately assume this leadership position and work at it depending on A) our natural abilities, knowledge and experience and B) the personality of our new best friend. As mentioned previously, there are different roles within a pack of wolves, Alpha, Beta, Omega and those somewhere in the middle.

It is difficult to see from an 8 week old fluff ball which temperament the new addition to your family will have.

The owner of an Omega type personality will have less of a challenge than those with a naturally dominant personality dog.

Whilst a pet dog may have an inbred affinity toward humans from an early age, they also have a social structure which we must abide by.

You cannot be a leader by trying to rationalise and explain the reasons of your actions and expectations to your dog, nor should you try and be a leader by being an Alpha wolf.

You will never be an Alpha dog, despite the popular myth.

What you are in essence is a controller of the resources and environment your dog has access to, their experiences and rewards and punishments and this must not be taken either lightly nor for granted.

A dog is just a dog, and will behave like one until we begin to train and to teach and educate. Dogs learn through association both good and bad and these are the tools which we have to teach.

If we pick up our new pup with love hearts fluttering from our tears of joy, we bring them home to our den and let them loose to run around the front room, laughing and joking and stroking them as we roll around on the floor with them.

What we are teaching them from the outset is to be manic in the house, jump all over us and we will reward this behaviour with positivity and praise. When we pick them up and put them on our laps and stroke them we are teaching them that they are superior to us and more importantly we are not being very good leaders. If we are not seen as a leader to a dog with their hierarchical view of the pack, then who is? Someone must be the leader in order for the pack to survive.

All dogs, some more willingly than others will in no time at all assume this position which is where the trouble begins.

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A wolf pup to an Alpha would not be treated with such generosity as to be fussed over and allowed onto his chosen bed. The pup is the lowest of the low and has to learn some tough lessons in life, even getting acknowledgment from the leader of the pack is a cherished moment and certainly not frivolously given away. This is the Alpha controlling the environment and resources. Jan Fennell really grasped this and explains her technique called Amichien bonding in her book, The Dog Listener, where she talks about the simple things we can do as humans to emulate behaviours my Tiddles understands to show I am the ‘Leader of the Pack’ such as feeding the dog after the humans have eaten. To eat a biscuit from near the dog bowl before feeding your dog to make it look as though we eat first, to always walk through a door first and not to let Tiddles be in front of me on a walk. All simple behaviours which my Tiddles understands as me as the Boss. If I allow Tiddles to sleep with me on the bed and sit next to me on the couch, Tiddles doesn’t think “ahh he loves me and therefore I will love him back” Tiddles gets a confusing message of her position in the pack.

Once I have the basic concept of me being the leader, I then understand that in order for this to be a harmonious relationship, as in any good relationship, there needs to be an amount of compromise on both parts.

A good leader does not dictate. Therefore I cannot dictate to my Tiddles what I want her to do.

Just because it is raining and I have a lot of work to do I cannot simply expect Tiddles to lay quietly in her bed all day, this won’t make for a happy dog nor will it make her think of me as a good leader.

So I take her out for an hour of good exercise then I can ask of her to lay quietly for a while whilst I get on with my work.

But she doesn’t know a down stay command yet, so I teach her one, using positive reinforcement, something she likes, and something she sees as having value.

That can be a food reward or reward of a game with her favourite toy or simply that praise and affection that has value because I didn’t bombard her with it when she was a pup.

Now because I am teaching her things and rewarding her I see our bond is developing and she is slowly becoming my best friend.

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When the door bell rings I throw a treat in her bed so now when someone is at the door, Tiddles runs and jumps in bed, expectant of her reward. This allows me to meet and greet the visitor with ease. Rather than holding a lunging dog by her collar and making apologies to my guests who are now getting covered in slobber. The by-product is a happy balanced Tiddles who knows I am the boss and she is comfortable laying in her bed rather than the unbalanced, untrained dog who is anxious of the doorbell ringing as this is a threat to the pack that they as the Alpha need to deal with.

A good Leader will ensure your own Tiddles gets exercise, training then affection and have their needs catered for as an animal first, then a dog, then their breed finally as Tiddles.

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In view of the Children and Dogs Month that the CFBA ran, the Company of Animals held Children’s Fun Training Sessions, where we looked at training and socialisation of the dogs and children. It was great fun and so much so, we are planning to hold more in the future.

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October’s Caption Competition!

This month’s winner will receive a surprise gift.

Please email your caption to editor@godt.org.uk By the 25th November 2012

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An o lder, tired-lo ok ing do g wandered into my y ard. I co uld tell fro m his co llar and well-fed belly that he had a ho me and was well tak en care o f. He calmly came o v er to me, I gave him a few pats o n his head; he then fo llo wed me into my ho use, slo wly walk ed do wn the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An ho ur later, he went to the do or, and I let him out..

The nex t day he was back , greeted me in my y ard, walk ed inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept fo r abo ut an ho ur. This co ntinued off and o n for sev eral week s.

Curio us I pinned a no te to his co llar: 'I wo uld like to find o ut who the owner of this wo nderful sweet do g is and ask if yo u are aware that almo st ev ery afternoon y o ur dog comes to my ho use fo r a nap.'

The nex t day he arriv ed fo r his nap, with a different no te pinned to his co llar: ' He liv es in a ho me with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 He' s try ing to catch up o n his sleep. Can I co me with him tomo rrow?'

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Emma Collings from School For Paws presents………

A Weekend With Eva Bodfalt Eva will be coming from Sweden to offer a 2-day seminar on 27/28 October 2012; based on her renowned books Follow Me - A Deal With Your Dog. Held at the Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training Centre at Berriewood Farm, Condover, Shrewsbury SY5 7NN Cost £115,for two days includes lunch and refreshments Contact Emma Collings for further details and to book onto this course. info@schoolforpaws.co.uk or telephone 01743 290333

Gu ild of Dog T rain ers Accredit ed T rain er Award program m e This accreditation is for all instructors within the obedience disciplines training puppies or adult dogs. So if you’re a club trainer, a puppy school trainer or a professional dog trainer, old or new, this certificate will formalise your experience with a nationally recognised qualification.

Four courses make up the qualification of a Guild Accredited Trainer The first two cover the theory as well as the ‘how to’ of training basic companion dog obedience and training to a more advanced level.

The third course, a four day workshop, covers the practical element of the theory previously taught plus session planning, group versus one to one training and the use of equipment.

The final element of the accreditation is dealing with basic behaviour problems that arise in the home but which client want advice about in class.

Dog Training Theory; level one Dog Training Theory; level two The Professional Dog Training Instructor Underpinning Behaviour Solutions for the Dog Training Professional

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Next Issue The December 2012 issue Deadline F or Art icles, n ews, dat es for ou r diary an d ent ries for t h e capt ion com pet it ion t o be received by

November 25th 2012 F eedback an d su ggest ion s always grat efu lly received Please contact Su e on edit or@godt .org.u k

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