In the final post in this series (delayed I know), I’ll offer some thoughts on just one or two of the issues that most concern me about how some trainers and behaviour professionals approach “aggression” cases in dogs. This I’ll contrast with more established and informed methods of B-Mod (behaviour modification), as well as some of the advantages of more recent advances, incorporating an assessment of emotion and mood and its relationship to behaviour. I do this for a simple reason – since I first started working in this field I have been consistently alarmed at just how many ‘trainers’, ‘consultants’ and ‘behaviourists’ continue to ply a very lucrative trade based on claims of knowledge and expertise, or near-miraculous instinctive skills, they appear not to possess. Read more on Local Dog Whisperer: Rehabilitation isn’t ‘cure’ – Part 3…
‘Dog Whispering’ is largely a media contrivance. It alludes to the “Whisperer” moniker made famous by Monty Roberts in his work with horses, and directly appropriates the title of Paul Owens’ 1999 book “The Dog Whisperer” – a very different kettle of fish entirely, promoting as it did an entirely positive reinforcement approach to training dogs.
The entire television package is carefully crafted – its shrewd juxtaposition of a telegenic matinee idol over an overtly macho rendering of how to interpret and alter undesirable dog behaviour – and it has proved to be a winning formula. Add a little New Age mysticism, and some rehashed ‘energy theory’, and it’s a marketer’s dream. The end-product is a bizarre concoction of fact and fantasy – sort of Marlboro Man meets Dr Doolittle meets Deepak Chopra – and from the moment the programme first aired, it seemed to fire the popular imagination. Read more on Local Dog Whisperer: Whispering Sweet Nothings – Part 2…
Accidents do happen.. or so they say. And I guess it’s true (rhetorically, in any case), that any dog can bite under some specific set of circumstances. But when the dog that bites is owned and supposedly under the control of a controversial and opinionated young ‘dog rehabilitator/shaman/psychologist/whisperer’ with no recognizable roots in the local dog world, and no apparent industry-specific qualifications in a field already compromised by its lack of official regulation, it quickly becomes controversial.. and newsworthy. And when this sort of thing has happened twice to the same self-promoting individual, in different places and at different times, with each event posing serious questions about the human judgment in play, it just screams out for an investigation into the circumstances that led to this, and of the bona-fides of the individual implicated. Read more on Local ‘Dog Whisperer’s’ dogs bite.. again: The Incidents – Part I…
The holiday season is upon us once again and spirits soar as we contemplate this annual break from drudgery, commitments and work. A departure from the mundanity of everyday rituals is suddenly on offer, as is the possibility of spending more quality time with friends and family.
In the south of this planet, we also enjoy annual leave at this time, and our weather is usually hot and sunny as a goodly number of us are either en route to holiday destinations, or already settling in having arrived. The rest of us simply spill into the outdoors more frequently, all the while imbued with a sense of relief and altruistic goodwill – at least that’s how it all starts. Read more on The flipside of holidays…
One year ends, another begins..