Bad dogs do not exist
Who says that bad dogs do not exist? What kind of rubbish is this? How can you be so stupid to even think it, let alone print it. Of course bad dogs exist. Everybody knows that. Don't you watch the telly? Don't you read the articles about children and elderly people being attacked, wounded and even killed by dogs? Of course, when I have the audacity to write that "bad dogs do not exist", you are entitled to an explanation.
For many years I have been a professional dog trainer. And what do you expect from a dog trainer? That he trains dogs of course. However, that is something I rarely do. I train my own dogs, but most of the time, I train dog owners. Or rather, I teach them how to communicate correctly with their dogs. Since the beginning of time dogs know how to sit, lie down, stand, stay, jump and run. Nevertheless many dog owners have problems with their pets when they want them to do a simple "sit" or a "down". I know many people who keep on repeating "sit" but even then their dogs do not obey.How is this possible?
According to me, it is because we have completely forgotten what our dogs' language is. When we want to drive a car we need a drivers license, but when we acquire a dog, we do not learn "doggish". Is this some kind of gibberish? What is this man talking about? I never heard of someone who could speak "doggish". Nonetheless, what I call "doggish" is a universal language. More widely spoken than Spanish, Chinese or even English. It is a language spoken by every dog in the world. A language without words. That is why we call it "body language", something we use every day. Know what I mean? No? Then just have a look at what some male drivers do when they are driving through town. We perfectly understand their facial expression and their gestures, even when they are Russian, French, Spanish or ... Belgians.
The same applies to dogs. When they meet each other, they immediately grasp the meaning of the other dog's posture and facial expression. Fortunately it is quite easy to learn the significance of this doggy language. It certainly enables us to communicate with our pets. In addition to that we can teach them to understand many words or sounds. Very quickly they will associate them with something we want them to do. It is easy to make a dog lie down when we say "down". It is easy to call a dog with the command "come". At least if we are behaving like a pack leader and if we are consistent. Our dogs will never know the grammatical significance of the words "sit", "down", or "come", but they can easily be taught to respond appropriately. Some friends of mine have a dog who sits when they say "Tory" and lies down when they say "Labour". You can use whatever word and train your dog to respond to it. You can even train a deaf dog.
To train his dog is something every responsible dog owner should do. It makes life much more beautiful for everyone involved. I daresay that a well trained dog is a joy forever. If you do not have time to train your dog, buy a stuffed animal. However, only a few days ago an elderly lady called me because her pet had been ferociously attacked by another dog. So, I must have been mistaken when I said that bad dogs do not exist.
What do you think?
Your Bruno de los perros
E-mail: b.and.b@ctv.es |
