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Some of the more recent coverage
How do you tackle a dangerous dog?
Zoe Williams
Wednesday January 30, 2008
The Guardian
The story of James Rehill's death, mauled by his own rottweiler, has a horrible familiarity to it. It is only a month since Archie-Lee Hirst was killed by a family pet of the same breed; in the intervening time, a dog kennel worker, Mandy Peynado, had to have her arm amputated after a savage attack by a stray with predominantly rottie traits. This emphasis on breed is misleading - all dogs can be dangerous, given the wrong training and the right conditions. But rottweilers, along with bull breeds, have extremely strong jaws, and it will give even the most hardboiled dog-lover pause to note that nearly 20 people went to help Rehill, and none were able to get the dog off him. So if a dog is attacking someone else, what technique should you use?
Behaviourist and trainer Stan Rawlinson ( doglistener.co.uk) says, first of all, "Don't try to grab the dog's head, because you could get redirected aggression." Instead, follow the techniques you would use to break up a dog fight, namely: "Lift the dog's hindquarters off the ground and then drag it backwards by the tail. This will confuse the dog and may cause it to relax its grip. For dogs without tails, don't drag by the hind legs, as the dog can easily turn around and bite the person holding it."
You can also throw a blanket or a coat over the dog's head, or you can spray it with water, though this is not always effective and will probably not be fast enough unless you have a hose on you. Rawlinson says he personally would use the hindquarters method, with the option of going nuclear with a kick in the groin. Things are much harder if the dog is attacking you - bear in mind that movement stimulates their prey drive, so stay as still as possible, having first curled into a ball with your arms over your head.
Michele Hanson
Tuesday September 25, 2007
The Guardian
Dog Magician
Until last Tuesday I had a difficult life. My harsh, no kissing, no fussing, no speaking dog-training routine was not working. My dogs were darlings at home, but monsters when out and about. Every morning I rose at first light and schlepped both dogs out for walkies, separately. They were too frightful to go out together. That meant two-and-a-half hours on red alert, arms wrenched out of their sockets and returning home emotionally and physically wrecked for a few brief hours of respite until tea-time, then out for more ghastly walkies, keeping to the quieter streets, because I had become a pariah, feared, loathed, ostracised and occasionally even screeched at by local dog persons. What sort of a life is that?
It isn't the dogs' fault, of course. "It's you," says everyone who knows better. "You're anxious. You're making them anxious, which makes them aggressive. Just relax." Oh, ha ha. How do I do that, with Miss Foaming Chops on one side and Miss Snap-Jaw muzzled on the other? Why not muzzle both, you may ask. Because one has a deformed jaw that no muzzle on earth will fit. So I was stuck in a cycle of anxiety and aggression.
Then I heard of a dog miracle worker. He had cured a dog that screamed with fear at anything that moved in the street. Within minutes, he had that dog strolling along the high road, completely mellowed out. Could it be true? Can this fellow succeed where others have failed? Can he stop my older dog from eating lurchers and the younger one from having a go at any dog in sight? Can he stop them bonking each other in front of visitors, squabbling over chewies, raging into the street ready to kill or maim and draining my life of all pleasure? I doubt it, but I am a desperate woman, so I give it a try.
The dog magician turns up. He has some rattles, some leads with jingly bells on, some dog snacks and four of his own dogs. He jingles and jerks a lead, shakes a rattle, slams a door, gives an instruction and a treat, and bingo, the dogs obey. Now I offer my dogs a snack and they turn their heads aside until given permission. I open the front door and they quietly contemplate the street. No bristling, no snarling. Fabulous. My dogs meet his dogs. No pulling, no rigid, threatening pose, no growling, no bonking, no fighting. Not a flicker. He has turned my dogs into saints. How did he do it?
But what will happen when he's gone? Can I do this alone? Will the tricks work for me? I go for a walkie in the street. Yes they do. Magic. Now nearly a week has passed. The magic is still working. I go for a walkie with my friend Rosemary. Violet, the ex-killer, trots along beside her like a subdued lamb. Rosemary is gobsmacked. So are the vet, visitors and all dog-walkers. It isn't often that I can dredge up a happy ending, but I feel confident that this is one.
This week Michele read A Girl's Guide to Modern Philosophy, by Charlotte Greig: "A student in the 70s has difficulties with work and love. Funny, thoughtful and gripping." She also read Yiddish with Dick and Jane, by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman: "Exquisite. I wept with laughter, especially through the glossary."
Michele Hanson is an author and regular Guardian columnist.
Are you happy?
Stan Rawlinson, Dog Behaviourist
Craig Taylor
Saturday August 25, 2007
The Guardian Weekend
I have this habit of breaking bones. I broke my leg in 18 places and partly ripped off my ankle after falling down a collapsed rabbit warren. I ended up in a wheelchair for a while and began studying dog behaviour. Over the years I had been in the armed forces, a musician and worked in sales, but I was never happy. Since working with dogs my wife said I've changed completely.
Dogs can feel the stress of owners. The lead is like an aerial and the dog can sense what's happening through it. Dogs are affected by their owner's reactions.
I've lost my father, my mother and that truly affected me, but I was really affected when I lost a young springer spaniel. Next to my desk I have a little coffin-shaped box with a model of him on it and his ashes inside. We had to put him down at five because of bone cancer. I was devastated. I cancelled everything for a week. Before he died I had him with me 48 hours straight. I'm over William but I still get upset thinking about him.
My dogs are an extension of me. When I watch them work and see the pleasure on their faces I feel a sense of reflected happiness.
Humans hold grudges more than any animal. We allow unhappiness because we can't be like dogs. You can tell a dog off one minute and the next minute you smile and it wags its tail. If we could give absolute love and loyalty to other humans we'd be happier.
Could you counsel troubled pooches?
If you love animals and psychology, why not combine the two and be a dog behaviourist?
By Hazel Davis
Published: 05 July 2007
I have a new dog, a "troubled" rescue dog. Last week it mastered "sit" and "please". "I am a genius," I thought, "It understands me. We have connected."
According to canine behaviourist Stan Rawlinson, this naivety is part of the problem that many owners have when trying to communicate with their dogs. He says: "Some people imagine that their dogs are able to understand complex thought patterns and comprehend our moral and ethical codes."
But, says Rawlinson, animals work on drive levels and instinct. They do not have the capacity to comprehend the complex thought processes that bring us to understand human emotions, language, and behaviour.
"A dog trainer trains dogs in general obedience and works with dogs that are showing abnormal behaviour," he says. "A dog behaviourist might intervene if a dog's response to certain stimulation is out of context with what we would expect from a dog."
Rawlinson runs a successful practice in Greater London and is the founder member and chairman of PAACT, the Professional Association of Applied Canine Trainers.
A life-threatening accident made him decide to strike out full-time as a trainer and behaviourist. Having studied human psychology, he began to do courses in animal care, canine behaviour and animal psychology. Rawlinson says, "I never stop studying. I am taking a number of advanced courses just to keep up with the latest scientific findings."
There are different approaches to dog behaviour training. Rawlinson's own is in contrast to the "act like a dog" ethos. "We do not have four legs, a tail, anal glands, nor are we covered in fur," he says. " Dogs know we aren't like them. They can form an incredibly close alliance with humans but we cannot be an alpha male or female."
Whatever route you take, to become a dog behaviourist, says Rawlinson, formal training is very important. "But it's like learning to drive from a book. I see many people leaving university with a degree and no practical experience, in fact some have never owned or trained a dog." He adds that you need to be patient, understanding, gentle and a good communicator – with dogs and humans.
Clare Ackroyd is a dog behaviourist in Queensbury, near Bradford. She says she showed an affinity with animals at a young age and always wanted to work with them. "I was always drawn to watching how the animals behaved and what they were saying," she says. "I wanted to be a vet but ended up becoming a scientist, took redundancy and qualified through open learning as a canine psychologist." According to Ackroyd, the skill and brain power required to fix some cases is underrated.
"Dogs have made the transition to cohabiting with humans look easy," she says. "But in terms of basic genetics they live their lives to predetermined rules. It is humans who control the dog's basics of life: sleep, play, food, reproduction and environment."
For animal behaviourists, the work is not about the money. Ackroyd says that she will never be a millionaire. She works unsociable hours in a not very glamorous job. But the rewards can be manifold, she says.
Rawlinson agrees. he says that he has a little Jack Russell/ Dachshund cross called Charlie whose early experiences were so horrific that he should have every hang-up in the book. "I decided to treat and rehome him with me. He has now made a full recovery, his confidence has soared, and once again he loves and trusts people."
If that's not enough to make you want to become a behaviourist, I don't know what is...
Stan Rawlinson: www.doglistener.co.uk; Clare Ackroyd: www.healthidog.com
How to get in
* Make sure you are used to dogs and don't just want to stroke the nice ones
* Spend time observing dogs' behaviour
* The Academy of Dog Training and Behaviour (www.dogtraining-online.co.uk) offers a range of courses and links to local trainers
* The Open College (www.opencollege.info) runs canine psychology courses
* Many universities offer degrees in animal psychology
 War on Terrier - July '06 (PDF document)
To view some of these articles you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. This available for free from the Adobe website. to download click on the logo below.
Kids Mistaken For Prey
Updated: 14:13, Tuesday January 02, 2007
A dog expert has told Sky News Online that hounds may attack children because they mistake them for injured animals.
Stan Rawlinson explained how screaming, whimpering or crying youths could set off the canine predatory instinct.
He said: "Their predatory instinct may have then taken over, the sounds stimulating the part of the brain that deals with hunting and chase.
"They were hunters at some time."
The dog behaviourist said it was crucial that powerful canines were well-trained and "socialised" early with children and adults.
He blamed many attacks on owners who buy dogs to be a "masculinity extension" and fail to have them properly trained.
Mr Rawlinson said: "They want their dogs to be aggressive because they are sometimes aggressive themselves.
"And dogs mimic their owners. If you put a dog in with a little old lady with a Zimmer frame the dogs will start creeping around itself in two years.
"Put the same dog in a family with three children, and it will be climbing the walls in no time."
He also slammed owners who leave their animals on their own for long periods in the day because they start guarding things, including their own body space.
Mr Rawlinson warned body language was crucial when confronted by an aggressive dog.
The trainer advised:
:: Do not make eye contact. Turn you head away slightly from the dog.
:: Lick lips and yawn.
:: Do not run or scream - "it will stimulate the dog's predatory instinct".
:: Make yourself as small as possible.
For more dog handling tips, visit Mr Rawlinson's website: www.doglistener.co.uk.
More on This Story:
The doggy bridge of sighs
Zoe Williams
Thursday October 19, 2006
The Guardian
It really is the most tragic thing. Overtoun Bridge in Milton, near Dumbarton, holds a curious, terrible power over dogs. It makes them want to jump off it. In the past 50 years, it has claimed as many dogs, and there are sometimes spikes in the piteous graph of doggo-demise, like one six-month period last year, when a full five canines did a suicide leap.
The question is, of course, what turned this spot into the Beachy Head of the dog world? Are Scottish dogs particularly depressed? Would a depressed dog jump off a bridge or would it just poo in your shoes? Can a dog actually commit suicide? And if not, could this bridge - as some owners aver - be haunted?
On the issue of whether a dog would intentionally kill itself, professional opinion is unanimous: they do not. Dr Michael Hand of the University of London has written a paper on whether it is possible for animals to err, "whether, in fact, making a mistake presupposed psychological qualities that we can't ascribe to animals, that are only properly applicable to human beings. But we found that, yes, they can make mistakes, a bird can build its nest too close to the ground."
Could an animal make the tragic mistake of taking its own life, though? "I would think not. Animals don't have a sense of themselves as living creatures."
Stan Rawlinson, dog whisperer and behaviourist, concurs: "A dog can get depressed, certainly, and it can get anxious. But what it couldn't do is commit suicide, because that would need a decision on a moralistic basis, and dogs, unlike humans, do not have the same moral sense."
There is also the problem that a dog has no sense of time so even the forward planning required in connecting its depression with a future course of action would be beyond it. Pressed on the possibility of haunting, he said dogs often seemed to have a sixth sense, but he didn't believe in ghosts.
There is the possibility that a small animal's burrow or bird's nest is near the bridge. "Dogs will chase birds off a cliff," Rawlinson says. I thought all dogs that weren't completely daft figured out pretty early on the futility of chasing something that could fly, but evidently not. There is also something strange about this bridge, where the land slopes away on one side and dogs lose their bearings. Plus, dogs are colour blind: they see in pastels and have perceptual problems with large swathes of green or red, so again, perhaps something in the lie of the land confuses them, leading them to leap to the navigable safety of 50 feet below. It could of course be an untimely combination of all these factors, which would account for it only affecting certain dogs. The consolation to families left behind is that the dogs definitely didn't do it on purpose. They weren't depressed, and would never have left the family so bereft. They loved the new baby ...
K9 MAGAZINE
NOT WHAT I WOULD CALL A WORTHY PUBLICATION
I have written many articles for numerous canine magazines and national newspapers. One of them was a publication called K9 Magazine. A glossy somewhat frothy magazine, that in reality did not fit comfortably with my ethos on modern dog obedience and behavioural counselling. It bills itself as a top pet magazine.A statement I would certainly not agree with.
It was when they started printing and supporting items like the following (please hover and click over bold writing). That I became very worried about associating in any way with this publication.
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Why Does My Dog Act Like A Hooligan At Home?
After reading this I became extremely concerned as to their knowledge of dogs. To advise feeding a dog until it pops is foolhardy in the extreme, and this dog is not a puppy as Carol O’Herlihy a Director of a franchise dog training company called Barkbusters claims. He is a nine months old Cocker Spaniel. In human terms that would be approximately 12 years old. This magazine and it's editor and publisher in chief Ryan O'Meara then supported the recommendation by saying after numerous people echoed my concerns:
"As for the feeding advice, I state again - IT WORKED. Why would I be dubious of publishing the advice when I have personal experience in using the technique, IT WORKS. Believe me when I say if I felt we had got it wrong, I'd have no problem stating it. On this occassion, Stan is wrong. Simple."
If you did this to a child, you would be setting that child up for numerous health and psychological problems in the future. With the new Animal Welfare Bill then it could be construed under the act as "a duty of care", therefore it is conceivable that you could be prosecuted under this act for causing undue suffering at sometime in the future.
I ran this scenario past over fifty trainers and behaviourists, every single one of them stated both the initial advice and the follow up by Ryan O.Meara, to be inappropriate and potentially dangerous. Given the problems highlighted in recent years about canine obesity, then the term life threatening, would not be out of place. The professional trainers on the K9 forum also stated the same concerns, before they also resigned.
Needless to say O'Meara's comments are ludicrous and would suggest he is neither a dog trainer nor a behaviourist. What does concern me is people may think that this magazine or Mr O'Meara' are knowledgeable regarding dog training and behavioural counselling, and may follow this dangerous and foolhardy advice.
He has stated that he was a trialling champion but surely that is deemed as an amateur sport not a professional one. To state that one is professional implies that one would make a living or an income from it. Which is what I do. My job is working with and treating problems dogs daily, in modern methods of both training and behaviour.
O'Meara has also been less than truthful when on the K9 blog he claimed that they were concerned that they had made an error of judgment when publishing my articles and acting as an expert on their panel of judges. Suggesting they had removed me. In reality I asked them to remove all my articles and my name from their panel of so called Experts, because of my very real concerns about this magazine.. They had even used two of my articles a few days before on their Blog.
K9 also allowed a person called Denis Carthy real name Michael Cartie, on their website forum, where he proceeded to advocate the use of an electronic shock collar on a partially blind/deaf and disabled dog, without any apparent concern or comment from K9, or the forum administrator, who is also the editor and publisher in chief of K9 Ryan O'Meara. In fact they claimed that the magazine and the forum were not really related. Absolute nonsense it is there to promote the magazine. And is seen to be promoted on the magazines website.
It was then that I decided that enough was enough. It was at that time I asked this publication to remove my articles, name, and anything I had written including removal from their professional panel. from any part of their site or magazine. The vitriolic retort because of my request was unbelievable. I was not the only professional trainer to resign from this forum, two others also resigned at the same time.
O'Meara claims he cannot make any further comments as legal proceeding are being initiated. All I can say is does it take from 21st March to now to issue legal proceeding? Is this more smoke and mirrors from O'Meara. I would welcome a libel action, as I have kept a record of every comment e mail and statement on the K9 forum despite the fact that O'Meara removed them so as to hide his tracks.
May I suggest you make your own mind up regarding whether you support this magazine or it's beliefs. Or whether you support the use of shock collars which despite public opinion they appear to condone. You may also wish to comment to the magazine on your opinion of it's advice and stance . e mails to mail@k9magazine.com
Stan Rawlinson
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