PDTE 2016 December Newletter

PDTE 

NEWSLETTER 

December 2016 

BACK TO BASICS 

IT’S A DOG’S LIFE! 

36 

PAGES 

Inside this 

issue 

PDTE AGM 2016 report 06 

Persuading owners 10 

Chronic pain in dogs 16 

Canine bowen therapy 25 

The “food party” 28 

PDTE Newsletter Dec 2016.indd 1 

22-12-2016 05:04:49 PM

What’s Inside... 

Our Team 

04 

Letter from the 

President and 

Chairperson 

“ 

A dog is for life, not just for Christmas. 

- Dog Trust 

16 

Our Board 

v 

06 

PDTE AGM 2016 

Report 

A brief report of this four day 

event that happened in September 

2016 in Spain 

10 

Persuading 

Owners 

Learn about a unique approach to 

persuading & influencing people 

based on a Japanese approach 

13 

It’s a dog’s life! 

The basic needs of a dog extend 

beyond just food and protection 

from the elements. Are you taking 

care of all the needs of a dog that 

can ensure optimal physical and 

mental health? What do owners 

www.pdte.org 

Chronic pain in dogs 

Chronic pain is insidious and always affects behaviour and yet, is hard to 

recognize. Learn more about identifying and preventing chronic pain 

18. Country corner 

How does the canine world look in 

different countries. Read reports 

from our Country Representatives 

30. Member corner 

Meet our new associate members, 

full members and honorary life 

members 

22 

Picture postcards 

25 

Bowen Therapy for 

dogs 

28 

The “food party”! 

Cover photo credit: Toni Martinez, Spain 

Turid Rugaas 

President 

Karen Webb 

Secretary 

Ellen 

Versteegen-Huijs 

Board Member 

Winkie Spiers 

Chairperson 

Sonja Hoegen 

Treasurer 

Hanne Truelsen 

Board Backup 

Hello! 

Seasons greetings to you all. 

It was lovely meeting so many 

of you for the first time at the 

AGM in Spain. 

The AGM is a great opportunity 

to learn new things and to meet 

other incredible people who 

make significant contributions 

to the field. 

Each of us get opportunities to 

make a difference based on our 

personal context, the resources 

and knowledge we have. When 

we share our knowledge and 

experiences we all grow. Its 

truly a flat world today when 

we are able to learn from 

and collaborate with people 

from all corners of the globe. 

Hope 2017 brings us many 

more opportunities to learn, 

collaborate and grow. 

Sindhoor 

2 

PDTE Newsletter PDTE Newsletter 3 

PDTE Newsletter Dec 2016.indd 2-3 

22-12-2016 05:04:54 PM

Photo Credit: Antonio Janeiro Martinez, Spain 

 

Participants at the 2016 Pet Dog 

Trainers of Europe AGM held in Mataró, 

Spain 


“ Whatever you do, and wherever you are: take care of your 

dogs and let them share the pleasant things with you. 

 

Winkie Spiers with her dog Dennis at 

Hunter’s Inn walk down on the North 

Devon coast, UK 

 

The country representatives at the 2016 

PDTE AGM in Mataró, Spain 

Dear members, 

I send you some friendly thoughts 

from my place in snow and ice, and 

wish that you all will take seriously 

the opportunities of learning more, 

getting updated information and never 

stop searching for knowledge. It is 

necessary if we are going to develop, 

and become better dog trainers. If you 

have the idea that you know enough, 

you absolutely need to learn more. 

I am very pleased that PDTE has 

started to use webinars, and hopefully 

will use it a lot in the future. Make 

Letter from 

your president 

use of it! There you have the chance, 

if it is difficult to go to seminars and 

workshops. 

We have a winter ahead of us - and 

Christmas and New Year and holidays. 

I wish you all some good times with 

your dogs. When it gets dark outside, 

we light candles indoors, and keep the 

open fire going. Maybe you have other 

ways of making life comfortable and 

pleasant during the winter. Whatever 

you do, and wherever you are: take 

care of your dogs and let them share 

the pleasant things with you. It will 

make it nicer for you, too ! 

Turid 

Your President 

Chairwoman’s 

Hello 

Tis the season to be jolly!! This 

year seems to have gone by 

in the blink of an eye and here 

we are, approaching Christmas and 

2017. For PDTE it’s been a busy year. 

We have our new newsletter editor 

and have this, our second edition from 

Sindhoor Pangal which is wonderful. 

Our PDTE website, courtesy of Harriet 

Alexander, gets lots of views and is 

updated regularly. There is always 

something new on the PDTE website 

(www.pdte.eu) so do keep checking it 

out and we have an increased social 

media presence on the main PDTE 

Facebook page, again thanks to 

Harriet Alexander. 

The mentorship scheme that Steph 

Rousseau has been working hard on is 

about to go live which is something to 

be excited about and we’ve had two 

free PDTE webinars for the members 

and friends of PDTE. A variety of 

progressive and positive things to 

report, a huge thank you to all those 

involved for your time and effort in 

making things happen. 

As you know PDTE is all about 

excellent emotional and physical 

welfare and better understanding 

of dogs, being the best you can and 

thinking about what dogs really like 

and want to do. Please do make 

the effort to read the updated ethics 

that we voted on at the last AGM and 

ensure that you are working within the 

PDTE Ethics. 

Wishing you and your dogs a 

wonderful festive season and a healthy 

and happy winter. 

Winke 

Chairwoman of PDTE 

4 



22-12-2016 05:04:56 PM

Report: 

The PDTE AGM 2016 

Iattended my very first PDTE 

AGM in Mataró, Spain and I 

must admit that it was all that I 

expected it to be and then some more. 

The AGM seems to be a fantastic 

opportunity to meet likeminded 

people from across the globe, have 

stimulating conversations, build 

valuable friendships, learn about 

wonderful initiatives relevant to canine 

welfare and of course have some fun. 

While, in this newsletter, I have tried 

to compile articles that summarize 

several of the talks at the AGM, I 

must admit that nothing compares to 

actually being there and soaking it all 

in. 

The fantastic event was put together 

for us by Nuria and her team at 

Canidos. The event happened in a 

lovely hotel near the port of a charming 

little sea side city of Mataró. The 

weather was warm and welcoming and 

the food was nothing short of enticing. 

This four-day event comprised of 15 

Photo Credit: Team Canidos, Spain 

speakers speaking on different topics 

related to canine care. In addition there 

were several fun events organized like 

salsa classes, wine tasting, sightseeing 

and a grand dinner in Barcelona. 

Do check out the picture post cards 

from the AGM that are printed in this 

newsletter. 

The talks started with one by Dr. 

Marcelo Cabrera on Geriatric dogs. 

Cabrera spoke about the decline in 

biological functioning in dogs and 

how, often, organic problems in dogs 

are misinterpreted as behavioural 

problems. He spoke of Canine 

Cognitive Dysfunction, a condition 

similar to Alzhimer’s in people. He 

listed symptoms of the condition and 

discussed some holistic solutions to it. 

This talk set the tone for the rest of the 

event, that focused a lot on looking at 

underlying issues that cause so called 

“behavioural issues in dogs”. 

Julia Robertson, the founder of Galen 

therapy center in the United Kingdom, 

which specializes in providing hands 

on therapy for dogs that suffer 

from chronic pain spoke about how 

pain always affects behaviour. Julia 

repeatedly reminded us that chronic 

pain is insidious and invariably effects 

behaviour and yet is hard to spot 

with an untrained eye. She provided 

some very useful pointers on how to 

recognize pain and things to do to 

avoid pain. A synopsis of her talk is 

available in this newsletter, for you to 

get more familiar with myotherapy, its 

importance and its application. 

Julia underlined the importance 

of empathy, when treating pain, a 

concept that was echoed in several 

talks during the event, including the 

one by Pennie Clayton. Pennie spoke 

about Canine Bowen Therapy, a nonmanipulative 

technique that works 

on the soft tissue of dogs with very 

mild pressure, that does not focus 

on treating specific conditions, but 

instead focuses on reducing pain and 

tension throughout the whole body. 

The technique does not lose sight 

of the importance of giving the dog 

choices – the dog decides how long 

the treatment should last, when he 

needs breaks, if he wants to receive 

the treatment indoors or outdoors and 

if he prefers it sit, stand or lie down 

during the treatment. An introduction 

to this technique is presented in an 

article by Pennie in this newsletter. 

Winkie Spiers, the chairperson of 

PDTE, further elaborated on the topic 

of choices for a dog, in her talk titled 

“It’s a dog’s life”. Winkie reminded us 

of the basic needs of all dogs, including 

quality sleep, good food, clean water, 

freedom to eliminate at will, social 

contact and as many choices as 

possible – choices on the kind of food 

a dog would like and where he would 

like to sleep. She reminded us of how 

scavenging, chewing, licking etc…were 

natural and valuable to a dog. Her talk 

drove home the point that a dog lives 

a dog’s life and needs a dog-friendly 

world to live it in, which provides well 

for the physical and mental wellbeing 

of a dog. She also presented some 

very interesting charts on what kinds 

of problems clients really seek help 

with. These charts are all part of her 

article in this newsletter and definitely 

worth examining for dog trainers 

and behaviour consultants, to better 

understand what it is that clients really 

need, to bring harmony in their “canine 

households”. 

The idea of the right environment 

for an animal was discussed again 

in the talk by Dr. Jesús Rosales- 

Ruiz, an Associate Professor in the 

Department of Behaviour Analysis 

at the University of North Texas. 

He provided a framework for 

understanding and approaching 

“behavioural issues” with an approach 

derived from Skinner’s functional 

analysis of behaviour that is based 

on the fundamental belief that “The 

organism is always right”. Dr. Ruiz 

argued that an animal’s behaviour and 

personality reflects the environmental 

conditions the animal lives in and 

urged us to create constructive 

environments that produce optimal 

interactions between people and 

animals. He differentiated between 

a constructional approach (which 

looks at setting up a constructive 

environment for the organism to 

offer/alter certain behaviours) and a 

pathological approach (which focuses 

on solving just the problem at hand, 

without considering the environment 

in which the behaviour is established 

and maintained). 

Virginia Millares, a professional dog 

trainer and kennel owner, elaborated 

further on this idea of setting up the 

right environment for dogs, specifically 

in the situation of meet and greet in 

the canine world. She spoke of a fairly 

elaborate protocol that would set up a 

dog for success. Her protocol involves 

a detailed interview to gather as much 

information about the dog as possible, 

carefully selecting a dog that would 

be right for this introduction, picking 

a place that is safe and insulated 

from loud noises or other things that 

could scare a dog and setting up of 

an enriched environment for the dogs. 

She then outlines the process where 

the dogs are introduced slowly, the 

people are encouraged to be relaxed 

and the dogs are encouraged to move 

about slowly (by having people walk 

slowly and calmly). 

6 



22-12-2016 05:04:57 PM

The idea of behavioural issues having 

underlying physical issues was visited 

several times over. Karen Webb, a 

board member of the PDTE, spoke 

about the skin of a dog, the several 

skin conditions dogs suffer from, 

their causes and possible impact on 

behaviour. She highlighted the role 

stress plays in exacerbating or even 

causing some of the skin issues. Karen 

also spoke of Zoopharmacognosy, a 

way of allow the dog to self-medicate 

with herbs and essential oils. This 

topic, once again, highlighted the 

importance of providing choices to a 

dog and respecting the dog’s innate 

abilities. The organism, it seems, is 

indeed always right. 

Veronica Taborga revisited the topic 

of looking beyond “behavioural 

problems” and her focus was on 

mental diseases similar to Autism, 

Downs and PTSD in humans. She 

suggested looking for clues regarding 

mental disorders in dogs by observing 

how other dogs treat the dog in 

question. It was interesting to learn 

about the new portable MRI device 

that she has been working with, which 

does not require a dog to be stuck in a 

massive MRI tunnel. The data that this 

device provides could prove to be very 

interesting for further understanding 

the brain of a dog. 

I have heard Turid mention to me 

several times that she is fascinated 

with the brain. No wonder, her talk 

was about how when an animal is not 

permitted to use his brain he could 

develop a condition called Learned 

Helplessness. Unfortunately, however, 

Turid was unable to attend the AGM 

due to personal reasons. But we were 

lucky to have Anne Lill Kvam present 

this talk to us. Anne Lill spoke about 

the importance of allowing a dog to 

be curious and explore. She warned 

us against the dangers of exercising 

too much control on dogs, which 

could lead to Learned Helplessness, 

a fairly serious medical condition in 

humans and not any less damaging 

on dogs. Learned helplessness, she 

explained, is a condition in which an 

individual feels an extreme sense of 

helplessness and has learned, through 

life experiences, that he/she has no 

ability to change the situation and has 

consequently learnt to give up and 

remain helpless. It leads to immense 

stress, apathy, shut down and a host 

of health problems related to chronic 

stress. 

We were lucky to be treated to 

another great talk by Anne Lill Kvam, 

the newly nominated honorary life 

member of PDTE. Anne Lill spoke 

about rewarding dogs. Her talk 

showed us that rewarding a dog is 

not just about cutting up a few treats 

and tossing it to the dog. It seems 

like rewarding well might be an art. 

She touched upon several aspects 

related to rewarding, starting with 

the philosophical question of what 

even gives us the right to reward 

another, what does a reward mean 

to the recipient and the difference 

between rewarding and reinforcing. 

She detailed the types of rewards 

people use with dogs, the timing of 

rewards so as to effectively reinforce 

the desired behaviour and yet not 

inadvertently create behaviour chains 

(Ex: provide undesirable behaviour, 

followed by desired behavior to get 

the reward) and of course, the role of 

a dog’s choice in rewards. Listening to 

her speak, it seemed to me that before 

people considered reward based 

training for dogs, they need to first 

train themselves on how to reward. 

Speaking of “people training”, Cris 

Carles, a vet and canine trainer, gave 

a talk on effectively influencing 

people. This was an interesting talk 

for the audience because many 

in the audience were trainers, 

whose profession requires them to 

influence people on a daily basis. She 

emphasized the importance of putting 

judgement aside and using empathy to 

influence thought. She presented us 

with a rather unique Japanese concept 

classifying people based on their body 

types and tendencies (Taiheki) and 

approaching each of them differently. 

To know more, read the article by Cris 

in this edition of the newsletter. 

Influencing people seems to be the 

need of the hour, especially in the 

field of animal welfare. This was most 

obvious in the gut wrenching talk 

given by Monica Diaz, a dog trainer 

from Spain. She spoke of the plight of 

Spanish Galgos and Podencos that are 

used for racing and then abandoned 

inhumanely. She also spoke of the 

wonderful work done by Galgos 112, 

a rescue organization that relies on 

a strong network of foster homes to 

rescue these wonderful dogs, provide 

them with the care they need to 

recover from the trauma of their past 

life, find them new homes and help 

their new families understand the 

special needs of these dogs. 

Robert Llorente, a dog trainer 

from Spain, presented his study 

on reactivity in dogs. In this study, 

Llorente et al first try to map out 

the typical profile of reactive dogs. 

It looks at breed specific tendencies 

for reactivity, timelines associated 

with the behaviour (age of onset and 

the time lapse between onset and 

help being sought for the behaviour), 

the progression of this issue, the 

comorbidity of fear and phobias with 

reactivity, target of the reactivity 

(dogs/people/both), location of the 

incident (home/street) and context in 

which the behaviour is exhibited. In 

the second part of the study, Llorente 

et all try to identify risk factors 

that might be associated with such 

behaviour. 

The audience was as impressive as 

the speakers. It was comprised of 

people from far corners of the globe, 

stretching as far as Taiwan, India 

and Australia. The participants were 

eager to learn, engage and use the 

opportunity to grow professionally. 

The environment was warm, friendly 

and fun. To me, these talks are just the 

start of important, long conversations 

that we should each be having with 

our colleagues back home. The seeds 

of ideas have been planted and it’s up 

to us to develop these ideas in our 

own contexts. The important thing is 

that the conversation has begun! 

I personally, cannot think of any 

reason not to make the PDTE AGM 

an annual pilgrimage and would 

highly recommend it to anyone who 

is serious about making the lives of 

dogs better. Registrations for the 

2017 AGM will be out early next year. 

Watch out for it! 

8 



22-12-2016 05:04:59 PM

In depth: Persuading 

owners 

Cris Carles from Spain discusses a unique way to classifying people based on their body type and 

suggests how to customise messages based “type” of person you are delivering the message to 


It was not many years ago that 

dogs were breed for a purpose, 

had proper jobs and sensible 

owners that respected them as useful 

members of the family. They lived in 

more natural environments, in farms 

and villages, with freedom to roam 

and lots of choices. We are now busier, 

more stressed and live at a faster pace. 

Modern dogs struggle to fit in our 

flats and cities, trying to cope with 

the changes in their lifestyle we are 

imposing. Television and the internet 

provide owners with an excess of 

information that can lead to confusion. 

Nowadays, even owners that love 

their dogs and want to take good care, 

can do things that are not what dogs 

need and enjoy. As trainers, we have to 

educate the public and persuade our 

clients to follow our advice, but this is 

not always an easy task. 

As professionals, we have devoted 

years, money and effort to gain the 

information we currently possess and 

we cannot expect ordinary owners 

to know that much. It is very easy to 

become complacent and judge people 

who are doing things we may not 

agree with, but we must admit we have 

made mistakes too at some point in the 

past, because we didn’t know better 

at that time. Feeling for the dogs can 

only lead us to get angry with owners 

and that’s not a good starting point to 

persuade them to change. If instead 

we try to feel for the person that still 

doesn’t know, empathy will take us to 

a better position to help both, owner 

and dog. 

When dealing with dogs, we are aware 

of how important it is to use positive 

reinforcement, a friendly voice and 

respectful body language. Because 

we know about dogs, we also expect 

a particular behaviour for each breed 

and therefore we may approach them 

in slightly different ways. But when 

dealing with clients, we very often 

forget that although a nice voice and 

friendly body language will work for 

almost everybody, we should not treat 

everyone as if they were equal, because 

they are not: there are different types 

of people that we should approach in 

different ways. 

When it comes to assessing people 

and what kind of approach is going to 

work best to persuade them, we can 

use the ancient Japanese knowledge 

of “Sei Tai” (properly ordered body) 

which was developed by Haruchika 

Noguchi. Based on observation of 

physical characteristics, he described 

5 body tendencies (“taiheki”) with 

different shapes of face and body, 

balance of weights and tendency 

seen in movement and he found that 

they were related with psychological 

aspects such as one’s emotional or 

behavioural tendencies. According 

to this idea there are ‘Taiheki’ types 

that people may fall into, or be a 

combination of. These include the 

Vertical, Lateral, Frontal, Rotatory and 

Central. 

You can tell vertical people because 

they have skinny tall bodies that stand 

very erect and a long robust neck 

that holds a big head shaped like an 

inverted triangle. When they walk, 

they look stiff, rigid, like hanging from 

a thread. They are very likely to wear 

plain clothes and be quiet, but when 

they speak, they have high linguistic 

abilities and are good at constructing 

and explaining logic. They need to 

think, evaluate, understand and explain 

the world with their own words and 

can’t act without having good enough 

reasons. They are afraid of not being 

able to be right or fair and of losing 

one’s reputation or credibility. 

They will probably have a small 

independent dog, that doesn’t need the 

owner much. If for example, you want 

to persuade them to change from a 

collar to a harness, your best strategy 

would be telling them: “You can search 

yourself for information about why 

collars are bad, which type of harness 

is better and why dogs don’t pull when 

using them. You´ll find out that most of 

the common knowledge is wrong and 

then you can decide what is best for 

your dog”. This will work for a vertical 

because you’ve just given them 

enough information to encourage 

their own thinking and their curiosity. 

When talking to vertical people, say 

things briefly, don´t preach and trust 

they will evaluate in depth and always 

try to be fare. 

Lateral people typically have a 

curve-shaped body and the abdomen 

can stand out. Their head is small, 

face egg shaped, slender neck and 

dropped shoulders as to almost 

looking inexistent. The skin has a 

special light colour and it can become 

strikingly red. When they walk, they 

bend their knees and the elbows 

go from side to side, like a penguin. 

They will probably wear fashionable 

or special clothes and have one or 

more posh little dogs. They talk a lot, 

giving too much details, jumping from 

one thought to another, fussy, very 

emotional; they can go from euphoria 

to depression in seconds. Their desire 

is to communicate, be liked by others, 

be pleasant and they are terrified of 

being alone, vulgar or ignored. 

They will change to a harness if you 

go for the aesthetic side of things: 

“Your dog will look great, they came 

in all colours, collars are old fashion, 

…”. They won’t do it because they 

truly care for the dog, but because 

they are afraid of people thinking 

they are cruel for choking the dog and 

because you´ve persuade them they 

would look great and people would 

love them. 

10 



22-12-2016 05:05:00 PM

Tall, fibrous and athletic looking 

people, like marathon runners are likely 

to be frontal. The body is an inverted 

triangle-shaped due to the narrow 

hips and broad shoulders. The face is 

square-shaped, and the neck sits on the 

trunk projecting itself straightforward. 

They walk leaning forward, neck 

stretching out, in a hurry. They move 

a lot, can´t stand still and they speak 

using many verbs, may not listen or get 

impatient if you are talking too much. 

They need to do things, to act, to have 

and follow a plan and they hate wasting 

time, talking or thinking too much. 

They are practical people that wear 

comfortable and practical clothes and 

will have healthy, easy to keep dog, 

whatever it fits their needs or lifestyle. 

To persuade them, you have to give 

them something to do that is useful: 

“The dog will be easier to handle if 

you get him that type of harness, you 

can get it in that shop, that brand is 

the one to get…”, clear directions on 

anything they can do straight away 

and is practical for them, they don’t 

need reasons. Just give them a plan to 

follow. 

Rotatory people have strong muscular 

bodies, an impressive look and big 

hips. The neck looks short due to the 

torsion that draws the head downward 

pulling it close to the trunk. Nose, 

mouth, eyes and ears can be twisted 

or different one from the other. They 

walk and act like a warrior: The 

buttocks sway because each shoulder 

is being drawn forward together with 

the opposite hip. May take your space, 

may touch you, push you. They have 

strong low voices and they are always 

ready to argue, they like fighting and 

winning. But they are honest warriors 

and if you prove them wrong, they 

will recognize it and withdraw. They 

are likely to have powerful strong 

muscular dogs and they would follow 

your advice if that gives him something 

better, newer or if they win something. 

Central people are rounded, compact, 

dense and wide. The hips are wide 

and big, with very large protruding 

buttocks. The head is not very big and 

the face is rounded. The neck is thick 

and strong and the cervical curve is 

very pronounced. The neck sinks into 

the trunk (like a turtle drawing its head 

into its shell). They walk as floating, 

not moving the trunk or hips, only the 

legs. 

This is the only type that has two 

tendencies: An open, positive one 

and a closed, negative version. 

Physically you can tell who is who 

because open positive central people 

have their feet pointing outwards 

(support weight inside) whereas the 

feet of negative closed centrals point 

inwards, supporting the weight on 

the outside of their feet. Open central 

people are communicative, friendly, 

speak and listen whereas the closed 

centrals are quiet people that very 

often go unnoticed. They are both 

likely to have big calmed dogs and 

they are both carers that enjoy making 

people happy, but closed people are 

more centered in family and friends, 

whereas open centrals love the world, 

everybody, every living thing, the 

planet. Central positives will buy the 

harness and do whatever is better for 

the dog, and they truly care for their 

welfare and comfort. Closed centrals 

are hard to persuade, they have to feel 

in their guts that the harness is better, 

they can’t even explain why. 

According to Noguchi, there are no 

pure types, we all have several trends, 

but you will always be able to find the 

predominant. As a trainer, you already 

have the ability to use your voice, your 

body language and you also know 

how to read dogs: Now learn to read 

and talk to people. Don´t give up if it 

feels hard or it doesn’t seem to work: 

Practice will make you a master. So, 

make the clients walk, observe their 

bodies and talk in a way that better 

suits them. Lot of dogs need our help 

and we can only reach them if we 

reach their owners. 

Cris Carles 

www.criscarles.com 

Back to basics: 

It’s a dog’s life! 

Winkie Spiers of the United Kingdom takes us back to the basic needs of a dog and explains how 

tending to these creates a healthier and a happier dog. 

W 

hat should a dog’s 

life look like? I 

passionately believe 

that if we take care of what each 

dog needs in day to day life then 

we avoid problems, give the dog a 

happier, better understood life and 

they are healthier as a result. 

Sleep 

We know that dogs need to sleep a 

lot more than we do, they sleep for 

approximately sixty six percent of 

their lives and often more depending 

on age, state of health, weather, 

fitness etc. As they spend so much 

time sleeping it’s vital that they have 

a choice of quiet and safe places to 

sleep, where they are comfortable, 

protected from the elements, noise, 

strong smells or any disturbance. 

Elevated sleep is normal for some 

dogs so providing areas where they 

can be higher can make a fearful or 

sensitive dog feel safer and equally 

some prefer to be able to hide away 

so providing a variety of places so 

that they can choose depending on 

how they feel at that time. 

Diet 

Each dog should enjoy his/her food 

and it should be fresh, good quality 

and healthy. I believe that dogs enjoy 

choice in all things and particularly in 

terms of what they eat. My personal 

preference is for home-cooked human 

grade food along with raw food and 

bones. It really suits my dogs very well 

indeed. We are what we eat. Whether 

human or dog, we know that eating 

processed food is not the best way to 

eat for anyone. Dogs are scavengers 

and have been for thousands of 

years. So, provide opportunities for 

scavenging type behaviours: treat 

search inside or outside, meaty bones, 

interesting things to find, explore and 

chew. 

Water 

Fresh, clean drinking water must be 

available 24/7. Clean bowls out daily, 

use filtered water and ensure each dog 

Photo Credit: Winkie Spiers, UK 

has several water bowls available at 

all times. Personally, I avoid giving 

them plastic bowls as they can be 

toxic. 

Toiletting 

Toiletting is a normal bodily function 

and dogs prefer to toilet as far away 

from where they eat and sleep as 

possible in clean areas. So, ensure 

your garden/yard/balcony area is 

kept clean and hosed down regularly 

(just with water not bleach or toxic 

chemicals). Most dogs prefer to 

go for walks away from their home 

and have the opportunity to relax 

and sniff to find the perfect place 

to go. This should never be rushed 

and dogs should have access to 

toileting when they need it. Holding 

on to waste products in the body is 

unhealthy and uncomfortable! 

Social Creatures 

As social creatures, companionship 

and good relationships with other 

dogs and humans is vital for dogs. 

12 



22-12-2016 05:05:02 PM

Dogs need to be with others, whether 

other dogs or people or both. Social 

isolation is punishing, damaging and 

depressing. Forming strong social 

attachments and friendships and 

having regular access to their friends 

inspires confidence, happiness and 

great social skills. 

Exploring 

Provide opportunities on a daily basis 

to get out and about sniffing, walking, 

exploring and being curious. find that 

most dogs enjoy to sniff, mooch and 

explore for much of the time. 

Based on my beliefs I went through 

my client files for the past year and 

made graphs based on new client 

issues, what they wanted to achieve 

and what problems they had. 

Based on what my clients wanted I was 

able to break down the most important 

things to teach; day to day care, diet, 

choices, welfare, routine, sleep, handling skills, socialization, 

calming signals, relationships etc. house/toilet-training 

walking nicely on a loose lead using a well fitted harness 

and two to three meters lead coming back when called/ 

recall how to recognize when you need to see the vet, how 

to recognize pain, illness or disease 

Following my research I found that most owners just want a 

happy and easy life with their dog and no problems! 

By understanding what each owner and dog needs in terms 

of training we can make life so much easier and happier 

for everyone and prevent a huge number of problems and 

misunderstanding. 

14 



22-12-2016 05:05:04 PM

your dog defecate and urinate. These 

actions are common daily events and 

involve a dog holding a static position 

for a few long seconds. If they are 

sore or weak anywhere in their body 

they must compensate to enable their 

bodies to perform this important 

and regular act! Observing the body 

position they assume for these acts 

will give you good ‘pointers’ to the 

area or areas of discomfort. 

Overview: 

Chronic pain in dogs 

Julia Robertson from the United Kingdom gives a brief overview of chronic muscular pain in dogs and 

shares some ideas on how to recognize them. 

H 

aving treated possibly 

eight thousand dogs since 

2002, I have been taught 

many fascinating aspects relating 

to canine lameness and chronic 

pain by these very same dogs. One 

of the most alarmingly overlooked 

characteristics is the correlation of 

pain and behaviour. 

My presentation at the PDTE Annual 

Conference was intended to give 

functional and practical methods for 

identifying chronic muscular pain 

in dogs through observing specific 

behavioural patterns. 

In humans, chronic pain is one of 

the most difficult to diagnose and 

treat; sometimes various subjective 

tests are used to try and quantify 

the level of chronic pain. In dogs, 

there are very few tests that 

target and then treat this type of 

insidious chronic muscle pain that 

is commonly caused from repetitive 

strain injuries, compensatory pain 

from other conditions or pathologies. 

However, often these pained dogs are 

giving us huge indications of where 

the problem is originating but are we 

are failing to interpret them correctly. 

One of the biggest ways we can help 

is being empathetic towards pain that 

dogs suffer, even consider that they 

may have the same secondary effects 

as many of us suffer, such as headaches 

resulting from neck tension. 

Being empathetic will offer a possible 

insight into a dog’s chronic pain 

perception, then by adding additional 

behavioural information will help to 

target the areas that will be having a 

negative and painful impact on your 

dog’s quality of life. 

So many of the observations are in fact 

incredibly practical, such as, observing 

Photo Credit: Galen Therapy, Centre UK 


Julia Robertson admistering myotherapy on 

a dog that needs pain relief. 

Another issue that is so often 

misconstrued is that of chewing and 

licking of feet; this perpetual act can 

be so often thought of as an allergy or 

some form of displacement behaviour, 

whereas in fact it is so often a referral 

pain from either a dog’s neck or hip 

region. This is so disturbing as so 

often dogs are given ‘something’ to 

stop them licking or indeed chewing 

the region, rather than finding out 

why! 

From all the dogs, I have treated I 

have put together a Galen Therapy 

Centre Muscle Pain Model mapping 

behavioural incremental changes 

from a dog being ‘happy and 

healthy’, through to ‘lack of tolerance’ 

‘avoidance’ ‘physical behaviour 

changes’ and finally ‘depression’. 

All these stages being apportioned 

behavioural traits along with physical 

indicators. 

We should be so much more vigilant 

about assessing and treating chronic 

pain because it is subtle and yet 

insidious; it impacts on a dog’s 

emotional and physical well-being; in 

just the same way it does with us. The 

problem is, just like us, it can become 

just part of everyday life which added 

to their comparatively short lives, is 

just not acceptable! 

Julia Robertson 

Galen Therapy Centre 

www.galentherapycentre.co.uk 



16 



22-12-2016 05:05:09 PM

Country Corner 

 

On October 4th, the Dutch 

Day of the Animal, seven 

members organized a theme 

day called “Stimulate the 

senses” 

 

Each region in Belgium is 

in the midst of updating 

the Animal Welfare Act of 

1986 and are all hoping 

to have some form of new 

legislation by mid 2017. 

 

An NGO in Prague is working on 

vaccinating and microchipping dogs 

of homeless people. The vaccination 

manufacturer is sponsoring the 

vaccines and microchips. 

 

18 people successfully 

completed the Turid 

Rugaas IDTE conducted 

in France this year. 

18 



22-12-2016 05:05:11 PM

Country 

Corner 

Reports from country representatives of member countries 

France 

Paulina DRURI 

H 

ere’s some news from France 

PDTE. We just finished the 

Turid Rugaas IDTE. Eighteen 

people received certifications. Very 

interesting and innovative projects 

were presented during the final exams. 

To sustain all this positive energy, I’ve 

proposed several meetings for all 

participants. We intend to share new 

projects, continue projects presented 

during the exams and practice, 

practice, practice (as Turid asked us to 

do). Next year I ‘m going to organize 

a seminar with the top six projects 

presented. The seminar will be open 

to all, owners, dog trainers, vets etc. 

Czech 

Republic 

Martina Naceradska 

Ivisited the Herbals Summit in 

Kuala Lumpur where I learned 

about the herbal research at 

the universities in Asia and Africa. I 

also presented my work with herbs 

in behavioural problem solving. I 

presented the case of one puppy 

which came from a puppy farm, ended 

up severely ill, hospitalized with 

encephalitis in a neurology referral 

clinic in Prague. The owner sought 

help because the puppy was not able 

to cope with the world. During the first 

session, he was really barking at me, 

when I picked up the wrong herb that 

he did not want. But he soon got the 

“show me what you want” game. He 

finished all my spirulina, barley grass 

and he loved rosehip shells. I asked 

the owner to let him decide if he wants 

to go out or not and to let him have 

safe place outside where he can hide 

if he wanted to. He started to playing 

search games with the owner. Since 

then, on each visit he looks better 

and is gaining self-confidence. He will 

perhaps never be normal dog, because 

of severe lack of brain nutrition, but he 

loves the herbs. He runs up the stairs 

up to come to my practice and get 

some herbs. He was even able to find 

gotu kola (Centella asiatica) which 

was in my closed closet in sealed bag!! 

I have started a project to teach 

children at school. Currently the 

project is about cats because the 

NGO is interested in cats more now, 

but when we are finished we will cover 

the topic of dogs too. I teach children 

about basic behaviour and needs of 

cats. We filmed that and the video will 

be available soon for school teachers 

for free if they want to teach their 

children about animals. 

This week I attended Dr. Susta’s 

seminar. He is one of the main dog 

trainers in Czech Republic. He trains 

zoo animals with treats and tries to 

help owners understand their dogs. 

I asked him for help with scientific 

material to be able to fight aversive 

dog training methods popularized by 

TV shows. 

I have been asked by an NGO in Prague 

to help them with vaccination of dogs 

of homeless people. They do not have 

any vaccinations, even against really 

severe infections like parvovirus, so, 

when they get this infection they die. 

Anti rabies vaccine is mandatory 

in our country. I asked the vaccine 

producer to give us some vaccines for 

those people Along with vaccinating, 

we have also been microchipping 

them (the vaccine producer donated 

the microchips), so that when the dog 

gets lost, people from that NGO can 

help return the dog back to his owner. 

I am using vaccines registered for a 

3 year duration. With the help of the 

microchip, the NGO will know which 

dog got the vaccine and when, so 

that those dogs would not get overvaccinated. 

Belgium 

Marina Gates Flemming 

As I mentioned in the last 

newsletter, “Welfare for 

animals” in Belgium has been 

devolved to the 3 Regions. They have 

all inherited the Animal Welfare Act 

which was written in 1986. 

Each Region is still in the midst of 

updating this. They are all hoping to 

have some form of new legislation by 

mid-2017. 

Prior to this devolution (a few since) a 

few decisions had been made which, 

for the moment, remain unchanged. 

Occasional breeders (max 2 litters 

p.a.) need not be registered. All 

other breeders need to be officially 

registered. Sadly, it is the “breedersellers” 

(more than 10 litters p.a. and 

sell puppies from other litters) that 

allow puppy farm puppies to continue 

to be offered for sale in Belgium with 

impunity. 

1994 - all dogs to be identified. Rules 

about “dangerous dogs” vary from 

commune to commune. 

1998 - all dogs should be registered 

with a central database (but sadly 

many owners fail to do this and/or do 

not keep the details up to date) 

2001 - ear and tail cropping banned 

2004 - European Pet Passport 

becomes obligatory for all travel, up 

to date rabies vaccination required 

(as well as a worming treatment 

against Echinococcus given by the vet 

and noted in the passport between 1 

and 5 days prior to travel to certain 

European countries. These keep on 

changing so best to check if you are 

planning to travel with your dog). 

2011 – microchip is the only ID method 

used (prior to that tattoos were being 

offered) 

2015 - (from 29/12/14) – Belgium 

followed a European Directive – dogs 

not allowed to travel prior to 12 weeks 

of age and rabies vaccination not 

allowed to be given prior to that age 

(so in effect dogs are nearly 4 months 

old before they are allowed to cross a 

border within the EU). 

2015 – a maximum of 5 dogs can 

travel with the owner (exception for 

shows & trials or training for these). 

If more than 5 dogs are traveling the 

“trade rules” apply 

2016 - “DogID” is the new 

denomination of the database for 

the identification and registration of 

all dogs in Belgium. This is run by a 

private company on behalf of the 3 

Regions (the dog’s microchip number 

can be entered and details of owners 

are found - as long of course as these 

are kept up to date) 

2016 - Rabies vaccination is no longer 

required if the dog is not leaving 

Belgium. However, it is required for 

all travel and must have been given 21 

days prior to travelling. It is valid for 

3 years. 

Netherlands 

Rachaël Draaisma 

In the Netherlands we have an 

official day of the animal on 

the 4th of October. On this 

day, people are encouraged to pay 

special attention to animals. The 

Dutch members of the PDTE had the 

idea to organise an event on this day. 

The overall theme was “Stimulating 

the Senses”. Members would find 

activities along this theme to do at 

their a location of their choice. 

Seven members joined this initiative. 

They offered people Enriched 

Environments, Man trailing and 

several other scent games. Workshops 

were offered, one also had a venue 

where people could buy items. We 

sent press releases it to various 

newspapers. As far as we know it was 

not printed. Nevertheless we think it 

is a very nice way for people to get to 

know the PDTE and the way we work 

and live with dogs. 

The PDTE members in the 

Netherlands would like to make this 

an annual event. Hopefully it inspires 

the participants to keep on stimulating 

their dogs the whole year round, and 

not just on one day a year. 

2017 

Applied Zoopharmacognosy 

By Karen Webb 

Contact: 07443043662 

Giving an explaination and understanding of animals 

healing themselves by self-selection. How to offer the 

remedies and read the responses from the dog. Applied 

Zoopharmacognosy canl help with emotional, physical 

& behavioural issues. Karen Webb is PDTE member and 

a Full Practitioner in All Species. 

Solihull 17th,18th & 19th March 2017 

York - 22nd & 23rd April 2017 

Hampshire - 19th, 20th & 21st May 2017 

Staffordshire - 15th & 16th July 2017 

Finland - 18th 19th & 20th August 2017 

Further dates to be announced. 

For more details, 

visit: www.letyouranimallead.co.uk 

20 



22-12-2016 05:05:11 PM

Picture Postcards 

These picture postcards come to you specially from 

Mataró, Spain. They try to give you a glimpse of the 

2016 Annual General Meeting of Pet Dog Trainers 

of Europe. 

03 


01 

The board members at the 2016 

AGM in Mataró, Spain. Winkie 

Spiers, our Chairperson, delivers the 

annual report of PDTE. 

01 


02 

A captive audience soaking in the 

fantastic talks that were part of this 

mega event. 

04 


05 


02 


04 

05 

Stalls selling ethical dog care 

products, educational material, arts 

and crafts in support of shelters and 

a display of posters and brochures 

made by PDTE members. 

The talks presented at the event were 

quite interactive with participants 

asking pertinent questions and 

providing interesting insights. 

03 

The speakers at PDTE AGM 2016 

and Nuria, our gracious host, taking 

a moment between talks to pose for 

a group photo. 

(Right to left bottom row) Karen Webb, Julia 

Robertson, Anne Lill Kvam, Cristina Carles 

, Rosa Del Carmen Martinez (Nuria), Virginia 

Millares, Pennie Clayton, Marcos Javier Ibáñez; 

(Right to left top row) Winkie Spiers, Dr. Jesús 

Rosales-Ruiz, Monique de Röeck, Robert Llorente. 

22 



22-12-2016 05:05:13 PM

Canine Wellbeing: 

Bowen Therapy for 

Dogs 

06 


Bowen provides an additional way of helping to improve dogs’ lives by boosting wellbeing. Pennie 

Clayton from the United Kingdom describes this therapy 

Photo Credit: Pennie Clayton, UK 

gentle way of relieving stress, pain 

and chronic illness for humans. As far 

as dogs are concerned there are still 

very few qualified canine therapists 

which means that there less of us 

championing its wide ranging ability 

to help relieve pain, injury and stress, 

and how it can help enhance wellbeing. 

07 08 

06 

07 

Grand dinner in Barcelona. The 

food and wine just kept coming, as 

long as conversations flowed and 

friendships were being built. 

Anne Lill was very intrigued by 

the wine tasting organized for the 

participants. 

09 

08 

09 


Dog people are fun people! Fun times at the AGM in balmy Mataró, Spain 

On a bus to Barcelona for an 

evening of sightseeing, followed by a 

grand dinner. 

While in Spain, how can you not 

salsa? Participants enjoying the salsa 

classes organized for them. 

Bowen is possibly the least well known of the therapies that are available 

for dogs, it does not have the long history of some of the other therapies, 

such as chiropractic or physiotherapy, but this does not mean it is 

ineffective. 

In fact Bowen is fast becoming more widely recognized as an effective and 

The Bowen Technique originates from 

Australia where Tom Bowen started 

treating miners and their families in his 

hometown of Geelong. Since then his 

therapy has spread worldwide and has 

improved the lives of countless people, 

horses and dogs, not to mention other 

species which we are sometimes asked 

to treat. Many of us have been asked 

to diversify and treat cats, sheep, cows 

and even elephants and zebras! 

So, what exactly is Bowen and how 

does it work? 

Bowen is a physical therapy which 

treats the whole body. No matter 

24 



22-12-2016 05:05:14 PM

where the pain is located we work 

gently over the whole body; this is 

because pain and discomfort are 

not confined to just one area. When 

injuries occur, we begin to compensate 

and move differently, and this is no 

different for dogs. In fact, the areas 

where we begin treatment (whether 

human or animal) are regarded as 

weak areas in the body, therefore 

liable to become sources of pain, and 

injury. 

These areas- the lower back and the 

area just below our shoulder blades, 

are places that are under constant 

pressure, which is why so much back 

pain can be traced back to these 

areas. Unfortunately the longer pain 

or discomfort is ignored the more 

likely it is that compensatory patterns 

are formed. Dogs will begin to move 

differently as they try and avoid pain, 

and this leads to other areas becoming 

sore and painful. 

There are specific rules that we all 

comply with as therapists, among these 

are -we don’t treat specific conditions, 

but instead we treat the body, we don’t 

diagnose, that is the vet’s job, and 

incidentally the dog’s vet must always 

be consulted and permission gained 

before we treat a dog. 

Treatment is always gentle and never 

hurried and we work over soft tissue, 

more specifically fascia, muscle and 

connective tissue, never over bone 

and Bowen is non-manipulative. 

The motto of Bowen therapy is “less 

is more”, if the body is given too much 

information it becomes compromised 

and releases adrenaline, which is 

exactly the opposite of what we are 

hoping to achieve. In fact an important 

facet of Bowen is leaving breaks 

during treatment of a few minutes, or 

even longer depending on the body’s 

response. 

When it comes to treating animals the 

breaks are invaluable and important 

, as this allows the horse or dog to 

process the information it is being 

given. During breaks the body can 

relax, and often the eyes soften and 

the breathing will change. 

The body knows just how much Bowen 

it needs and it must be allowed to 

rest and relax during treatment. This 

helps to lower stress levels and has a 

positive effect on the Central Nervous 

System, therefore helping to reduce 

the level of pain and promoting the 

circulation to areas of injury. 



As far as dogs are concerned they are 

free to walk away at any time, they 

are never held or confined, and this 

is an essential part of canine Bowen. 

Often dogs are not comfortable being 

treated in an enclosed area, so we 

give them a choice and often work 

outside. It is important that the dog 

is not compromised and has a choice, 

otherwise treatment becomes invalid. 

Why might a dog need Bowen? 

Dogs change throughout their lives 

and often we miss these subtle 

changes. As we treat dogs we are 

looking for subtle responses and 

changes, but in everyday life these are 

easy to overlook. Our dogs are ageing 

faster than we are, and bodywork is 

important as this helps to pinpoint 

changes before pain becomes part of 

their lives. 

Dogs are not immune to joint problems, 

or mobility issues and they sometimes 

have phobias and life issues especially 

if they are rescues. Bowen can help, 

and may create changes that help the 

body deal with day to day life, and the 

ever-changing nature of our bodies. 

Any dog can receive Bowen from 

puppies to middle aged to very old 

dogs. I have treated several of my 

dogs in their last days and without 

doubt Bowen has helped in those last 

days, and hours. I have witnessed this 

with my own eyes, as have many of my 

colleagues. 

What are therapists looking for as 

we are treating a dog? 

We are monitoring calming signals, 

breathing and assessing how the dog 

is responding. If he is processing the 

treatment, we leave him quietly to do 

just that, and step away and allow the 

body to respond. 

When we treat humans, we ask them to 

take deep breaths, this is not possible 

to do when working on animals, so 

when we have our hands on it is 

imperative that the work is delivered 

slowly. Breathing is integral to life and 


it controls so many functions of our 

bodies; if deep breathing automatically 

reduces tension, then this cannot be 

overlooked when treating an animal. 

We learn that healing can only take 

place if the body starts to deal with 

tension. Try taking a deep breath now 

as you read….and you can feel how, as 

you exhale, your body is starting to 

expel tension. 

Fast brisk movements on the body 

are not helpful and do not allow the 

changes that truly help the body 

to rebalance and adjust. When the 

body is less tense and breathing is 

encouraged it is almost unbelievable 

how different it feels, and how the 

dog starts trusting us as we work, this 

is really important particularly when 

treating a dog for the first time. 

Changes from Bowen treatments are 

sometimes very small, but this does 

not mean they are insignificant. For 

example removing tension from the 

neck, can have a very big impact for a 

dog. Although part of aftercare advice 

is to educate owners, and advise them 

that throwing balls is likely to cause re 

injury, not everyone we work with is 

receptive, so these small differences 

can make a huge difference for many 

dogs. 

Other changes can be breath taking, 

including a few horses I have treated, 

and I have witnessed the students 

on our course making life changing 

differences to dogs they are working 

with. Bowen may be a life changer 

and yes, I am going to repeat myself, it 

may well provide a boost to wellbeing. 

For more information please do contact 

me at info@horseandhoundschool. 

co.uk. Or if you are more interested in 

learning about Bowen for dogs 

www.schoolofcaninebowentherapy. 

com 


26 



22-12-2016 05:05:25 PM

Food for thought: 

The “Food party” 

Pauline Lanting and Astrid Verkuyl from Netherlands discuss how food is more than just a 

necessity for dogs 

“Negative associations may 

cause the dog to not eat 

regularly or eat well. If you 

have a dog that’s not intensely 

enjoying his meals than this is 

something to think about. 

H 

appiness 

Food is essential for a dog to 

feel happy. Food that is eaten 

tastefully causes “calming chemicals” 

(GABA, serotonin, endorphin, etc.) to 

be released in the brain. When your 

dog enjoys his food, these chemicals 

are released in larger quantities. 

This is one of the reasons for dogs not 

to be disturbed before, during or after 

dinner. Just present the food. Don’t 

command the dog to sit before he eats 

his food, when he is restless and eager 

to eat. Just hurry up. Prepare the food 

rapidly and present it quickly. Let him 

enjoy his “food party”. 

Picky Eaters 

It’s possible that your dog turns out 

to be a picky eater. In that case, we 

need to think about what could be the 

cause. It isn’t normal dog behavior to 

be a picky eater, or hardly wanting to 

eat. 


Perhaps the dog has had a bad 

experience during his “food party” 

because he had a stomach ache every 

time he ate. Or perhaps someone took 

food away from the dog to teach him 

that it’s ok if you take away his food, 

to prevent food aggression. (We, of 

course, know that this is an outdated 

method). Or maybe the dog has 

associated the food with being home 

alone. This can occur when the food 

is presented shortly before the owner 

leaves the house. Or you might have 

started cleaning the house while the 

dog is still enjoying his food. 

All these things (and more) can 

cause the dog to have the wrong 

associations with food. Negative 

associations may cause the dog to not 

eat breakfast or eat only in the middle 

of the night. If you have a dog that’s 

not intensely enjoying his meals than 

this is something to think about. 

What can you do when eating is not a 

party for your dog? 

Try to change all variables that have 

to do with eating. Try a new/different 

bowl to eat from, another location in 

the house to eat in and other routines. 

Eating multiple times a day helps 

really stressed out dogs to create the 

“calming chemicals” more frequently 

and will help with “de-stressing”. 

Social eaters 

Dogs are social eaters by nature 

and they enjoy eating when others 

are around (unless something went 

wrong during the “food party”). Sit 

comfortably on a chair near your dog 

while he’s eating. Or grab a quick treat 

for yourself when your dog is eating. 

Have a relaxing cup of coffee. This will 

teach the dog that it could very well 

be a party to eat. 

Variety in the kitchen 

Variety in food is also of great 

importance to let the dog enjoy its 

food. Even dogs with strict diets can 

be offered plenty of variety. Think 

of slightly warming the food, making 

it a bit more moist or even more dry. 

You could smear the food out on 

a placemat. Consider mixing some 

herbs or vegetables in the food (first 

check for toxicity of different herbs 

and vegetables). 

Dogs are opportunistic scavengers 

and to meet this need it’s very 

important that the dog can get 

opportunities to find his food. You 


cannot do this with his meals but just 

hide or scatter some treats here and 

there. 

Chewing is also very important for 

dogs because “calming chemicals” are 

produced during chewing and this is 

really suitable for a relaxing moment. 

The gulping dog 

Oops.. you’ve got a gulping dog. 

Congratulations! You own a normal 

dog and you’re allowed to give 

yourself a compliment. No! An antigulping 

food bowl is not always a good 

idea. Some dogs can get enormously 

frustrated because they aren’t able 

to gulp down their food as quickly as 

possible. 

Gulping is normal for a dog unless 

your dog always vomits after eating 

rapidly, or if he burps (this could also 

have other causes). Imagine your dog 

thinking that his food is being taken 

away. This will cause him to gulp. 

Dogs that display this behavior might 

have been hungry in their younger 

years or had to “fight” their siblings 

for the right nipple or had to eat out of 

one bowl with all of them. 

Sleep 

Sleep is very important for a good 

appetite. If your dog isn’t getting 

enough sleep he will eventually not 

be able to enjoy his food or he could 

even stop eating. An adult dog needs 

an average of sixteen hours of sleep 

per day, some might need more. Is 

your dog sleeping enough? Still no 

appetite? Does everything mentioned 

above sound strange to you? Maybe 

your dog is suffering from stress. In 

that case, we’d advise you to contact 

a good canine behaviorist, of course a 

member of the PDTE. 

Pauline Lanting www.Mi-Ca.nl 

(mindful canine) and Astrid 

Verkuyl www.hondenschoolfeedback. 

nl 

28 



22-12-2016 05:05:28 PM

Members 

Corner 

PDTE is happy to welcome thirteen new associate members. 

Alja 

Willenpart 

Slovania 

After finishing my studies at 

the university around three 

years ago (I studied French 

and Russian at the time) I started 

Caroline 

Lewis 

United Kingdom 

Iam a passionate dog lover, and 

have been around dogs all my 

life. I was known for rescuing 

dogs and bringing them home from 

an early age! Whilst I currently have 

one dog, I will add to our pack when 

volunteering at the Society for the 

protection of animals Ljubljana and 

also at the local animal shelter. It was 

supposed to be just a part-time thing, 

but I soon started spending more and 

more time at the shelter and less and 

less time at the uni. Working with 

shelter dogs turned from a hobby to 

a passion. Working with the shelter 

dogs proved both very challenging 

and very rewarding. With some, 

progress was easy and fast; others 

had both physical and mental injuries 

that needed more time to heal. It was 

these dogs that taught me the most 

and that made me want to learn more. 

I started reading books, attending 

seminars and conferences and finally I 

Molly chooses who she would like to 

join us. From the age of nine, I looked 

after/walked other people’s dogs and 

horses. Now I regularly dog sit in 

multi dog households with anything 

from four to eight dogs. I completed 

the Sheila Harper IDBTS Programme 

in 2013. I attend Turid Rugaas’ 

workshops in Staffordshire when they 

are held, and am currently a student 

in Turid’s TR-IDTE UK Programme 

2016/2017. I have not done ‘standard’ 

dog training because I have always felt 

it was more for the benefit of owner/ 

trainer than the dog. I volunteer in a 

local dog rescue center, helping dogs 

that have been severely abused. I help 

the staff give the dog the individual 

care it needs. Slowly they are 

choosing alternative things to do with 

applied for the TR-IDTE UK. 

I now do my best to also help owners 

and their dogs by organizing social 

walks and helping with advice 

whenever I can. Animal welfare is 

very important to me and I believe 

education is key to making dogs’ 

(and other animals’) lives better in 

the long run. I like to learn new things 

and I like to teach others. I talk to 

people, design and hand out flyers and 

brochures, write articles. I wish animal 

shelters were unnecessary. But until 

they are necessary, I hope to continue 

to make the shelter life at least a bit 

more pleasant for the dogs, while their 

wait for their forever homes. 

them rather than ball play etc. I have a 

great interest in the emotions in dogs 

and take time to look at PTSD caused 

by abuse, competitions and dogs just 

not being listened to. I am a Reiki 

Master Teacher specializing in horses 

and dogs, teaching the importance of 

observation, listening to the individual 

dog and taking time to support their 

needs at every stage. I am not known 

for being a fluffy Reiki person! But I 

am known for being the voice of the 

dog, when what it is trying to say it 

isn’t being heard. 

Cris Carles 

Spain 

M 

y parents always joke 

about a family anecdote… 

It seems I was very little 

After a 30-year career in 

nursing and education, I 

now work professionally as a 

dog trainer and behaviour consultant 

in Asheville, North Carolina in the 

United States. This work allows me to 

combine my two passions: the wellbeing 

of dogs and education. After 

completing the International Dog 

H 

i there! I’m Gayle and my 

background has always been 

in adult health and social care 

for both older people and people with 

differing physical, emotional, mental 

health needs and learning differences. 

I have a degree in Health and Social 

Care and am currently on a journey 

to being a PAT’s (Pets as Therapy) 

handler. These two very subjective 

subjects share many similarities 

as both, people with differing and 

mental health needs and animals , 

when I was asked: “What do you 

want to do when you grow older?”. 

My answer was: “I want to be a dog”. 

I could not understand I was talking 

nonsense, but that was the beginning 

of a search for knowledge, a search 

that continues to this day. I went to 

vet-school in Spain and Scotland and 

discovered I liked farmers and rural life 

more than white coats. So I worked in 

large animal practice, first in Northern 

Ireland and later in the Dominican 

Republic, working for a development 

Non-Profit Organization. A few years 

later I came back to Spain, found out 

Trainer Education with Turid Rugaas, 

I opened my own training business, 

The Loose Leash Academy. 

Joann Crogan 

Rechtine 

USA 

are constantly misrepresented and 

socially devalued of their full potential 

within their communities. As an 

activity facilitator I am keen to bring 

these two groups together so both can 

thrive individually and as a whole. 

I also feel that having a passion 

for many subjects not only needs 

compassion and dedication, but also 

an evidence-based knowledge. I have 

been on some fantastic animal training 

courses to see where my passions 

actually lay in animal trainer. Of these 

courses the ones which stood out the 

most were ones which were similar in 

how we treat humans. I found courses 

which built on a holistic approach 

where animals are treated as equals 

and have choices in their environments 

suited my personal and professional 

background. 

and learnt about assistance dogs and 

dog assisted therapy. I started the first 

Hearing Dogs association in Spain, 

called Askal. One of our principles is 

we only work with strays, so I came 

across very many rescue centers and 

started collaboration with several. 

Ever since, I started to work with 

dogs as a trainer, I´ve tried to stay 

updated and learn more, both from 

dogs and from people with experience 

in training and behaviour. 

I feel more could be done in bringing 

people with limited access to their 

social environments together with 

animals, as this could help impact the 

way we see both of these isolated 

groups. This can be delivered through 

play, meaningful activities, reducing 

loneliness and isolation, building 

understanding with or without words 

by using the skills and learning from 

animals and how they communicate 

with us. Drawing on building a better 

understanding of people and animals 

can only enrich a community and 

build better understanding for both 

parties and their social connections. 

Gail Everest 

Gibraltar 

30 



22-12-2016 05:05:29 PM

Tina Schnabl 

Austria 

Ihave been surrounded by dogs 

since I was born. Around the 

age of 2-3 years, I shared my 

semolina porridge with “Dino” 

our German-short-haired. We were 

both on the ground and licking out of 

the bowl, not having known at that age 

that there was no chance for me to get 

a fair half of it. 

One of best things about my 

childhood was spending weeks with 

my grandmother and her ten dogs! I 

began to teach them tricks, take them 

for a walk (grandma’s cat would often 

join us - one grandma, two kids, ten 

dogs and the cat “on the road”) and 

hung out with them. 

With my first own dog, Nicki, (mix of 

Magyar Vizsla and Bracke) I learned 

very fast, that “classical training” has 

no long-term effect. My other dog, 

Jenny (German Shepard - Rottweiler 

mix) taught me all the dog-important 

things: slow walks, no biking/ running, 

/skating, communication without 

words, use of hand/mime signals and 

calming signals (at this time I did not 

know them as Calming Signals) . She 

was really the best dog in the world! 

Now I’m living with Marille (and my 

rabbit, Mr. Dumbling). Marille is from a 

killing-shelter in Taiwan. Having lived 

with her I understood the phenomenal 

efficacy of Turid‘s technique of “do 

nothing, stand still and shut up”. 

The dogs in my life taught me about 

taking responsibility for a living being, 

warmth and closeness, unconditional 

love and to respect others. It also 

sharpens my brain and senses when I 

learn and observe every tiny detail. I 

love them all and am very thankful to 

them for teaching me! 

Gerdine van 

der Lindenvan 

‘t Hof 

Netherlands 

Hi! I’m a canine behaviourist 

and I specialize in aggression 

and fear. I mostly work with 

aggressive dogs for the organization 

I work for. We rescue dogs who have 

been taken by the police because of 

a biting incident. We train them and 

rehome them so they can live happily 

again. We mostly work with American 

Staffordshire terriers purely because 

of discrimination towards these 

breeds. So, I’m slowly becoming an 

expert on this breed. 

We also give a course on how to deal 

with aggression in dogs. We hope 

that we can reach enough people in 

shelters who still work with dominance 

and show them that we can do better. 

The organization I work for is also 

working with the government to 

change the law to help dogs. 

I’m married to Peter and a mother 

of two - a girl and a boy under the 

age of three. I have a love for Dutch 

shepherds and have a pup called 

Harvey. Other members of our family 

include Cleopatra, a female cat and 

Stick, a chicken. I train Stick with a 

clicker for fun and she loves it! We 

hope to welcome two more chickens 

to our family soon, Cleo was a stray 

that is afraid of humans so she mostly 

lives outside. She eats inside and when 

it’s really cold sleeps inside the house. 

I love to be a member of the PDTE 

family! 

Iam a zoologist because I love 

animals. Dogs are the most 

adaptive species in the World 

whose ecological niche is the human 

ecosystem. The immense adaptability 

of dogs is a continuous source of 

interest to me, and knowledge of the 

canine adaptation strategies is my 

scientific challenge. I have had an 

emotional connection with dogs for 

as long as I remember. At first it was 

my grandfather’s’ dog and then my 

own. Now I live with two rescued 

Andalusian Hounds. I am especially 

interested in this breed because of its 

sensitivity, intelligence and frequent 

mistreatment by hunters. I have a 

Spanish Certification as a dog-trainer 

and a dog-behavioural therapist. I am 

especially interested in teaching about 

improving human-canine interactions, 

understanding these interactions in 

the context of an emotion-based 

relationship between people and dogs 

for specific goals (pet dogs, training, 

education, behaviour improvement, 

etc.). I offer canine services of 

training, education and behavioural 

improvement, that adhere to the above 

philosophy. As a zoologist, I would 

like to set up a canine unit of species 

tracking to improve non-invasive 

monitoring techniques of endangered 

species in protected areas. 

Felix Fontal 

Spain 

Iam a professional dog trainer, 

behaviourist and a kennel 

owner/director. I started as a 

dog walker eleven years ago. I also 

began attending seminars and courses 

and assisted in some too. I had the 

opportunity to learn from Turid in 

Spain. This changed my life! Dogs have 

not been the same for me since then. I 

have been working in a respectful and 

empathetic way since then and I try to 

spread the word to others. 

I collaborate with rescue shelters, 

giving them free courses, books, 

helping them create environment 

enriched areas and as a foster home 

in difficult cases like fear, terminal 

illnesses, old dogs or when they are 

overwhelmed with abandoned animals 

in some seasons. 

I offer private in-home behaviour 

consultations (including for fear/ 

reactivity), group classes (dog body 

language, leash-walking, nosework, 

dog on and off leash walk groups…), 

speak at seminars, shelter/rescue 

dog assessment, shelter consults 

and programs for shelter staff and 

volunteers. 

Virginia 

Millares 

Spain 

Ihave always lived with dogs 

and have always loved them. I 

attended my first dog-trainer 

course in Spain and loved it so much 

that I decided to attend more. So I 

did two courses in Spain, and two 

in Holland , where I obtained my 

certificate. Still something was missing 

and when I heard about TTouch I 

went to England to find out more 

about it. This new perspective on 

the communication with animal was 

so amazing that I finished the whole 

four years of practice and now I am 

a certified TTouch therapist. Most of 

my private training and workshops 

are about this new perspective on 

animals and understanding how 

they communicate with us. By 

understanding the posture of the 

animal, observation and touching we 

can learn how the animals are telling 

us how they feel. We often forget how 

much pain and emotional problems 

influence the behaviour of the animal. 

Wendela 

Bicker 

Caarten 

Spain 

My name is Maria Queiroz 

and I’ve been living with 

dogs my whole life and 

have volunteered since I was 15. After 

finishing my degree in Psychology, 

I started to work in Animal Assisted 

Interventions. It was then that I 

decided to learn more about dogs, to 

train my own therapy dogs. In 2010 

I started to work with other dogs, 

teaching people to teach dogs. This 

is now my core activity, but I still 

work in AAI Programmes. I’m a TAKL 

student, and have attended talks from 

Kay Laurence, Jesus Rosalez-Ruiz, 

Ken Ramirez, Susan Friedman, Alex 

Kurkland, Grisha Stewart, Marcos 

Javier-Ibañez, Jaime Vidal, amongst 

others. Today I’m a CBATI (Certified 

BAT Instructor) and a CAP2 Clicker 

Trainer, but always want to keep 

learning more about dogs. 

I run my own business in Portugal, 

named Vinculum Animal. Our main 

goal is to promote good relationship 

between men and animals. We believe 

that improving communication will 

lead to a better relationship and 

prevent major issues. We use only 

positive techniques and respect the 

dog’s time and emotional state. We run 

AAI programmes and believe we all 

should benefit from it, so we respect 

the working dogs as a whole. They 

live with us and have the right to be 

regular dogs too. 

Maria 

Queiroz 

Portugal 

32 



22-12-2016 05:05:30 PM

Lisanne 

Van’t Hoog 

Netherlands 

M 

y name is Lisanne. I’m 

22 years old and since I 

was little I wanted to do 

‘something with animals’ when I grew 

up. I grew up with cats, rabbits, mice, 

rats and when I was ten years old we 

finally got a dog. I loved all animals, 

but especially dogs. Together with 

my sister, I walked all the dogs in the 

neighbourhood. Since I was 15 years 

old I took care of animals when their 

owners were on holiday. In 2015 I 

graduated as a social worker, but I 

Ihave been mesmerized by 

animals for as long as I can 

remember. I grew up among 

farm animals in a rural area and our 

first dog was a foundling. My parents 

didn’t feel like the job really fit me. In 

2012 I went to a seminar about calming 

signals. It really felt like ‘homecoming’, 

everything fell into place. That day I 

realized that I wanted to work with 

dogs. I want to show dog owners 

other ways to work together with 

and train their dogs. I started reading 

about dogs and I went to workshops 

and seminars about dog behaviour. 

In 2013 I attended a workshop - 

Impuls Controle, given by Liesbeth 

Hogendoorn. In 2014, I attended a 

seminar about Fear in dogs, given by 

Monique Bladder. In 2014 I did the 

course Recallers 5.0, conducted by 

Susan Garret. In 2016 I attended a 

seminar and workshop on BAT, given 

didn’t know anything about dogs in 

those days, but our dog was a family 

member. When I lived on my own 

there were always multiple dogs. 

Never dogs from breeders, because 

many lovely dogs in shelters were 

waiting in vain for a second chance 

and they could never compete with a 

lovely puppy from a breeder. So, our 

dogs were the ones from the shelters. 

Later we started adopting dogs from 

abroad too. Turkish and Greek dogs 

who were not so fortunate to live in 

loving homes. 

After a disastrous outcome of a rankreduction 

program for one of my dogs 

I had many unanswered questions. 

by Monique Bladder. In September 

2015 I started the Natural Dogs 

Trainer Education by Calming Signs 

in Koningslust. On 1st January 

2016 I started my own business: 

Dierenoppas Amersfoort. I walk with 

dogs individually and I take care of 

pets such as cats when their owners 

are on holiday. 

This journey led me to Turid. and 

calming signals I knew this was what 

I’d been searching for. I cannot undo 

the past, but my dog has not died in 

vain. There’s no excuse for ignorance. 

Later I had the opportunity to be one 

of Turid’s students in the Netherlands. 

I have no prior experience of working 

with dogs or instructing people so I’m 

very new. 

Manon 

Pekelharing 

Belgium 

Full 

members 

PDTE is happy to announce two new 

full members 

Honorary 

life 

members 

PDTE welcomes two honorary life 

members: Anne-Lill Kvam (Norway) 

and Hester Herrera-Kivijärvi Mexico 

Eric Lee 

Hong Kong 

Pennie Clayton 

The United Kingdom 


Apologies 

Apologies to Julie Stephenson, full 

member of the PDTE from Denmark, 

not from the UK, as published in the 

previous newsletter. 


34 



22-12-2016 05:05:33 PM

Send in your articles, event listing and advertisements to the editor at 

contact@bangalorehundeskole.com 

13 

May 

Play, but do it right 

Les Bizots, France 

Contact: 06 27 65 27 21 

Heike Westedt 

Switzerland 

Play can be fun, but it can also be a stressor if not 

done right. In this workshop we answer questions on 

why animals play, role breed plays in play situations, 

general rules of play in the canine world, playing with 

stressed dogs and the impact of play on the muscles 

and skeleton of dogs. 

This workshop will be conducted by Heike Westedt. 

Heike is a biologist. She has studied with Turid Rugaas 

and Sheila Harper. She has been running her own dog 

school for eleven years. She incorporates learning 

theory, biology, stress awareness and management 

into her work. She has also authored a book. 

8 

Apr 

Applied Zoopharmacognosy 

France 

Contact: contact@chienpresqueparfait.fr 

Zoopharmacognosy is a way of allowing the animals 

to self medicate with herbs and essential oils. This 

workshop will be conducted by Caroline Ingraham. 

There will also be one on one sessions with Caroline. 

There will be separate workshops for canines and 

felines. 

Canine workshop: 8th and 9th Apr, 285 EUR 

Feline workshop: 10th Apr, 130 EUR 

1 on 1 sessions: 7th Apr 

For details, visit www.chienpresqueparfait.fr 

27 

May 

Thyroid disease, vaccination and nutrition 

Magny en Vexin, France 

Contact: contact@chienpresqueparfait.fr 

This workshop will be conducted by Dr. Jean Dodds of 

Hemopet. The discussions will be about hypothyroidism, 

nutrition and vaccinations. Hypothyroidism is the most 

common endocrine disorder in dogs and early, accurate 

diagnosis offers important genetic and clinical options 

for prompt intervention and case management. 

Wholesome nutrition is key to maintaining healthy immune 

function. Discussions will focus on the basic ingredients and 

trace vitamins, minerals, and immune-balancing nutrients. 

Vaccines permit us to protect pets effectively against 

serious infectious diseases. However, evidence implicating 

vaccines in triggering immune-mediated and other chronic 

disorders (vaccinosis) is compelling.Learn more about it. 

PDTE Newsletter Dec 2016.indd 36 

22-12-2016 05:05:34 PM

PDTE 2016 December Newletter

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