PDTE 2013 Winter Newsletter

pdte news 

Winter 2013 Issue 20 

www.pdte.eu

Contents: 

Board´s corner_____________________________________ 3 

Welcome our new members ____________________ 5 

What´s up in 2012 _ ______________________________ 10 

New Website_ ____________________________________ 12 

Greetings from member cuntries______________ 13 

AGM Presentations 2012________________ 17 

Minutes of AGM 2012___________________________ 51 

Invitation to AGM 2013__________________________44 

Message from the Editor 

Dear PDTE Members, 

Welcome to the newest issue of 

PDTE News. This issue contains 

presentations given by members 

at the 2012 PDTE AGM weekend in 

Edinburgh last September. I hope 

you enjoy reading them as much 

as I did while I was working with 

them and reading them at the 

same time :-). There are a lot of 

interesting topics and summaries, 

and while reading them I realised 

how much I had missed, as I was 

unable to be in Edinburgh. 

This issue also looks a little different 

and a change was well overdue. 

The new design is the work of 

Fenna Howen from Holland. Thank 

you Fenna. I hope that members 

will find this new look more modern 

and easier to read. 

Fenna has helped Adelaide and 

me also earlier, and as this issue 

is Adelaide´s and my last, we are 

confident that the Newsletter will 

continue to improve in Fenna and 

Ed van Berg’s excellent care. 

It is with heavy hearts that we 

have decided to stop doing the 

PDTE News — Adelaide because of 

a serious illness in her family, and 

myself because of a wave of new 

projects. We have been privileged 

to do this work for many years, 

but it is time for others to take 

over. We have also stepped down 

from the Board – I as Meetings 

Secretary and Adelaide as Board 

Assistant, but we remain full members 

of the PDTE. After five years 

this was a hard decision, but life 

goes on and it will be interesting 

to see the PDTE from the angle of 

regular members. 

I wish to thank Adelaide so much 

for working with me for so many 

years, and I´m so happy to know 

that we will continue together 

with many other things in the 

future :-). I could never have done 

this without her. 

I also wish to thank from the bottom 

of my heart all the members 

who have contributed in some 

way to the PDTE News. Without 

you we could not have made the 

magazine into what it is today. 

Please continue sending material 

to the new editors, Ed and Fenna. 

They need your help as much as 

we did. 

I wish you all a great and wonderful 

New Year and hope to see 

you at the latest in Holland at the 

PDTE AGM 2013 :-). 

Take care of yourselves and your 

dogs! 

Raili 

Editor of PDTE News - raili@doi.fi 

Next newsletter 

JUNE 2013 

Please send materials by 1st April 

at the latest to fenna@doggz.nl 

Advertising prices 

1/4 page 20 euros 



NEW EDITORS STARTING FROM THE NEXT ISSUE 

Ed van den Berg – responsible editor / info@doggz.nl 

Fenna Houwen – designer / fenna@doggz.nl 

For more information, reservations 

(latest 1st April and originals 

(latest 15th April) contact 

fenna@doggz.nl 

2

Board’s corner 

Message from 

the President 

Turid Rugaas 

PRESIDENT 

Boks 109, 3361 Geithus, Norway 

Phone: +47 (0) 32 780 987 

E-Mail: turidrug@frisurf.no 

Website: www.turid-rugaas.no 

Sonja Hoengen 

TREASURER 

Allmend 18 

DE – 74206 Bad Wimpfen 

Germany 

hoegen@dogcom.de 

www.dogcom.de 

Max Muir 

Nelis Verhoeven 

MEMBERSHIP AND 

MEETING SECRETARY 

Zandstraat 3 

5984 PA Koningslust 

Tel: +31 (0) 7746 78 619 

Mobile: +31 (0) 6227 55 214 

membership@pdte.eu 

www.calmingsigns.nl 

Winkie Spiers 

CHAIRMAN 

121 Harbut Road, London SW11 2RD 

England 

Phone: +44 (0) 207 924 3744 

Mobile: +44 (0) 7718 332 914 

E-Mail: winkie@winkiespiers.com 

Website: www.winkiespiers.com 

Happy New Year everybody – members, 

friends, members-to-be, CRs – each 

and every one of you! This year will 

bring some nice things: the AGM in 

Netherlands, hopefully some seminars 

and conferences to your benefit, 

networking between the members – 

sharing each other’s knowledge, new 

members – and many other things. 

Hopefully also something new and exciting. 

Stability is good, but changes are 

necessary! 

There are also some changes on the 

Board - Raili has resigned after several 

years of work there and with the Newsletter, 

and I want to thank her so very 

much for all she has done, and wish her 

all the best with future plans and work. 

New people have taken over, as you will 

be informed about – in this issue. We 

also have got some new CRs you can 

check these on the web site. 

A new year, new ideas, new challenges, 

new knowledge – let this be the year 

that you dare to learn something new, 

try something you have not tried before, 

invite some new speakers – we teach 

our dogs to explore because we know 

how important it is for their mental 

and emotional development; maybe 

we should dare to explore a little more 

ourselves? Sometimes we will not like 

what we find, and then we can leave it 

-– like our dogs do, other times we will 

find a jewel, something that has that a 

little spark that we need for new ideas 

and new enthusiasm. 

Keep up your curiosity; go exploring and 

treasure hunting – maybe find some dirt, 

but also shining jewels. 

Turid 

President 

UNDERSTUDY 

4 Borthwick Castle Terrace 

North Middleton 

By Gorebridge, Midlothian EH23 4QU 

Scotland 

Tel: +44 (0) 1875 825552 

Mobile: +44 (0) 7999 866989 

Action 4 Dogs 

www.action4dogs.co.uk 

3

Message from the chairman 

Dear PDTE Members 

Firstly I’d like to wish you all a very 

happy, healthy and successful 2013. 

I often wonder what our dogs 

think when we have different holidays, 

suddenly our normal routines 

change, in some cases people get 

stressed and generally dogs can 

be left feeling a little out of sorts 

with all the changes that go on. 

My dogs and I all had a lovely time 

over the Christmas period but I 

am really happy to be getting back 

into a fairly normal routine, my 

dogs having had so much attention, 

fun and activity seem to be 

having post holiday-itis!! 

There are a great many lovely 

things happening this year; Turid’s 

symposium in February that I’m 

really looking forward to, flight and 

hotel booked just my bag to pack. 

We have a new website courtesy 

of Nelis our Membership Secretary. 

Nelis and his company Calming 

Signs has gifted to the PDTE 

a new website (PDTE.eu) which is 

incredibly generous – thank you 

so much Nelis. Nelis will also be 

hosting the AGM this year in Holland, 

it will be well worth the trip. 

The Board is undergoing some 

changes; Raili has resigned her 

position on the Board after 5 years, 

she has done a huge amount for 

the PDTE and she will be greatly 

missed, on behalf of the PDTE I’d 

like to thank Raili for all the hard 

work and dedication that she’s 

shown. We also are saying goodbye 

to Adelaide our Board Assistant 

for the time-being and again 

she has done so much for us, thank 

you both. 

I am really pleased to see so many 

PDTE members being so active in 

educating; running courses, workshops 

and seminars – really important 

work and it’s only by educating 

people that we will be able to 

see an end to the punishing, cruel 

and inhumane methods that are 

too often used in dog training. On 

YouTube there are some incredibly 

distressing videos of trainers showing 

violent and appalling so called 

‘training’ techniques when really it’s 

abuse and bullying, it’s not just the 

internet but sadly we see appalling 

and ignorant techniques employed 

by so called professionals on the 

television too. The PDTE ethics 

are clear, we will never endorse 

or agree with any hitting, bullying, 

kicking, yanking methods that 

create fear, pain, confusion and 

distress. Our aim is to educate 

and promote kind and humane 

treatment of dogs everywhere. 

Soon the days will be getting 

longer. Wishing you all a fabulous 

2013 and I look forward to seeing 

you at some of the wonderful 

events coming up. 

Winkie 

Message from the treasure 

HERE ARE THE NEW BANK DETAILS: 

Accountname: Pet Dog Trainers of Europe - Sonja Hoegen 

Name of bank: Kreissparkasse Heilbronn 

Accountnumber: 7499803 

BLZ: 62050000 

IBAN: DE58 6205 0000 0007 4998 03 

BIC-/SWIFT-Code: HEISDE66XXX 

Sonja 

MOVING? 

Remember to tell us 

your new adDress! 

Send your information to 

info@calmingsigns.nl 

4

Welcome new our members 

ITALY 

Valentina Biedi 

My name is Valentina Biedi; I live in 

Genoa with my two dogs, Winnte 

and Diego, a pit bull female of about 

7 years old and a 4-year-old male Lab 

cross. I have been a volunteer at the 

shelter in Genoa for about 10 years 

and have worked as a dog trainer 

for 5 years. I have attended different 

courses, but I can say that the course 

that really changed me and my way of 

relating to dogs was the lnternational 

Dog Trainer education that I attended 

in Clivio in 2009/2010 with Turid 

Rugaas and Anne-Lill Kvam. Everything 

began in 2008 when I attended 

a nosework course with Anne-Lill: at 

that time I was looking for something 

different; I didn’t feel comfortable 

with training the training techniques I 

had seen until then. But with Anne- 

Lill and Turid I finally found what I 

was looking for. The important thing 

isn’t doing things, training so much or 

expecting many things from our dogs. 

The important thing is to understand 

each other and to enjoy just being together. 

I love nosework activities with 

my dogs, in particular scent discrimination 

and tracking. 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve 

been more than fond of animals, but 

as a kid I was only allowed to own 

cats. Only as an adult have I been able 

to adopt dogs. In 2001-2 I started to 

study dog behaviour at the SCIVAC 

Italian Companion Animal Veterinary 

Association, on their first italian 

dog-training course. After this initial 

year-long course, I kept attending 

courses and seminars held by Roberto 

Marchesini, Gudrun Feltmann 

v.Shroeder, Clarissa v. Reinhard, Sheila 

Harper, Anne-Lill Kvam and others. 

It’s my strong opinion that, in order 

to be a good teacher, one must be a 

good student. Meeting Turid Rugaas 

has been enlightening! After attending 

her first Italian camp (Rome 2002) I 

realised she was my mentor. Her clear, 

uncompromising message has found 

in me a strong follower: gentle training 

and education, based on positive 

association, are actually in perfect 

harmony with my way of living my 

relationship with dogs. Therefore, 

in 2006-7 I followed and successfully 

graduated from the dog training 

course she and Anne-Lill Kvam held in 

Clivio (Varese-Italy). I continually update 

myself about the subject, reading 

articles/books and attending new 

courses. I have worked with dogs since 

2002, holding both private and group 

classes, with a particular interest in 

puppies and nose-work. A holistic 

approach and the deep respect I have 

for animals mark my way of living and 

working with them. 

Sonia Sembenotti 

Daniela Cardillo 

My name is Daniela Cardillo; I have a 

degree in Dog Training from the University 

of Pisa (Italy). I started working 

with dogs as a dog sitter in 1991, and 

after many years I became a professional 

dog trainer. Always in love with 

animals in general, my mission is to 

help people build a correct relationship 

with their dogs, especially puppies 

and dogs with various problem 

behaviours. 

Clicker trainer CAP2 (studied in 

UK under Kay Laurence) and other 

positive methods are the way I teach 

both owners and other dog trainers. 

I believe so much in positive reinforcement 

that I became a member 

of the worldwide team of specialists 

working with Victoria Stilwell. The 

name of the team is VSPDT (Victoria 

Stilwell Positively Dog Training). I 

absolutely avoid and am against cruel 

submission-oriented or direct-confrontational 

methods; they lead both 

dogs and owners on the wrong path 

for teaching: fear and distrust. 

I think that the correct way of teaching 

anything to a dog starts from a 

good interspecies understanding. 

5

Second is the use of comfortable 

dog-equipment, and third is the use of 

trust-based and cruelty-free methods 

of learning/teaching. Actually my per- 

I’m a Canine Psychologist and author, 

a member of The Association 

of INTO Dogs, the director of The 

International School of Canine Psychology 

(ISCP) and founder of The 

Dog Helpline. I grew up with dogs of 

a variety of breeds, mostly rescues, 

including a Border Collie, Boxer, Irish 

Setter, Yorkshire Terrier and some that 

were so mixed that their heritage was 

a mystery at the time. In adulthood, 

my own dogs have included a Staffordshire 

Bull Terrier, a Collie cross, 

a Husky/Collie cross, a Lurcher and 

several Greyhounds. 

A fascination with how dogs’ minds 

work led me into independent study, 

followed by a diploma with distinction 

in Canine Psychology, which I 

now teach as well as practise. I’m 

dedicated to promoting positive, 

compassionate methods of working 

with dogs, and am passionate about 

rehoming rescue dogs, with a particular 

focus on elderly dogs. With this 

aim, I advise several rescue organisasonal 

professional activities are: 

With owners: puppy training, house 

training, adult training, behaviour 

modification 

With trainers: professional dog sitting 

courses, clicker training, BAT Behavioural 

Adjustment Training, 

I have been a speaker at seminars on 

“behavioural development in dogs” 

and training for problem behaviours 

like fear, reactivity and aggression. 

ENGLAND 

tions and provide two ISCP full scholarships 

each year for rescue workers, 

so that graduates can support their 

rescue in successfully rehoming more 

dogs. I also foster elderly dogs who 

have been traumatised and need rehabilitation, 

or who are terminally ill. 

My small book, Adopting a Rescue 

Dog, is used by rescue organisations 

and private individuals, and can be 

downloaded free of charge from The 

Dog Helpline website or bought as a 

paperback book. I also have two fulllength 

dog behaviour books coming 

out soon. ‘The Heartbeat at Your Feet: 

A Practical, Compassionate New Way 

to Train Your Dog’ will be published 

in hardback by USA publishers Rowman 

& Littlefield in November 2012. 

‘Dog Training: The Essential Guide’ 

will be published in paperback by UK 

publisher Need2Know Books in January 

2013. 

Lisa Tenzin-Dolma 

I live in a small village near Bath in the 

UK, and currently have two dogs: a 

Lurcher and an elderly Greyhound. 

Theo Stewart 

I work as a Canine Behaviour Adviser 

covering Beds, Herts, Cambs and 

Bucks. I have lived with dogs for many 

years, and was first involved in oldfashioned 

‘dog training’ of the sort I 

would have nothing to do with now. 

About fifteen years ago, despite having 

all their KC Good Citizenship certificates, 

my then current dogs,a Rottweiler 

and German Shepherd, pulled 

on lead outside the environment of 

the class, only came back when called 

if they felt like it and they were reactive 

to other dogs. I knew there must 

be another way - a way that didn’t 

involved physical strength and force. I 

understood that it was to do with my 

own behaviour and not my dogs’. This 

was when I started to read books on 

dog behaviour, something relatively 

new at the time, and worked on earning 

my dogs’ respect and trust through 

my own behaviour. Our relationship 

was transformed. 

After a life first as a school teacher 

and then running my own businesses, 

I decided in 1996 to mix my skills 

(teaching and business) with my main 

love (dogs), and set myself on a path 

of learning. Since then I have helped 

and am still helping around 1100 

people and their dogs, one-to one, 

and I now write up their stories as I go 

along on my website. 

I am a founder member and Chair of 

INTODogs, an organisation for dog 

trainers and behaviour professionals 

promoting only positive, kind methods 

along with CPD. 

I have attended talks and seminars 

including TURID RUGAAS: Pulling on 

lead, SHEILA HARPER: Canine Aggression 

and Canine Secrets, RAY COP- 

PINGER: Dump Dogs of Mexico City, 

JOHN BRADSHAW: In Defense of Dogs 

and DR.SUSAN FRIEDMAN: Living and 

Learning with Animals. 

Early 2012 I graduated with ISCP International 

School of Canine Psychology. 

I currently have five dogs - two Labradors, 

a German Shepherd, a Lurcher 

and a Cocker Spaniel, ranging in age 

from nine down to sixteen months. 

6

BELGIUM 

Ria Caeyers 

My interest in dogs started when 

Falco came to live with us: a rescue 

dog, male, Malinois, about 4 years old 

with a back pack full of bad experiences. 

All the negative encounters 

with trainers and instructors whose 

advice didn’t work, made me feel 

bad. Somehow I knew there had to 

be a way, dog friendly, compassionate 

and nice, to live with a ‘problem dog’. 

That’s where my quest started. 

During a seminar by Sheila Harper 

about stress in dogs, the pieces of 

the puzzle came together. That was 

the answer I was looking for! Falco 

was not an aggressive dog, he was 

a very stressed dog and no one had 

recognised that. I was happy to have 

the key to start solving his and our 

problems. From then on I didn’t stop 

reading, studying, doing workshops 

and attending courses. One lucky 

day I saw an announcement of the 

workshop Dog Communication, Body 

Language and barking behaviour by 

Raili Halme. Again it was a revelation 

to hear someone talk about dogs 

with a lot of respect and a vision that 

seemed familiar to me. These experts 

knew the vocabulary to express what I 

felt deep inside was the right way. 

A few months later I decided to 

participate in the Dog Oriented 

Behaviourist education. I enjoyed it 

from the first moment, I learned a lot, 

and so did Falco, and I know for sure 

I’ll never stop learning. My special 

interests are rescue dogs and reducing 

stress. But above all, I very much 

would like to find ways to inform 

people about this dog-oriented way. 

I returned from the UK in 2004, 

where I worked in the City for many 

years, I am now based near Brussels. 

Throughout my life, I have been lucky 

enough to have had dogs and they 

have and continue to teach me so 

much. 

I currently live with 6 dogs and 

regularly take in dogs as a host family 

readying them for adoption although 

the last 2 older girls both finished 

their lives comfortably with us here 

(Lucie was 13 having lived with us just 

over 2 years and Ras was probably 

14ish and spent her last 8 months 

with us - she was not up for adoption). 

Now that I am “retired” I am able to 

help owners to understand their dogs 

better and therefore give them a 

better life… I trained with Jan Fennell 

and was part of her “organization” 

for many years, since I have joined 

Confused Dogs Dot Com and have 

read extensively. Over the years, 

I also found Turid’s “Calming Signals” 

extremely helpful both for my 

dogs and in consultations as well as 

explaining them in the workshops; so 

much so that I have enrolled in her 

training program. 

I offer - in English or French - oneto-one 

home consultations as well 

as workshops in my own home with 

my dogs. “canine conversation” is 

a gadget free, non confrontational 

method/philosophy that is based on 

mutual respect: 

“Children and dogs” - how to protect 

them both 

“Puppy” classes - start as you wish to 

continue 

“How to better to live a harmonious 

relationship with your dog” 

Marina Gates-Fleming 

7

THE NETHERLANDS 

My name is Mimi van Baars and I live in 

Hengelo, the Netherlands. I live with 

my dog Bora an 8-year-old flat-coated 

retriever. Thirty years ago I worked at 

a veterinary practice and was there for 

15 years. I came into contact with a KC 

through one of my dogs. That’s when I 

wanted to give courses in dog training, 

so I became a volunteer. I’ve done 

many educations, O&O > dog behaviourist, 

with good results. I did many 

instructors courses, generally instructor 

and specialised instructors courses, 

like puppies. 

I noticed that I didn’t like the way I 

had to instruct the courses; dogs were 

barking a lot and were very stressed 

out, people shouted a lot. At that time 

i didn’t know that it was all stress. I 

did a lot of workshops such as clicker 

training and I attended a lot of seminars. 

I was a member of Alpha for 10 

years, which is a union of behaviourists. 

It didn’t feel right. They didn’t 

always think in a ‘dog friendly’ way. I 

started searching and found Jolanda 

Bijl, who planned to do the education 

in Dutch. It was a totally different 

way of living with your dog, But 

I loved it!! This is what I was looking 

for! 

After this course I came into contact 

with Nelis and did workshops from 

the DOB. 

I had two dogs, but after the death 

of Dodo I decided to keep only one. 

I have my own dog school (puppy 

courses and adolescent courses. For 

dogs with behaviour problems I have 

social walks and nose work. I regularly 

hold seminars and workshops 

for dog owners. 

I’m looking forward to more workshops 

and hope to do Raili Halme’s 

eduction in the future. 

Mimi van Baars 

Helga ten Cate 

Ever since I was a kid, I love dogs. I 

wasn’t allowed to have one by my 

parents, but when Iwent to live alone, 

the first thing I bought was a Golden 

Retriever named Conan.He lived for 

more than 14 years with me. 

My husband and I bought another 

dog. A flatcoated Retriever named 

Dustin. 

I started to become interested in 

hunting training, but I disliked the way 

people trained their dog’s, putting 

to much pressure on them and using 

rough technics on them. 

I became interested in doing things 

together with your dog in a more 

respectful way. 

I did a studie about becoming a dogtrainer 

and dogbehaviourist. 

I noticed that a lot of dogs who at- 

tended the classes, had problems 

in concentrating and looked quite 

stressed. 

With my own dog Scott I experienced 

another problem. He becomes 

so overexited by classes that he 

starts to bark hysterically. Searching 

for a solution about all these things,I 

found a course about nosework 

and tracking. Through this a got in 

contact with the books of Turid and 

I started the education of the PDTE.( 

for which I am very thankful) 

Scott is still overexited every now 

and then, but it is good to know 

more about stress in dogs, so now I 

know what to do about it and how 

to avoid it. I’m able to help other 

people with dogs who have a stressrelated 

problem. 

8

POLAND 

It’s never easy to write about oneself. 

Especially while keeping a certain 

objectiveness. I could write about 

me becoming a dog-fanatic, how 

dogs changed my life, and about my 

thoughts of giving up my vacancy in 

an advertising agency and becoming a 

full-time dog trainer. 

I’m a mother to Bruno (3 months old) 

and owner of Tala (German Shepherd 

2.5 years old). I’m obsessively punctual. 

Seeing dog Frisbee, ball fetching 

and other devices used to make 

dogs tired makes me itch – I’m sure 

it’s some sort of allergic reaction. My 

friends, family and most neighbours 

think I’m a weirdo. 

I’ll always choose walking in a forest 

with my dog and building our mutual 

relation over obedience class and 

teaching commands ☺☺ 

I have a copy of Turid Rugaas’ “Calming 

Signals” with me almost all the 

time – 

reminds me of “Catcher in the rye” 

found on several detained serial killers. 

;) 

My recently favourite saying is “Show 

me Your dog, and I’ll tell You who You 

are.” 

My main canine-related areas of 

knowledge are: 

Dog and child (how to prepare a dog 

for a baby coming?) 

Influence of the owner’s temper and 

body language on a dog’s behaviour 

and learning progression 

Stress in dogs 

Leadership as parenthood – the importance 

of mutual relations 

Nosework (tracking, searching) 

Dogs’ body language and communication 

skills (calming signals) 

Dog behaviour therapy 

Zuzanna Gebethner 

Kasia Patej 

My name is Kasia Patej and I am a 

canine behaviour therapist just at the 

beginning of my journey. 

I always dreamt about working with 

animals (lions first, then dolphins and 

finally pet dogs), but the idea had to 

mature in me for years before I got my 

first client as a behaviourist.. 

After dozens of little funerals in my 

childhood that I gave to the little 

creatures like nestlings, mice collected 

from the cellar mousetrap or 

ladybirds, I got a cat and three dogs 

in a row to move to my doormat, and 

from there to my home. I read tons of 

books on animals (like those by James 

Curwood) and planned to become a 

vet. 

Life often plays tricks on us, so I 

ended up graduating in the field of 

management and business administration 

instead! But it is noteworthy that 

I got my first real job in investment 

fund administration thanks to “dog 

psychology” in the Hobbies column of 

my resume, which drew the attention 

of my future boss. 

With Borys, a weimaranner puppy 

who appeared in my life two years 

ago, my fondness for dogs and interest 

in their behaviour brought new 

strength. Educating myself in order to 

better understand and also educate 

my lovely dog quickly led to my 

attendance in a number of canine 

cognition courses, workshops and 

seminars (including those given by 

Turid Rugaas, Raili Halme, Amber Batson 

or Kirsten Helming). I completed 

some dog school courses, but what 

has always appealed to me the most 

is dog behaviour therapy issues. 

This is why I joined the first Polish 

edtion of the Dog-Oriented Behaviourist 

course led by Raili Halme and 

organised by Agnieszka Nojszewska 

- the PDTE coutnry representative in 

Poland. 

I am on this journey now, already 

working with a number of dog-owner 

duets, and I am convinced there is 

no way back for me, which I am very 

happy about! 

9

What´s up in 2013 

PDTE events,courses,seminars, 

workshops... 

These events, courses, seminars and workshops have been accepted by the PDTE Board. 

Part of the income contributes to the work of the PDTE. If you would like to organize a 

PDTE event, contact membership@pdte.eu 

BELGIUM 

The DOG-ORIENTED INSTITUTE 

(owned by Full Members of the 

PDTE) is organizing the following 

seminar: 

FALCO´S FIRST EXPERIENCE 

OF ELK BONE FROM FINLAND 

23.03.2013 

DOG-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP IS 

PARENTHOOD 

24.03.2013 

DOGS´ LANGUAGE AND 

ESPECIALLY CALMING SIGNALS 

International lecture 

Raili Halme, Finland 

More information: 

www.andersvoorhondenzorgen 

ria@doi.fi 

KEEP YOUR EVENT 

AS A PDTE EVENT 

You can use the PDTE official 

logo and let everyone know 

that the PDTE 

recommends your event! 

If you are interested, contact 

Maxwell Muir, action4dogs@ 

yahoo.com 

AND HE LOVED IT! 

10

Other events,courses,seminars, 

workshops... 

HOLLAND 

CAUTIOUS AND FEARFUL DOGS 

– A SHEILA HARPER SEMINAR 

IN DRIEBERGEN MAY 2013 

Internationally renowned canine 

behaviourist Sheila Harper will 

be visiting Driebergen on 18th & 

19th May 2013 to present a two 

day Seminar designed to increase 

awareness of the many issues 

surrounding Cautious and Fearful 

Dogs. 

Sheila will discuss how the importance 

of understanding the roots 

of fear and its contributory factors 

is crucial in being able to make a 

real difference. She will show how 

to offer strategies to dogs and 

owners that will help their lives 

become better balanced and less 

daunting. 

The seminar will address typical 

behaviours including those where 

At Kulturhuset springforbi.nu, Strandvejen 855, 2930 Klampenborg (Copenhagen) 

16-17 March 2013 from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. 

A unique weekend including topics as Dominance, Stress, 

Mental Stimulation, The importance of Sleep, and 

Bowen Technique therapy for humans and pets. 

dogs shy away from visitors and 

hide under a chair; bark or lunge at 

other dogs or people through fear; 

over-react to sounds or sights and 

where dogs appear to cope in a 

busy environment but react when 

they see a person or dog even in 

the far distance. 

The seminar will provide an opportunity 

to look at the reasons 

behind some of these behaviours, 

along with a consideration of good 

practice and things to avoid when 

living with a cautious or fearful 

dog. 

The full content of the weekend 

seminar, which will be delivered 

in English, together with booking 

details can be found at http:// 

www.sheilaharper.co.uk/cautiousfearful-dogs-holland-p-2038.html 

NEUTERING in DOGS AND 

BITCHES, AUTISM & ARTHRITIS 

3 in 1 Seminar for all Owners, Veterinary Staff, 

Trainers, Behaviourists, Rescue Organisation 

Volunteers! 

By Holistic Vet Nick Thompson BSc (Hons) Path Sci., 

BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS 

Saturday 16 February 2013 

Venue: Sway Village Hall, Middle Road, Sway, Lymington, 

Hampshire, SO41 6BB 

Registration: From 9.15am – Start 10.00am – Close Approx 4.30pm 

Cost only £35.00 Per head to include Coffee on arrival; Mid-Morning 

Tea/Coffee & Biscuits; Ploughman’s 

Lunch & Afternoon Tea/Coffee with special CDT Cake! 

Unfortunately dogs cannot join us on this occasion but may be left in 

cars in the hall car park. 

Event organisers 

CARA DOG TRAINING 

Chrissy Gough MIACE, APDT 653, PDTE (F094) & Barry Gough 

APDT 893, ADTB Approved “Heathers”, Gilpin Place, Sway, 

Lymington, Hampshire, SO41 6EU. Tel: 01590 683 529 Email: 

caratraining@ic24.net www.caradogtraining.com 

An inspiring symposium dedicated for educated dog trainers, veterinarians, veterinary 

nurses, behaviourists/therapists and people working professionally with dogs. 

DKK 2500 per person is the cost for the weekend incl. coffee and lunch. 

Accommodation is not included. 

Language in English 

Register at: hanne@snudekompagniet.dk (within 15th Feb. 2013) 

Payment to: Account 5325 0523024 

From abroad: 

IBAN DK5653250000523024 / Swift: ALBADKKK 

There are limited places, so please book early. Registration is binding. 

Winkie Spiers – works professionally as a dog trainer / behaviour consultant and Bowen 

Technique therapist for both people and dogs in London. She speaks at seminars and conducts 

workshops in the UK and abroad on a variety of canine subjects for both professionals and 

members of the public. She is a qualified Canine First Responder Instructor, member and current 

Chairwoman of Pet Dog Trainers of Europe (PDTE.org), member of Association of Pet Dog Trainers 

(APDT.co.uk), member Bowen Therapists Professional Association (MBTPA), member European 

College of Bowen Studies (MECBS) and member of the Association of INTOdogs. Her first book 

‘How To Handle Living With Your Dog’ was published in 2008 by ShortStack Publishing. 

To reserve your place(s) please reply using this form (Copy & Paste 

from this website is fine). Post with your cheque to B & C Gough, 

Cara Dog Training, “Heathers”, Gilpin Place, Sway, Lymington, 

Hampshire, SO41 6EU. 

Please reserve (Number tickets) ………………………. for Neutering, 

Autism & Arthritis Seminar 16 February 2013. 

Please give Christian & Surnames names of all attendees below/ 

overleaf to facilitate the preparation of personal attendance certificates. 

Name: ……………………………………………………………. 

Address: …………………………………………………………... 

……………………………………………………… 

Tel: …………………………………… 

Mobile: ……………...…………………. 

Email:......................................................... 

Directions required please YES / NO 

Payment: Cheque payable to ‘Mr & Mrs B Gough attached for 

£…………….…….. 

11

Greetings from 

member countries 

NETHER- 

LANDS 

Brief Report on a two-day Roger Abrantes seminar 

hosted on 1-2 December by Martin Gaus in 

Lelystad, the Netherlands, for my fellow PDTE 

members 

Mr. Abrantes (PhD in evolutionary 

biology and ethology) is known for 

his recent work on training rats in 

Angola/Africa to detect mines for 

removal. 

The name of this seminar was: 

Dominance, making sense of the 

nonsense 

DAY 1 

Behaviour / Signals, cues, commands 

/ Aggression, fear, dominance, 

submission / Leadership 

He calls his work “The rebellion 

of an ethologist” and points at his 

new book in 2013 where he has 

done the brilliant job of replacing 

the word “punisher” for “inhibitor” 

to make the use of these “training 

techniques” sound friendlier… And 

he made the people in the room 

repeatedly chant “One signal 

– One behaviour – One consequence!” 

(In a way that reminded 

me of: Ein volk – Ein reich - …) 

scary stuff… but luckily for us this 

guy repeatedly mentions that he 

stands in the middle and is not an 

extremist…;P 

But overall the first day was not 

too bad (for listening to a scientist); 

it was mostly all technical 

training facts, which is all wellknown 

stuff anyway (genotype, 

phenotype / fitness of genes / 

benefits and costs) and quite a 

similar story to the one Raymond 

Coppinger has told so many times. 

He did make frequent remarks 

about R++ extremists in a very 

patronizing manor, while pointing 

out that he thought of himself as 

being in the middle, between the 

R++ extremists and the group that 

use extreme punishment… Oh well, 

I’m still holding on… 

DAY 2 

The fit hits the shan. First, loads 

of verbal diarrhoea: We HAVE to 

put our dogs through things they 

don’t like / MAKE them follow 

through (remember this one?) / 

Time out = TORTURE! It’s better 

to slap the dog (he wasn’t joking 

here…) / Harnesses make the dog 

pull, use “the GOOD old chain” 

(still no joke!). Then he starts using 

dogs on stage… He silently drags 

them slowly from one side of the 

stage to the other with his hands 

holding the 1.5 metre lead firmly 

in front of his belly. He calls this 

“his” bellybutton system… He does 

this for 15 to 20 minutes until 

the dog makes eye contact and 

decides to follow this a..hole to 

evade confrontation. (Mr. Abrantes 

thinks the dog has now chosen 

him as “leader”). Calming signals 

all over the place… None of the 

± 100 people seem to see or care 

about this. Also the owner of 

the dogs (Serge, trainer at Martin 

Gaus) is completely ok with 

Roger’s handling… After two dogs 

Roger points out that none of 

the films or photos made may be 

published on the Internet, or his 

lawyer will sue. I am barely holding 

on, my blood is almost boiling at 

this point. Luckily I’m sitting next 

to a Belgian woman who is also 

flabbergasted by this whole thing, 

and recognized all the controversies 

in his verbal diarrhoea, which 

keeps me sane a little longer. 

Then the third dog appears on 

stage… it’s a Bouvier who clearly 

can’t cope with this situation and 

shows stress signals, wildly moving/looking 

around (lack of focus) 

and panting heavily. Roger starts 

his “bellybutton” routine, and 

because the Bouvier is a strong 

dog, he doesn’t manage to drag it 

along. He decides he would need 

a “good old” chain for this dog, to 

make him follow. I explode on the 

first row and state “very” clearly 

that if he puts a choke chain on 

that dog, I am leaving!! Martin and 

Sasha Gaus try to reassure me that 

that won’t happen, but the owner 

of the dog (Serge, trainer at Gaus) 

has gone to retrieve some choke 

chains, and offers them to Roger. 

Abrantes is clearly uncomfortable 

with my statement and the arousal 

it started in the room. Roger is 

sweating heavily and asks for a 

break, and backing off by saying 

that there is no need to “turn” this 

dog at this point… 

Conclusion 

I am glad my statement prevented 

this frightened dog from having 

to wear a choke chain. I was ready 

to make sure all hell would break 

loose if this “doctor of science” 

went through with it. I’m also very 

sad… not because these people 

exist and we have to visit there 

worthless seminars every now 

and then in order to point out the 

Jekyll and Hyde appearance they 

put up, but because I fear that If I 

had not made my statement… nobody 

in that room of 100 people 

would have prevented this from 

happening. 

Yours truly, 

Ed van den Berg 

12



BELGIUM 

Falco’s Story part 1: The sweetest dog of the shelter! 

Falco came to live with us almost 

four years ago. We met him at the 

shelter. Our first dog, an adopted 

whippet, died a few months after 

suffering a severe epileptic seizure. 

My husband and I both felt 

the need to have another dog 

immediately. We didn’t want to 

forget about Jacky, that was not 

the reason, that’s not how it works. 

Jacky had been our dog for seven 

years. He was a part of our lives, a 

housemate. You can’t replace one 

dog by another. We just had the 

space to offer another poor dog a 

better life. 

I preferred an older dog who was 

less likely to get adopted. We saw 

a picture of Falco in a magazine, a 

short introduction of a Malinois 

titled: The sweetest dog of the 

shelter. Who wouldn’t want to 

have that? Malinois were already 

my husband’s favourites. We knew 

a few from the neighbourhood. 

Off we went to that shelter. 

We were allowed to take Falco 

for a walk. He didn’t look well; he 

was so skinny you could count his 

ribs, and he had matted fur and 

bad diarrhoea. Once outside the 

gate, he didn’t pay any attention 

to us, not a glance. He sniffed and 

pulled on the leash. To move on, 

that’s what he wanted, run, further 

… further and sniffing. After 

10 minutes we finally caught his 

attention. He reacted to his name, 

looked up nervously and avidly 

took the treats we were offering. 

And again he was sniffing as if his 

life depended on it. But all beautiful 

songs come to an end. With 

pain in the heart we took him back 

to the shelter. He didn’t like it at 

all that he had to pass by a bunch 

of little dogs that were barking, 

snapping. See you tomorrow, 

Falco; we’ll be back! 

We intended to return every day 

to take him for a walk. You have 

to get to know a dog before you 

take him in, don’t you? On our 

way back we both realised that he 

was already in our hearts, but we 

couldn’t admit it yet. Because tomorrow 

we would also take a walk 

with that cute Border Collie. 

The next day and the day after and 

the next day, walking half an hour, 

together. Every day again diarrhoea. 

Falco was a mess, forlorn, 

but very excited when we took him 

out. Probably the only distraction 

in weeks. When we took him back, 

that day, again he had to pass by 

through this gang of yapping and 

barking little dogs. All of a sudden 

he ran off, bumped into something 

that looked like a concrete threshold 

and at that moment we heard 

a loud scream. Then he was out of 

sight. The shelter employee was 

completely astonished and went 

after him. I hope someone else 

took that nice Border Collie for a 

walk. We chose Falco every time. 

On the 4th day, we had bad luck. 

I went to the shelter alone that 

day. An employee told me that 

Falco had hurt himself, he had 

an infected wound on one of his 

forepaws and he wasn’t able to 

walk properly. The vet wouldn’t allow 

him out either; he had to stay 

calm. What a pity! Nevertheless I 

wanted to see him, just for a while. 

He had to know that we were 

there for him. He looked hopefully 

at me when I entered the kennel, I 

thought I even saw tiny wag of the 

tail. I didn’t know what to do. I sat 

on the floor near his pillow and 

started to stroke him, very slowly, 

very softly. I also talked to him, it 

was more like whispering. I don’t 

remember what I told him, but 

definitely that he could come with 

us the moment his paw was healed. 

For 20 minutes I sat there, caressing 

and whispering and treating. 

That was our first heart-to-heart 

moment. 

I hoped Falco would know now 

that he had nothing to fear from 

me. When I returned to the car I 

was surprised that my hands were 

all black, as if I had washed them 

with soot. That’s how filthy Falco’s 

fur was. What a discomfort that 

must be for an animal. He smelled 

very musty, like a shabby wet dog. 

Do you know that smell? I intended 

to give him a bath the moment 

he arrived at our place. 

Back home, I told my husband this 

story. “Yes of course,” he answered. 

“Then he must have hurt himself 

yesterday. There were some iron 

pins coming out of the threshold. 

He screamed, remember?” Of 

course, Falco must be afraid of this 

nipping, barking troop and wanted 

to avoid them. That’s why he went 

off, taking the curve too sharply 

and hurt himself badly. 

The next day we had a second 

stroke-and-whisper session. The 

next day was Sunday, so the shelter 

was closed. What a long, long day 

that was. I wondered if Falco also 

had missed us. We decided that 

we would tell the shelter on Monday 

that we would like to adopt 

Falco. Our garden was already 

fenced. And at the request of the 

shelter we also installed a gate. A 

new basket, a new pillow, bowls 

to eat and drink from, a few toys 

and a bag of food, the same brand 

he had been fed at the shelter, because 

we didn’t want him to have 

more problems than he already 

had. How stupid that was! 

We were all ready. Falco was 

welcome. 

Ria Caeyers 

13



BELGIUM 

Falco’s Story part 2: At the groomer’s 

This is what I must have felt when 

I was a child and Father Christmas 

was coming — full of anticipation. 

It was Wednesday 5 November 

2008. The rescue centre called us 

to say they would bring Falco at 

5 pm. That was late. I would have 

preferred having him here in the 

morning. We would have had a 

whole day to meet and he would 

have had a lot of time to explore 

his new environment. I also 

planned a trip to the groomer’s, 

specialized in large breeds. That 

smell — I wanted him to get rid 

of that nasty smell. And I didn’t 

want to give him a bath myself 

immediately. Not a bad idea after 

all, because when it turned out to 

be an unpleasant experience, he 

wouldn’t associate it with us and 

his new home. Taking him to the 

groomer’s was not wise thinking either. 

I shouldn’t have done that to 

him. But I didn’t know better back 

then. It had been quite a search to 

find a groomer who understood 

my problem and was willing to 

give Falco a clean-up. She was a 

breeder of Newfoundlands, so she 

was used to weight and lots of 

hair. 

As 5 pm approached the more 

nervous I got. Finally I heard a car 

coming up the driveway. I went 

outside to open the gate. We also 

would have to get used to that. 

Someone came out of the car 

and leashed Falco. Once on the 

other side of the fence the leash 

went off again. I’ll never forget 

what happened next. He made 

a memorable entrance. Like an 

arrow from a bow he headed for 

the back of the garden and dived 

over the fence to the chicken area. 

The hens were frightened to death 

and jumped half a metre into the 

air. I wouldn’t have been surprised 

to find no eggs the next day! 

After a sprint there, he stormed 

even faster to the other side of 

the grass field. Panting heavily, he 

came back to us. There; now this 

was his territory. 

There were some formalities to be 

completed, so we went inside. In 

the meantime Falco made a quick 

tour of the house. From then on 

he was officially ours, our responsibility. 

Luckily we didn’t have a 

clue what we had gotten ourselves 

into. One thing was for sure: he 

was with us now, permanently. We 

would do everything possible to 

offer him a good life. Back to the 

rescue centre wasn’t an option; it 

was completely out of the question. 

If things didn’t work out as we 

had hoped, we would seek professional 

help. That we agreed upon 

long in advance, loud and clear! 

It was already dark when we left 

for the groomer’s, Falco for the 

first time in the back of our car. I 

removed the leash a few seconds 

too soon, and he slipped through 

the open gate and headed for the 

street. Well … in a flash it crossed 

my mind: suppose he doesn’t come 

back, he doesn’t know anything 

here, he panics… After a few calls, 

he turned and came back. Whew, 

what a relief! I had to be more 

careful next time! 

Completely unaware of the impact 

of all these new impressions 

on Falco — what an excitement 

it must have been, what pressure 

he was under — we piled an 

extra shovel on top. He had to be 

washed; I didn’t want the bad smell 

in our house and on his pillow; I 

wanted him to have soft, clean fur 

so he would feel better. 

He was in a new environment, away 

from the rescue centre where he 

had been staying for the last few 

months — not enjoyable maybe, 

but at least he knew the routines. 

Routines, structure, knowing what 

comes next, make an animal feel 

safe. When you know what to 

expect, life is liveable, you are in 

control of your world. That again 

was all gone for him, for the third 

time in a few months. Abandoned 

by his owner, brought to the rescue 

centre, having to get used to the 

people, the dogs, the barking, the 

food, the kennel… Now brought 

to our home, again not knowing 

what the future might bring. Being 

a dog you don’t have any choice, 

you have to let it happen. He didn’t 

know what was going to happen 

the next moment. Isn’t it logical 

that he would get completely 

overexcited? Isn’t it logical that he 

would show behaviour that people 

absolutely couldn’t understand? 

I was surprised by the calmness 

Falco displayed while being lifted 

onto the table, how quiet he was 

in the shower. Only the drying and 

combing seemed to be too much 

for him. We had to flee from the 

warm, moist air and tons of swirling 

hair. We had to go out for a 

while to breathe. There was a big 

window and we stayed within his 

sight. A few minutes later he was 

almost invisible; the window was 

covered with moist hair. I could 

never imagine a dog could lose 

that mass of hair and still have lots 

of it! How long ago since he had 

been brushed? Had someone ever 

done it? 

After an hour he was ready, soft 

and shiny, no more musty wet-dog 

smell. That whiff of perfume was 

not necessary, not for us and surely 

not for Falco, but it was the finishing 

touch. We could choose a toy 

before we left. Then back to the 

car, carefully leashed this time… 

and off we went, back home. 

I wondered what this first night 

would bring. 

Ria Caeyers 

14

AGM Presentations 2012 

15

Edinburgh – Saturday 29.09 

Instinct-based therapy 

I started working with dogs in 2005 

and I have had about 600 clients. 

Many of them, as we all do, make 

mistakes. Some of them, however, 

have really serious problems. Nonetheless 

they all love their dogs, and if 

you asked them whether they would 

give everything for them, they would 

probably say yes. 

The effects of working with problems 

in dogs depend on the age of the dog, 

the seriousness of the problem, the 

family situation and status (money, 

time, kids), and of course the trainer’s 

approach, technique and experience. 

Sometimes, it’s just enough to improve 

the relationship. Another factor is 

financial. Classwork or private consultation 

work costs money and not all 

owners are able to afford the costs 

or the time involved. Class work is 

often cheaper than private work for 

the owners, and dog schools favour 

classes as they are more beneficial 

for them financially. This is why many 

people who come for private consultation 

have experienced their problem 

getting worse in dog classes. 

The primary factor when working 

with or even just living with a dog 

is the dog itself. It doesn’t matter 

whether the dog is on a walk, in class, 

or tracking; the dog is always the most 

important. But for some reason, when 

I try to communicate this to owners, 

their eyes tend to glaze over and I see 

that I have totally lost them. It’s almost 

like we live on different planets. 

Turid Rugaas had a seminar in Poland 

this year, on the subject of dog breeds. 

We could see that it was very hard for 

people to grasp the concept that for 

example the guarding breeds don’t 

AGNIESZKA 

NOJSZEWSKA, 

POLAND 

actually like to guard, and guarding all 

the time takes a toll on the dogs. They 

have health problems, because they 

stay so much alone and have so little 

company, they cannot sleep properly, 

and they die younger. It’s mostly a cultural 

thing; people in Poland still don’t 

really understand what a dog needs. 

When I was a child, everyone had their 

dog on a chain outside in the countryside, 

and it was normal. It takes time 

to change people, but it’s not impossible. 

In dog magazines in Poland, for 

example, there may be a nice article 

on calming signals, but right next to it 

is an advertisement for electric collars. 

Also, it is quite common for people 

to have had bad childhood experi- 

16

ences with dogs, and they may be a bit 

afraid. This all has an influence on the 

way people relate to dogs. 

Another common challenge is the 

owner who knows everything. No 

matter what you try to tell them, they 

believe they know everything there is 

to know about their dog. We may not 

be able to influence the culture or the 

media very much, but we can touch 

individual hearts and minds. 

other dogs. Above all it needs a feeling 

of safety both physical and mental, 

family health, and a secure place. And 

of course food and water, recreation, 

loads of opportunities to use its nose, 

and overall balance. In fact research 

has been done on small children who 

were fed right, clothed properly, given 

a pleasant room, and left alone. Those 

kids died because they were given no 

love or social contact. People have to 

understand that if we don’t allow dogs 

to have a family, they will pine away. 

And the social life they have with other 

dogs should be with dogs that they 

know and that they can trust. Dogs are 

like us; they need friends. And older, 

confident dogs are a great way to 

introduce puppies to a social life. 

WHAT DOGS NEED 

People often think that the dog has 

the same needs as they do because 

they live together. But it’s mostly 

about themselves, not about the dog. 

As long as they are giving their dog 

kibble, water, and a roof, and as long 

as he can pee outside, he won’t need Dogs also need company when they 

anything else. This is because it is similar 

to the basic human needs as shown activity, they feel safe, and the quality 

sleep, because sleeping is a social 

in the pyramid. But dogs’ needs are of their sleep is better. They also need 

different. What he needs is freedom of the company of other dogs in order 

choice, the ability to solve problems, to learn and improve their social skills. 

self-confidence, emotional balance, My dog is a wonderful teacher. I had 

and most of all a social life, which a little dog for several months before 

comes from being with its family and that who had had a difficult time and 

having the chance to mingle with 

Opening gardens to dogs 

CAROLIN 

had seriously bitten two helpers at the 

dog shelter. I didn’t do anything with 

him, except let him be with my dog. 

He didn’t like to be touched, and he 

was quite an unhappy little thing, but 

gradually by watching my other dogs 

he even started wagging his tail when 

I came home. He made so much progress 

over a few months that he was 

rehomed with a nice family. 

WHAT DOGS DON’T NEED 

Dogs do not need to dominate 

humans. They do not want to attack, 

bite, or fight. They do not want to 

be alone. They do not want to guard 

property or bark at strangers. They 

don’t like eating dry food every day of 

their lives. They will not eat when they 

are stressed. They do not like to be 

touched by strangers, and they don’t 

like meeting unknown dogs when 

walking on leash. 

Our dogs are so different than we are. 

Once owners begin to realise how 

amazing their dogs are and what their 

needs are, we are one big step closer 

REGER, 

GERMANY 

Some time ago I started a project 

called “Opening gardens to dogs”. 

It is a German project called Aktion 

Schnuffelgarten, which, literally 

translated, means Action Sniffing 

Garden. As the name indicates, it’s 

both about sniffing and opening our 

gardens to dogs. 

The idea behind the garden project is 

that those involved invite other people’s 

dogs into their garden to have a 

good sniff around. This provides the 

dogs with lots of new smells; they 

can be off leash, there are no commands 

or restrictions, and there are 

loads of benefits for all kinds of dogs. 

I live in a highly populated area, where 

dogs are exposed to a lot of stress. 

So allowing a dog to sniff around in a 

fenced-in garden is a wonderful way 

to bring down their stress levels. This 

means finding owners who are willing 

to let dogs do whatever they want 

in their garden, like digging, peeing, 

climbing up on things and so on. Or 

then having fences around areas that 

they wish to keep dogs away from. 

This is excellent for dogs that are uncertain 

or traumatised, as the garden 

allows them to relax in an area where 

there are no unexpected stimuli. It is 

not only of benefit to dogs that are 

fearful, in fact all dogs benefit from it. 

We have an area in our locality called 

the Dog Camp, which is used for training, 

agility and so on. When there are 

no other dogs around I sometimes 

take my own dogs there just for a sniff 

Talks in AGM 2012 

17

around. It is an area of about 1000 m², 

so the dogs spend an awful lot of time 

just sniffing. They do it individually, 

and the idea of the project is for them 

to do it on their own. It’s not a project 

where you bring together dogs that 

have never met before. My four dogs 

are very nice to each other with no 

competition or stress, so when I take 

them to a sniffing area they don’t start 

to run or play; they just sniff around 

happily. Interestingly, when one dog 

starts sniffing a certain place, the others 

come along to investigate what it’s 

all about. Sometimes they can spend 

10 minutes in one spot. 

Someone else’s garden, or barn or 

shed, offers a variety of surfaces for 

dogs to explore in addition to smells. 

And of course if other dogs have been 

there before and “left messages,” it is 

all the more interesting! I do not talk 

to my dogs during this time, in order 

for them just to concentrate on what 

they are doing. Sometimes I walk 

around, sometimes I sit down, but basically 

they are in a world of their own. 

At the same time, we have a wonderful 

feeling of being together. 

It is important that the dogs have access 

to water during this time, as nose 

work makes dogs thirsty. Some people 

think that their dogs haven’t done 

anything, but they are in fact really, 

really tired when they get home. This 

is so much better than taking them 

for a long, long walk. And far more 

effective! The dogs also make it clear 

when they’ve had enough and it’s time 

for them to go home. I was invited to 

a friend’s garden in which there was 

a statue. One of the dogs was a little 

bit afraid, but the other one started 

exploring it straight away. And the one 

that was a bit afraid went and explored 

it soon after. This shows that the 

garden is also a wonderful enrichment 

environment for dogs. However, the 

dog needs a safe environment in 

which to be confronted with new 

stimuli. One owner also opens up his 

car for dogs to sniff in, the car of 

course being parked in a fenced-in area. 

Dogs are not even asked to get into the 

car; they go there of their own accord 

and find it hugely interesting. 

WHY DOGS BENEFIT 

FROM THE PROJECT 

Dogs that have a strong hunting 

instinct are often on leash too much. 

They are also very much under command. 

In this type of garden they can 

be off leash in a safe environment, and 

experience safe sniffing adventures. Of 

course it is very important to check 

the fences beforehand. 

Also for stressed dogs this is a perfect 

environment, but it is important that 

there are no other dogs around at 

the time. The same is true of people; 

often it’s best to have only the owner 

present. The owner can be sitting 

somewhere so as not to distract the 

dog and should absolutely be quiet. 

With a puppy, in order for it not to be 

over-stimulated, it could maybe visit 

a smaller garden, so all the senses are 

stimulated in a safe environment. This 

is also excellent for stressed owners 

who do not know how to behave during 

dog encounters. The owner can be 

very relaxed and the dog or puppy will 

pick up on that and relax themselves. 

In the case of fearful dogs, the dog can 

be introduced to the garden slowly, 

not straight out of the car. It is good 

to walk around the area first and show 

the dog everything, and when the 

stress level from the new environment 

goes down, you can have it off 

leash and it will start to explore the 

area, because there is nothing that 

endangers it. The dog will not be overwhelmed 

with new stimuli. 

18

Some owners think that their garden 

is too small, but I would say that no 

garden can be too small for a dog if 

it is made interesting. One can use 

enrichment. Sometimes it only takes 

a few minutes for the dog to explore 

such a garden, but that is enough. Even 

a garage can be interesting, especially 

if there have been mice or insects or 

poultry! 

The time of the visit depends on 

the individual dog; it can range from 

perhaps 15 minutes for a puppy to an 

hour for a self-confident dog. Afterwards, 

the dog will need a good rest. 

This is equivalent to more than a really 

long walk. They are happy and satisfied 

afterwards and sleep better. 

HOW TO GET STARTED 

Ingredients needed for the project 

• Official homepage 

(www.schnueffelgaerten.de) 

• Logo 

• Stickers 

• Flyers (at the vet’s etc.) 

• Project partners 

• Local homepages 

• Garden owners 

• Dog owners 

• Facebook group 

Project partners can also be regional 

representatives and/or shelter dog organisations. 

In my case, I started with a 

group of friends. They announced it on 

their homepage and at the moment I 

have about 30 project partners. Among 

them are a five dog shelter organisations. 

It’s all about the dogs; it’s not 

about profit, or becoming known, but 

it’s all about cooperation. This project 

helps owners become aware that there 

is a lot more to a dog’s life than long 

walks or running alongside a bicycle or 

attending obedience classes or tearing 

through agility courses. And our aim is 

for dogs to benefit increasingly as this 

project spreads, hopefully to other 

countries and between organisations. 

Project partners can be local or regional 

representatives and/or shelter 

dog organisations. In my case, I started 

with a group of dog-trainer friends 

after having set up the official homepage. 

They announced the project on 

their homepages and at the moment 

I have about 30 project partners from 

Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

Among them are a five dog shelter organisations. 

It’s all about the dogs; it’s 

not about profit, or becoming known, 

but it’s all about cooperation: Some 

dog trainers have contributed dogfriendly 

articles to the official homepage 

(“Why dogs should wear a harness”, 

“Importance of Sleep”, “Sense of 

Smell”, etc.). This project helps owners 

become aware that there is a lot more 

to a dog’s life than long walks or running 

alongside a bicycle or attending 

obedience classes or tearing through 

agility courses. And our aim is for dogs 

to benefit increasingly as this project 

spreads, hopefully to other countries 

and between organisations. 

You are warmly invited to join the 

project; the official homepage is about 

to be translated into English. Feel free 

to copy from it. :-) 


19

Labradors in rescue — 

Why? 

CHRISSY 

GOUGH, 

ENGLAND 

We all know what a Labrador is. It’s 

cuddly and cute. In England Labrador 

puppies are used to advertise Andrex 

toilet paper. Labradors are very 

friendly; they love to lick you to death. 

And of course they are the dustbins 

of the canine world! So, why do they 

come in to rescue? They are, after all, 

the perfect family pet and most are 

dearly loved, but some still have to be 

rehomed for a variety of reasons. 

There are many reasons why Labradors 

come in to rescue, but I will briefly 

refer to only a few cases that my 

husband and I have been involved in 

through our work with the Labrador 

Lifeline Trust. 

We are often called in because owners 

claim that their dog is too big for their 

small home. I don’t go along with that; 

a dog will fit into the space that fits 

you. There are sad, genuine reasons 

such as bereavement, hospitalization, 

or long-term illness, where there is nobody 

left to look after or exercise the 

dog. We get a lot of divorce cases and 

at the moment there are many redundancies 

due to the difficult economy 

with people unable to keep the dog or 

pay for its food. 

Many people take a dog out of sympathy, 

such as removing it from a bad 

situation, only to find they cannot 

cope. They may take on the family 

dog because the son or daughter has 

become bored or moved away. There 

are unmarried partnerships that split 

and the dog no longer fits in with their 

lifestyles. 

For example: A young family sees an 

Andrex advertisement and how lovely 

the puppies are. They forget that they 

live in a flat with two young children, 

but they must have a Labrador because 

they have seen this cute little thing 

on television. A lot of people buy 

Labradors as Christmas presents. Then 

they realise that they can’t cope with 

them; the daily pressures are too great, 

they cannot give adequate time for 

exercise or play. They complain that an 

untrained puppy won’t walk nicely on 

lead alongside babies in the pushchair. 

Or the wife is unable to cope with 

both children and a puppy, so the dog 

has to be rehomed. Maybe the dog 

is “aggressive”; we deal with a lot of 

these. They have probably never been 

socialised as a puppy, and the owners 

failed to ask for help. They see the 

easiest solution as rehoming. Honestly, 

sometimes it is best to rehome them 

to give them a proper start, especially 

if it’s a younger dog. 

BEN 

One of our cases was 12-year-old Ben. 

The owners were moving to Australia, 

and the vet felt that it was unkind 

to take him on a long journey in an 

aeroplane to a hotter climate. He felt 

it would be very stressful. The family 

loved the dog and were very upset. 

But it is best for an older dog to be 

rehomed in these situations. Ben is in a 

lovely home now, with an elderly gentleman 

and they go to the pub every 

night for a beer. Sometimes, however, 

we find that immigration is just an 

excuse to rehome a dog the family no 

longer wants. They actually have no 

intention of emigrating, but they call 

us to ask if we can take the dog. We 

are always suspicious when they want 

us to take the dog months before they 

emigrate, because most people who 

love their dogs want to keep them as 

long as possible. 

20

SOME EXCUSES 

Reasons people give for wanting to 

rehome their dogs are sometimes 

unbelievable. For example, the owners 

want to rehome a male Labrador 

in order to get a bitch, because they 

don’t like him cocking his leg; it was 

okay when he was a puppy because 

he was squatting then. A very common 

claim for rehoming a dog is 

allergy. But the only proof of allergy 

is a medical test, in which case the 

doctor may recommend rehoming 

the dog. That’s fine if there is a genuine 

reason, but we also get people 

saying that someone in the family 

is allergic without having taken any 

tests. I believe they simply don’t want 

their dog any more. 

Then we get the so-called overboisterous 

puppy; the owners claim 

she is destructive and ruining their 

home. When we ask if their life has 

changed since they bought the dog, 

they say that no, they just thought 

a puppy would be lovely but now 

he chews the furniture. These are 

actual quotes that we get. The fact 

is that one of the favourite pastimes 

Labradors have is to chew. Other 

excuses include the dogs messing up 

the kitchen or messing up the kitchen 

floor, chewing the doorframes, and 

so on. Often these poor dogs are 

left alone for eight hours or more. 

And often there is no one to let the 

puppy out during the day. Sometimes 

there are not even any toys for the 

puppy. No wonder such a puppy is 

stressed and bouncing off the walls. 

Occasionally there is a house-proud 

owner who doesn’t want to keep the 

dog because she has to vacuum more 

than before. This is selfish and there 

is no thought given before collecting 

their trophy accessory. 

A CASE OF NEGLECT 

This is the only time that my husband 

Barry has removed a dog immediately. 

A neighbour called our organization 

about this dog, but rescue 

organisations are unable to act unless 

invited. Therefore an appointment 

was made for Barry to visit and assess 

the dog once the owner had given 

permission. The dog was left in the 

owner’s garden for many hours each 

day and neighbours were complaining 

about the constant barking. When 

my husband got there for his 10.30 

appointment, there was no response 

to the doorbell. After a few minutes a 

bleary-eyed young woman appeared 

at the door and complained that she 

needed her sleep. Barry found a very 

underweight Labrador locked in a 

cage in the lounge. She said that the 

dog barked constantly if she left it in 

the garden and the neighbours were 

complaining, so she kept the dog in 

the cage because she didn’t want him 

trashing the house and disturbing her 

sleep. She did let him in the garden, 

until the neighbours complained. 

Although she said that she walked the 

dog twice daily this was clearly not 

the case, as the dog’s claws were far 

too long. Later she admitted that there 

was no collar or lead for the dog. She 

fed him whatever she could afford, 

provided she remembered when she 

was at the supermarket. Yet her lounge 

was full of DVDs, play stations and a 

very large television. The dog had in 

fact been given to her as a wedding 

present. With the owner’s agreement 

and that of her husband, the dog was 

taken immediately to Barry’s car, yet 

there was no emotion on the part of 

the owner when she signed the release 

form. 

EMOTIONAL HOMING GOES 

WRONG 

A retired Game Keeper/Breeder in his 

80s had 25 dogs in a huge pen in the 

garden. They were breeding uncontrollably, 

and the only communication 

they got from humans was when the 

owner threw food at them over the 

fence. When the owner died, his widow 

put the dogs up for sale in the local 

paper. A retired gentleman and his 

wife took pity on one of these dogs. 

When Sam came to live with them, he 

was seriously unsocialised, knowing 

only his littermates and the breeder’s 

other dogs. He suffered considerable 

separation anxiety. He tried to chew 

his way out whenever he was left even 

for only a very short time. He would 

actually chew at the back door. 

Our helpers carry out personal Home Visits and interviews at every 

home applying for a dog and similarly all dogs to be rehomed are very 

thoroughly assessed for temperament, behaviour, health and obedience 

before being rehomed. We only ever want to put the right dog into the 

right “forever home” for the rest of its life! 

The Trust covers from where we live in the New Forest area of Hampshire 

eastwards across the South Eastern area of England and what we call the 

home counties all around London. 

Over the past year the Trust has rehomed over 400 dogs, the average cost 

of which was about £300.00 per dog. The Trust relies mainly upon the 

donations it receives from people taking our dogs in to their homes and 

to a lesser extent from those who ask us to rehome them. 

However, that level of income does not cover the required costs to run 

the Trust in a caring and efficient way, so additional fund raising activities 

must be undertaken such as monetary collections from the public from 

outside of large shopping stores; Raffles; Coffee Mornings; selling dog 

related items from the Trusts website and in many other ways. Another 

example is that Chrissy and I run an Annual Dog Show for the Trust and 

in June of this year we were able to donate over £2,100 just from that one 

Show. 

As a registered Charity the Trust is able to claim Gift Aid Income Tax relief 

calculated on all donations received from people who are Tax payers 

in the UK. This currently amounts to receiving 25pence for every £1.00 

donated so is a very valuable means boosting the Trusts income. 

All of the Trustees, Area Coordinators and Helpers working with us are 

unpaid volunteers who give their time freely, only ever claiming minimal 

expenses and these are often just limited to fuel costs. Such is our 

dedication to helping rehome our lovely Labradors! 


21

My first real progress with him was 

when I had been sitting very quietly on 

the grass for an hour and he came and 

licked my hand. 

Reluctantly, we had to place Sam in 

our rehabilitation kennels to help 

prepare him for a new home. This little 

dog really made me cry, as he was so 

very frightened, having found temporary 

security in our car. Today Sam is a 

totally different dog, very happy and 

very loved. 

EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL 

In another case we had, a gentleman 

agreed to buy a house with a business 

attached. The seller made it a condition 

of the sale that the two Labradors, 

brother and sister littermates 

were sold with the house. They had 

lived outside for five years in a flimsy 

garden shed with only a blanket to 

sleep on inside a dog cage, regardless 

of the weather. They had an area no 

bigger than a few tables to walk and 

play in. 

The new owner asked if we would 

take them on, and we agreed. They 

had to be rehomed together, as the 

sister was so reliant upon the brother 

and fortunately we knew of a suitable 

family who had previously trained 

with us. They are lovely dogs and their 

new owners are now Labrador Lifetime 

Trust helpers. 

OUR OWN RESCUED LABRADOR 

When Tessy came to live with us, we 

were her seventh home in her first 

six months. The reasons given for her 

being rehomed included being overboisterous 

and over-friendly, not being 

housetrained, and trashing the garden. 

She trashed our garden too, but unless 

you get a stuffed Labrador; that is 

what they do! 

Another reason given was that she 

“loved other dogs too much”?? It took 

us 18 months to rehabilitate her but 

had I known then, what I know now; 

it would have taken far less time. She 

lived to be over 14 years old and she 

was known as Tessy, the Matriarch! 

Feed what I need! 

ED 

van den BERG, 


The origin of kibble dates back to the 

year 1860 when Mr Spratt walks in 

a harbour and sees a dog eating sea 

biscuits that the sailors have dropped. 

In Holland before WW2, it was quite 

normal to buy raw meat for your dogs 

and cats. 

The promotion and selling of kibble 

really took off after the Second World 

War. There were large stocks of grains 

and food that had gone bad, and 

instead of paying for the disposal of 

these stocks, some companies figured 

they could make money by selling it 

as kibble. Today it’s a 50 billion dollar 

market (39 billion euros), and still 

growing fast (100 billion by 2017!). 

Companies including Nestlé, Procter 

& Gamble (Eukanuba), Mars (Pedigree, 

Royal Canin) and Colgate (Palmolive, 

Hill’s) are all very big companies that 

spend huge amounts on advertising 

and marketing. 

WHAT IS KIBBLE MADE OF? 

We have to understand what is in the 

different products before we understand 

what our dog really needs. 

Basically kibble is made of: 

• Cereals, grains, wheat, soybeans, corn 

(cellulose, carbohydrates) 

• Animal by-products including category 

3 (hoofs, horns, brains, chicken 

legs and heads, udders, deceased 

animals, tumours, faeces). This is 

worse in the United States than in 

Europe, because pets and livestock 

that have been put to sleep by the 

vet are included, which means that 

our dogs also get the medicines from 

those carcasses. It is also known 

that traces of flea collars have been 

found in dog food. 

• Plant by-products (organic waste, 

sawdust, peanut shells, beet pulp) 

• Preservatives like BHA, BHT Ethoxiquine 

(agricultural poison and 

insecticide) — this is used to keep 

the grease inside the kibble from 

spoiling. 

• Up to 25% (!) sugar and 1000 times 

more salt than is naturally present in 

the ingredients (taste), and dogs are 

not made to cope with lots of salt. 

• Leftover grease and oil, restaurant 

grease, boiled fat (leftover products 

of meat and bone meal). Restaurant 

grease is a market of its own. Restaurants 

actually get money for their 

leftover grease! 

MUST THE PRODUCERS OF PET 

FOOD NAME ALL THE INGREDIENTS 

ON THE PACKAGE? 

The answer is no, because technically 

by law, if you make a base product 

including bone meal and flesh meal, 

its contents are not required to be 

listed on the package. Only what is 

added AFTER preparation of the base 

product must be listed. Many of these 

“base dough’s” are produced in China 

and India, and made on prescription 

by the buyer, which means they decide 

up front what will be added without 

having to list that on their wrappings. 

When advertising about dog food, 

presenters wear white coats to look 

like scientists, and on the package 

it’s all about percentages (percentage 

protein, fat, fibre) but nobody is 

talking about the food. It might as well 

be protein from leather derived from 

shoe and coat production. The fat 

can be restaurant grease, and the fibre 

can be sawdust and peanut shells. On 

paper it all looks like the correct ingredients 

for our food. But we cannot 

call it food. There are actually some 

producers that investigate how poor 

the food can be without excessive 

muscle loss. That is why, when you 

change a dog from kibble to raw food, 

it develops muscle. Many dogs never 

have a choice; they get fed kibble 365 

days a year. We also eat bad food, but 

we do get variety. However, if we only 

eat junk food 365 days a year, we will 

have health problems. If fries and burgers 

are left untouched for one year, 

there may not be a touch of mould 

on them, as some photographs have 

22

shown. Even the flies don’t touch it! 

To be honest, real food doesn’t behave 

that way. Kibble has a recommended 

shelf life of up to 18 months; some 

brands even a little longer. If there is 

real nutrition inside, what is keeping it 

from spoiling? 

HOW OLD COULD A DOG GET? 

Some studies show that properly 

cared for and fed, a dog has the physical 

potential to live well beyond 20 

years. The oldest recorded dog was a 

30-year-old Dachshund. A 29-year-old 

terrier is still alive, as is a 27-year-old 

crossbreed. This begs the question, is 

it normal for a dog to die at the age 

of 14? 

WHAT SHOULD THEY EAT? 

First of all, let’s look at what they 

need. Humans are herbivores; we have 

natural enzymes in our mouths with 

which we can break down cellulose. 

The dog doesn’t have that because 

he is not an herbivore. Furthermore, 

the dog’s stomach is only a pouch 

for keeping the food. Interestingly 

in the dog, the caecum is very small. 

The function of the caecum is to 

remove moisture and breakdown salt. 

By comparison, the human caecum is 

very long. It is much more capable of 

processing salt than the dog’s. Also the 

large intestine of the dog is very short 

compared to that of the human. Its 

function in the dog is to remove the 

remaining moisture from the faeces; 

and that is it only function. Our large 

intestine is very long because it has to 

do a lot more. Our teeth are also different. 

The dog has teeth designed for 

the tearing of flesh. These are all clear 

signs that the dog is a carnivore. 

system going, but that is only a problem 

when there is too much of one 

species. So there should be symbiosis; 

raw feeding ensures it. The dog is 

extremely efficient at breaking down 

meat and fat, especially the latter. It 

requires a large amount of uric acid. 

When I eat fat, I can start running, but 

to lose some of that I would have to 

run for a long time, because I am very 

bad at breaking down fat. When a dog 

starts running, he can instantly use his 

fat reserves as energy for the muscles. 

IF A DOG IS A CARNIVORE, WHY 

DOES HE EAT ALL SORTS OF 

THINGS? 

The key word is survival. A dog doesn’t 

know when his next meal is going to 

appear. He doesn’t have a refrigerator 

to take things out of when he’s hungry. 

Instinctively, a dog eats when he can 

and what he can, just for survival. 

SO MY DOG REALLY NEEDS: 

Non-heated, non-processed meat/ 

fat/bone. Heating denaturises proteins; 

in other words it changes the 

shape of the protein molecules. This 

is easy to see, for example, when boiling 

an egg. The substance is clearly 

changed. This can mean that the dog’s 

immune system reacts to the odd 

shape of the protein and considers it 

an alien form. This could mean that 

some dogs have an immune system 

that is constantly battling at a low 

level against these alien proteins. So, 

for example, a dog may not be able to 

gain weight. It’s important that when 

you feed your dog protein, the protein 

has its natural shape. And this means it 

has to be raw. The same is true of calcium. 

For example if you boil an egg, 

the shell is useless to your dog. But if 

you give him the shell raw, he will be 

able to assimilate the calcium. 

If a dog kibble is going to have a shelf 

life of 18 months, then its contents 

have to be processed. The meat is 

often boiled down and turned into a 

powder before adding to the kibble. 

WHAT RAW MEATY BONES CON- 

TAIN 

This is very important stuff. This is 

what your dog really, really needs. 

• There are almost no carbohydrates in 

meat. It contains protein, moisture, 

methionine, vitamin B1, B6 and B12, 

iron, and zinc. 

• Fat in the meat contains omega 3 

and 6, amino acids, fatty acids, and 

fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. 

• And the bones contain calcium, 

phosphorus, copper, iron, all amino 

acids (except methionine), lysine, and 

vitamins A, D and E. Lysine is a very 

important element that controls, 

among other things, growth. Puppies 

that get enough lysine have no 

growth pains. It is a very important 

substance. 

Many of the nutrients and vitamins 

need to be stored airtight for their 

survival (think of the vitamin C in 

an apple turning brown), which is 

the case in fat, meat, bone marrow. 

But within kibble it is impossible to 

preserve these nutrients and vitamins. 

Producers spray them over the kibble 

MAIN CARNIVORE FACTS 

The stomach acid of a dog has a pH 

value of less than 1. In an all-meat and 

bone diet there is no survival of E. coli, 

salmonella, Campylobacter, trichina 

worms, parasites, etc. A dog fed kibble 

has a pH of around 5-7 and it takes 

about a week on raw food for the 

value to drop back down to 1. At pH 1 

he can digest bones. Another sideeffect 

is that I have never, ever, seen 

worms in a dog fed raw food, because 

the stomach acid is too hostile for 

parasites. It is always a question of 

symbiosis; in the intestines there are 

lots of little creatures that keep the 


23

MORE IS BETTER 

The stomach of a dog has a highly 

convoluted lining. This allows a greater 

surface area (when expending from the 

meal) for the enzymes to work on the 

food. This again extends and prolongs 

the eating experience, and causes better 

digestion and intake of nutrients. 

after baking, but because the kibble is 

always surrounded by air (also in the 

wrapping) these nutrients and vitamins 

break down very fast. 

HOW MUCH RAW FAT DOES A DOG 

LEAD IN HIS DIET? 

This is where we differ a lot from our 

canine friends. A dog needs around 

30% raw fat. Also, when starting a dog 

on raw food, there is an almost 

immediate and very clear change in 

the skin and fur, which become shiny 

and soft. This is one of many signs 

that the dog is finally getting what he 

needs. 

IS THAT LIKE A “COMPLETE” MEAL? 

We are all used to the word “complete”. 

When we give a dog the same 

kind of food day in, day out and year 

in, year out, the chances are that he 

will have shortages. There are basically 

three mechanisms for extracting 

nutrition from the intestines into the 

blood. These are diffusion (sodiumpotassium 

pump - ion transport), 

osmosis (through membranes into the 

blood), and active transport (the cellular 

membrane folds around the desired 

materials outside the cell). For example, 

calcium and phosphorus share the 

same transport, but calcium has priority 

over phosphorus, so the transport 

only picks up calcium. This is called 

competitive inhibition. Therefore, it is 

very, very important to vary the diet to 

prevent this from happening. 

TWO WAYS OF RAW FEEDING 

We can feed bones and raw food 

(BARF), or raw frozen dog food. The 

latter is the same as the former, only 

minced. This has the advantage of being 

able to fit for example into a Kong. 

It has only one disadvantage, which is 

that the dogs do not get to chew. The 

eating experience is way too short, but 

using a Kong helps a bit. It also extends 

the pleasure, releasing endorphins. 

Note; 

When starting on the “whole 

bones with meat” version of raw 

feeding, it is very important to 

gradually build the eating skills of 

the dog, starting with “beginners” 

bones like for instance: chicken 

necks and chicken carcasses 

before moving on to turkey, 

rabbit, hare, lam, goat, and cow. So 

educate yourself before feeding 

raw bones! You can always safely 

start with feeding your dog “raw 

frozen” (minced) dog food, and 

expand the diet later on. 

SOME BENEFITS OF RAW FEEDING 

• A happy, healthy and mentally satisfied 

dog 

• No more smelly fur, mouth, or ears 

(less toxins being excreted) 

• Much healthier and shiny coat 

• Way less faeces — the food is used 

better 

• No more worms (on an exclusively 

raw diet) 

• Cures many allergic reactions to 

grains, heated proteins and preservative 

toxins (BHA/BHT/Ethoxyquine), 

thyroid imbalance, autoimmune 

system failure 

• Balanced (bone)growth from pup to 

adult dog (lysine) 

• Good healthy appetite, no more 

weight problems despite quantity. 

IS IT OKAY TO MIX KIBBLE WITH 

RAW FOOD? 

The answer is no, because dogs digest 

them at different rates. Raw food is 

digested in 8 to 10 hours, whereas 

kibble takes about 18 hours to leave 

the body. So feeding both of them together 

means that the raw food stays 

in the intestines too long and there is 

a chance of bloat. 

Raw food causes amazing improvements 

in dogs. Within a few days they 

have better fur, stronger pigment, better 

teeth and more joy over their food. 

If you have never considered feeding 

your dog raw food, give it some 

thought and then give it a try! 

24

Malek & Korah – 

A personal experience 

with two special dogs 

MAXWELL 

MUIR, 

SCOTLAND 

Rehoming a dog had a profound 

impact on my life. It developed me as 

a person, it brought out qualities that 

I never knew I had, and it humbled 

me — not so much as a trainer, but it 

taught me to communicate. Because 

if you can’t communicate, you can’t 

train. It was the first dog I had come 

across that was severely stressed. I 

already had one dog, Korah, a GSD 

cross and stray dog for the first year of 

his life. He was famous for evading the 

dogcatcher in the streets of Edinburgh. 

The dogcatcher used to wait at all 

the takeaway shops, because the dog 

would come around and use his charm 

to get bits of food from people. It 

took three or four attempts before 

the dogcatcher finally got him. The 

dog then ended up with me. He was 

a lovely dog; we used to go camping 

together and sit by the fire, and we 

had a lot of experiences together and 

he was very confident with anything 

socially, he loved people and travelled 

well. 

I never thought about getting a second 

dog, but one day seven years ago, a 

friend showed me a small newspaper 

clipping that read, “Rare wolf-type dog 

for sale.” This made me curious so we 

drove through to Glasgow and arrived 

at a house with four dogs. It was a tiny 

one-bedroom house, with laminate 

flooring, a lot of noise, and a lot of 

high-level stress. The dog in question 

was severely underweight. He was 

fed only what the owners ate. Every 

day of his life he was walked, twice a 

day, down to the same football field. 

I decided on the spot to take him. I 

wanted to get him out of that environment. 

I had no idea what I was taking 

on; but I liked him and my passion for 

the dog overruled any other thoughts. 

I’m very impulsive that way. I called 

my wife who was away in Hungary, 

and asked whether she fancied getting 

another dog. She was pregnant at the 

time and was rather hesitant to say the 

least. But he was already in the back of 

my car! He was so alike our other dog 

that people often thought they were 

related. 

When I saw his level of stress, what I 

started to do with him was just take 

him to a patch of woodland or a 

stream. He had never been on uneven 

ground, and he felt very sensitive 

towards it. He was also extremely 

sensitive to my voice. In this area I had 

a real lack of knowledge. It was this 

dog that sparked me to try to get a 

better understanding. I started to do 

some research and found that I had to 

stop controlling him, and had to get a 

handle on my frustration and recognize 

my limitations. My father was very 

heavy-handed with dogs and I grew up 

with that. When he spoke to the dogs 

it made everybody walk on eggshells. 

That was what this dog was like too, 

so I had to learn not to be like that. I 

read every single dog book and article 

I could get my hands on. 

For the first three or four months, I 

never put him on a leash. I drove him 

in the car to quiet places, and I started 

just letting him be with me. He loved 

to sniff the scents in the air. I realised 

how much he loved it. I had to change 

the diet, and I didn’t know a lot about 

diet at the time. His stress was through 

the roof; he was chewing all the books 

in the bookcase. He had no real dog 

communication skills; they were all 

suppressed. But slowly, surely, he started 

to gain a little confidence. Now 

he is about 8 years old. His name was 

Henry when we got him so that was 

the first thing we wanted to change, 

because obviously he had been 

shouted at with this name. He didn’t 

have a name for a couple of weeks and 

no training whatsoever. I just wanted 

to be with him. Amazingly, it started to 

relax me as well. Everybody was saying 

that this dog needed training because 

he had a lot of energy, whereas what 

he had were consistently high stress 

levels. He needed to be a dog, so the 

first port of call was exploring. Going 

out with Korah was great, because 

they do follow the other’s example, 

and this gave Malek, (his new name), 

the confidence that he needed. Being 

with other dogs going into rivers, 

traversing uneven ground, all this 

without the leash, did lots in building 

his confidence in himself and me. 

I did not want to put a leash on this 

dog because he was very sensitive to 


25

touch. If you walked up to Malek even 

4 feet away, if there was a hole in the 

ground he would have dived into it. 

As time went on and on a diet that 

was good he started to fill out and become 

perky. He even looked forward 

to his meals. He became affectionate. 

He looked forward to his activities 

more. Before long, his confidence was 

building. He became very sociable towards 

human beings. I made sure that 

the dogs he did meet with were good, 

but he never had a bad bone in his 

body when it came to other dogs. 

With all the books I was reading, I 

was hitting brick walls. I was reading 

obedience related books, because I 

wanted to do something with my dog 

but I couldn’t stretch my imagination 

enough to be that creative. That is 

when I met Turid. I remember telling 

her that Malek needed a lot of 

exercise, but she explained that it 

wasn’t what he needed. He needed 

much more mental stimulation. All 

these books I had read suddenly felt 

as dry as dust and I haven’t opened 

one since. I learned how important 

our own stress is in relation to dogs. 

It’s not enough to recognise that a dog 

is stressed. We need to look at the 

things that are making us stressed as 

well, because that has a direct impact 

on the dog. 

Malek has come on absolutely beautifully 

and he’s a very confident dog. At 

this moment he is doing great. He has 

started to work with me with dogs 

that are not that good socially or 

under confident. With dogs that are 

just a little unsure, he helps them to 

get confidence in re-using their natural 

communication system again, which 

has been suppressed for so long. 

A dog called Kara was my first really 

challenging behavioural case. That was 

three or four years ago. We met the 

dog outside, and any sudden movements 

would make her react —with 

her teeth. She was highly sensitive to 

both dogs and people. We’ve been 

working with Kara now for close to 

two years, and Malek has helped her 

to develop and discover new communication 

skills. She is no longer on the 

special diet she was on, because that 

was all stress-related. She could not 

drink water out of the stream, simply 

because her system was so hung up on 

stress. But now thanks to Malek’s confidence 

she is getting her confidence 

as well. 

I have never asked Malek to do anything 

obedience-wise. I have never 

taught him to heel, I have never taught 

him to stay, and I have never told him 

to walk tight to me. He trusts me 

implicitly. That could have been damaged 

so early on if I hadn’t learned to 

communicate. 

When we are working with dogs, we 

have to strip away all the layers. It has 

nothing to do with training; training 

comes later. In my view gaining trust 

is the primary thing that needs to 

be established with the dog. That is 

absolutely paramount in that dog’s 

development, because if the dog 

doesn’t trust you that one little bit, in 

a situation where you really need it to 

trust you it may not happen. And then 

your stress levels will soar and that 

will be one reason for the dog not to 

trust you. 

Malek has now worked a lot of behavioural 

cases with me, but I don’t 

want to overuse him. It’s good not to 

get too confident in your confident 

dog or overexpose him to other dogs, 

because stress can re-occur. So it’s important 

to maintain the right balance. 

I give him lots of scenting games to 

help him relax. He loves his nose. He’s 

protective in the sense that he’s very 

good at splitting, for example if strangers 

come towards us. If they come 

too close, he will position himself 

between us. If we take a little more 

space, he moves off. 

This has taught me a lot about myself 

and it got me to do a lot of inner 

searching. I worked hard to identify my 

flaws and be very honest with myself, 

and then start working with my issues. 

We all have them. I have made many, 

many mistakes with Malek in the 

beginning. Dogs are very forgiving, but 

you have to have that trust, and this is 

something that is often overlooked in 

dogs. It is so easily broken. 

Malek is the most marvellous companion 

you could ever find in a dog. 

Companionship lies in trust. It is where 

loyalty comes from. Trust is the core 

of everything. Trust is something that 

you have to work at, and keep working 

at. Never, ever, take it for granted. 

Korah passed away in September 2012. 

26

Don’t Shout 

at the Dog 

MAXWELL 

MUIR, 

SCOTLAND 

What does shouting or yelling at a dog 

actually achieve? There is always a result, 

but is it the one we want? When 

I speak of shouting I am not talking 

about yelling commands at a dog but 

am speaking where shouting or yelling 

is used in context with ANGER, FRUS- 

TRATION OR IRRITATION, and when 

this has become a habit! 

First we need to ask some questions: 

How do dogs respond to and associate 

being yelled and shouted at? What do 

they experience? How does it affect 

those who are shouting or have developed 

shouting habits? 

Much research is being done on how 

anger affects the health of your heart. 

How anger hurts your heart: 

Explosive people who hurl objects or 

scream may be at greater risk of heart 

disease. So how does anger contribute 

to heart disease? 

‘Scientists are unsure but anger might 

produce direct physiological effects 

on the heart and arteries. Emotions 

such as anger and hostility quickly 

activate the flight or fight response, 

in which stress hormones, including 

adrenaline and cortisol speed up your 

heart rate and breathing and give you 

a burst of energy. Blood pressure also 

rises as your blood vessels constrict.’ 

While this stress response mobilizes 

you for emergencies it may cause harm 

if activated frequently. 

Jerry Kiffer, a heart-brain researcher 

at Cleveleand’s Clinic & Psychological 

testing centre says ‘it causes frequent 

wear and tear on the heart and cardio 

system and speeds up the process of 

atherosclerosis where fatty plaques 

build up in arteries. 

Laura Kubzansky, Phd and associate 

professor at Harvard School of Public 

Health said, ‘high levels of anxiety and 

depression may also contribute to 

heart disease risks. Analysis of findings 

from 44 studies publishes last year in 

the Journal of the American College 

of Cardiology said ‘evidence supports 

a link between emotions and heart 

disease.’ 

WHY PEOPLE SHOUT: People shout 

to externalise the frustration they feel 

at not being able to communicate in 

a more effective way. So what effects 

does this have on the dog? One thing 

is for sure, the more you use it the less 

effective it is. Why? Frustration and 

irritation are very easy to recognise. 

Your dog will know by observing all 

the early signals when you are becoming 

stressed. 

Trainers used to believe a command 

had to be sharp and delivered in a 

loud authoritative voice for the dog to 

respect it. When shouting is repeated 

and not heard it will often lead to 

physical correction. Shouting and yelling 

and treating the dog like it is deaf. 

In my experience yelling and shouting 

often leads to physical correction and 

aggressive behaviour towards the dog 

if it doesn’t hear or respond. Dogs 

have the ability to switch off their 

hearing sense. It also has dramatic 

effects on other dogs that may be 

observing. 

There are short and long term affects 

of putting dogs under pressure! Dogs 

learn to cope in different ways. 

Learned helplessness-dogs with high 

degrees of learned helplessness can 

become excessively over-dependent 

on their owners, psychologically and 

emotionally, to the point where any 

separation from them causes great 

distress. Dogs learn that they are unable 

to prevent or change something 

in their environment and so simply 

stop reacting. 

With too much control dogs never 

develop the ability to think for themselves 

to its full potential. And dogs 

are so good at this if they are given the 

chance. How much have we inhibited 

learning ability with too much interference 

or control? 

Stressed-out rebels-control and 

restrictions placed on their natural 

behaviour and freedom. 

Boredom, long term, rots the brain and 

is also one of the causes of premature 

ageing in dogs. 

Dogs switch off, shutdown or show resistance 

to the whole training process. 

Self-control depletion in dogs occurs 

where there is a heavy influence of 

control in a dog’s life. Dogs have an 

aversion to being treated unfairly. Have 

we got to the point where we have to 

control their lives completely? How 

do they respond to being controlled? 

It can cause a lot of tension and also 

noise sensitivity due to shouting 

abuse. Anything that makes a noise 


27

to inhibit a behaviour can also have 

similar effect. Shaking cans for example, 

dogs can become habitualised to 

sound, because nothing follows it after 

a while. It can also lead to aggravation 

and annoyance on the part of the dog 

causing aggressive reactivity. 

WHAT CAN WE DO? 

“A CHANGE OF MIND CAN LEAD 

TO A CHANGE 

OF HEART” 

Well, it takes a lot of self-control! Creating 

a self awareness and recognising 

signs that you are becoming angry and 

frustrated early. 

Vocal language is also complemented 

by body language. We need to be 

aware of how we feel and how we 

behave. What is the image of a human 

in the eyes of a dog? My solution for 

people who have developed shouting 

habits with their dogs is teaching 

clients to communicate with dogs by 

using sound and signal. New commands 

will eventually be shouted if a 

habit of shouting is in place. That must 

stop for progress to take place. 

Reassuring the dog that all is okay (dog 

may anticipate punishment from previous 

experience in similar situations). 

If you are changing do not expect the 

dog to adapt straight away, an association 

has been made so you must be 

consistent with your change to see a 

change in the dog. It may still find you 

unpredictable. Re-establishing trust is 

your primary goal here. 

A question for clients - How does 

what I do affect the relationship 

with my dog? 

HOW CAN WE HELP PEOPLE OVER- 

COME HABITUAL SHOUTING? 

We need to help calm the conflict 

by helping clients to understand why 

their dog is behaving in a particular 

way. The importance of reading language 

correctly-i.e it means this-but it 

could also mean that? 

Educating the public-what is a dog? 

There is a severe lack of understanding 

and knowledge or direction through 

dangerous assumptions if dog behaviour 

of pet owners is leading to social 

problem behaviours and bites. 

What are they saying? What do they 

need? What upsets them? Do you 

know what you are living with? Changing 

the client’s attitudes and habits 

and conquering their desire to shout. 

HOW DOGS RESPOND TO POSITIVE 

CHANGE 

So how can we help clients change? 

Empowerment through positive 

results, observing dogs more confident 

and positive behaviour changes. 

Observing and record keeping are 

important in order for results and progress. 

Record keeping and reflection 

are good for the brain, they help keep 

you online with the task and make you 

more aware of self change. 

Honing observation skills and getting 

to know your dog. Interpreting the 

reaction of a dog gives you ample 

knowledge about how the dog is feeling 

and so reacting at that particular 

time. Its emotional expression for how 

it feels in feelings such as fear, happiness, 

sadness, avoidance, depression 

through trauma, need of love and 

companionship. 

Much debate has been raised because 

human and dog limbic systems are 

so similar, but do they also function 

similarly? Your answer lies in the dog’s 

response to a situation. Behaviours are 

progressive and early signs of fear and 

anxiety can be observed before allowing 

the behaviour to escalate. 

A two way debate on whether dogs 

have emotions. Some say that dogs do 

not have the same feelings as humans, 

their brains are not as complex and 

they do not have emotion as such... 

and some others don’t quite agree..... 

Emotions in humans are experienced 

in the limbic system of the brain, 

which is one of the most primitive 

parts of the human brain and which is 

present in some form in all mammals. 

You will also ‘feel’ the situation. Emotions 

create a presence, an atmosphere, 

our senses both human and 

canine become highly tuned to this. 

Interpretation of the dog’s behaviour 

will trigger your own response relative 

to the information you have gathered 

from observation and feeling. This is 

normally a very reliable source and is 

where your gut instinct comes from, 

and this has an influence on your 

subconscious to make a decision for 

the best reaction to help the dog. It’s 

that reliable feeling that enables you 

to react correctly and make the right 

choices. 

It is my belief that dogs do have a 

limbic system that works identically to 

the human limbic system with respect 

to controlling emotions. Dogs are 

much, much more than what you see is 

what you get and if we are to advance 

further we need to appreciate this and 

help our clients see that. 

28

Yellow Dog: 

A year in the life 

of an adopted dog 

PAULINA 

DRURY, 

FRANCE 

We have three adopted dogs — Kida, 

Zia and Yellow. Yellow arrived in our 

home nearly two years ago. When she 

arrived she had several behavioural 

problems including dog-dog reactivity, 

dog/human distrust, destroying things, 

lack of socialisation, fear, and always a 

very high stress level. This is the story 

of Yellow Dog. 

I adopted Yellow from a shelter 

called Ami, which is an extraordinary 

place. Dogs are respected, loved and 

understood. I got a lot of information 

about Yellow, his character and issues 

before adoption. I also had the chance 

to share some weekends with him 

before he arrived home. We allowed 

him to meet our other dogs and my 

husband before coming home, which 

enabled him to get to know them in a 

calm and neutral place. On the big day, 

when he came to France from Poland, 

we travelled together in the car, and I 

think the people were more stressed 

than the dogs! 

During the first few days, a multiplication 

of resources was very useful. It 

also made things easier for the dogs. 

For example, I placed water bowls all 

over the house, as well as a number 

of beds for the dogs. Gradually they 

got used to staying together. In the 

beginning we supervised every moment 

they spent together. Yellow had 

excellent social skills; he understood 

very well what the others were saying, 

especially my oldest bitch. 

Yellow had difficulty staying alone. So 

we started with just a few seconds; 

now he can stay alone for several 

hours without any problem. He had 

very big problems with men, especially 

if they were wielding something in 

their hands. This was probably due to 

bad memories, so he learnt step-bystep 

to be confident, and my husband 

voided any tight situations with him. 

Even with me, if he if he felt restricted 

he could react. 

In the beginning the big work of building 

confidence and trust meant that 

our family started using, and still uses, 

many calming signals. It was a stepby-step 

process, with respect, never 

punishing for growling or snapping. 

We made sure Yellow always had 

plenty of space and lots of peace. He 

enjoys running a lot. 

I think one of the things we need the 

most when we adopt a dog is a lot of 

patience. We also need to do some 

activities together. This includes treat 

searching, which Yellow enjoys a lot, 

enrichment environments, where he 

discovers things I have put on the 

ground, and man trailing at which he 

is very good and which he enjoys a 

lot. He likes intelligent games, and 

chewing. We continue to explore new 

places together. 

Yellow really enjoys being with us, 

and especially with my husband. He 

easily comes over to ask for petting 

and attention. He is close to our other 

dogs. We can also go walking with 

other dogs, such as friends’ dogs. But 

the trust he gives me is the best thing I 

can imagine. It is really very important 

for me. 

Since February 2012 I have been running 

my own dog school, and 80% 

of my clients come with behavioural 

problems, most of which are the same 

problems I had with Yellow. I have 

therefore started to work with the 

shelter near our home, CIPAM. I offer a 

consultation to potential new owners, 

and I work a lot with the volunteers 

at the shelter, who also participate for 

free in the workshops I organise. 

I recently gave a calming signals workshop. 

The participants were not aware 

of calming signals and this has been 

very helpful for them. I have prepared 

small leaflets in French and English 

containing some general advice about 

things I consider important for the 

new owner, and which can help avoid 

misunderstandings or trouble with the 

new dog. These leaflets are available 

at the shelter. I am also starting to 

work with a shelter in Normandy, and 

they too have undertaken to distribute 

these leaflets to people who come to 

adopt. 


29

Fun and 

natural agility 

WINKIE 

SPIERS, 

ENGLAND 

WHY BOTHER? 

Many people dwell too much on training 

tricks, obedience, flyball, rally-O, 

and a whole host of other stuff that 

dogs wouldn’t choose to do alone, 

and which I don’t think teaches them 

any really useful life skills. I think that 

fun and natural agility is far more useful 

and important. 

IT IMPROVES RELATIONSHIPS 

Natural agility is fun and improves our 

relationships with our dogs. If we ask 

them to do things that are fun and 

that they often naturally choose to do, 

they will prefer to be with us and will 

view us in a better way. 

Dogs that are kept in confined conditions, 

who are not allowed to use 

stairs or get on furniture, and who 

cannot jump up or move around freely 

can become quite clumsy and underconfident. 

When they are out, they 

may be so overexcited that they could 

be prone to injure themselves. To 

develop a healthy body, a dog needs 

to be able to use its body throughout 

its life and to be co-ordinated and 

confident doing so. 

PUTTING FEET ON A LOG 

This is not as easy as you may think; it 

can be frightening for some dogs to 

put their feet on a different surface 

and to trust their human that it’s okay. 

It requires some balance and coordination. 

An openness of mind and 

confidence that what their human or 

handler is asking them to do is okay 

means that the world becomes less 

one-dimensional. Many dogs are afraid 

to do anything different, because 

they’ve been too controlled and told 

no too many times. This exercise as 

well as all exercises should be done 

slowly. 

REGULAR BREAKS! 

Regular breaks are important as they 

give our dogs time for latent learning 

to happen and generally for them to 

chill out and relax. Take it slowly and 

never push the dog to do more than it 

is comfortable doing. It’s nice for dogs 

to watch others doing exercises too; 

they can learn from each other and 

can improve the human-dog bond just 

by being together. 

DISMOUNT SLOWLY 

I use a lot of hand signals, and I want 

the dogs to do everything slowly and 

in their own time. The more they rush 

and throw themselves about, the more 

likely they are to do themselves harm. 

This can help in difficult situations 

as well; understanding ‘wait’, how to 

come off something slowly, helps us 

get our dogs out of difficult situations. 

Generally, however, it helps them 

develop an understanding of where to 

place their feet and control their body. 

HIGH ADRENALINE GAMES 

Often with these games dogs can be 

prone to physical exhaustion, soft 

tissue damage, and obviously they 

can get highly stressed. The toy is the 

main stimulus in these games, not the 

owner, and I think they are developing 

a relationship with a toy rather than 

with a person in many such circumstances. 

GROUP ACTIVITIES 

Dogs love to copy and mimic each 

other, and watching what others do 

encourages the shyer and less confident 

ones to join in. Exploring with 

friends is fabulous, especially when 

people can be part of the fun and 

games! 

BALANCE AND COORDINATION 

These are useful at all ages and for all 

different breeds. They teach a dog not 

to be clumsy, to know where his feet 

and legs are, like dog Pilates or yoga; 

both young and old dogs enjoy these 

exercises. The oldest dog in my class 

at the moment is an ex-rescue dog 

who is 12 years old, and he loves doing 

these exercises. They have improved 

his confidence and inter-dog and 

people skills! 

STRETCHING EXERCISES 

This is not like teaching a dog to walk 

on its back legs, as that can be damaging, 

but to look up and stretch to 

reach or find something or to explore 

something feels nice, and they don’t 

overstretch themselves when they are 

calm and happy — less opportunity 

for sprains and pains. 

ALL-IMPORTANT BALANCE 

With something to lean on, dogs can 

be encouraged to explore more and 

take life more slowly. In all of these 

exercises the people play a part, which 

means that it’s nice and useful to have 

a human around. I see too many dogs 

who want to be as far away from their 

people as possible as they are not fun 

to be with. 

FOLLOWING THE HAND 

This increases understanding. If our 

dogs can follow our hand, they will 

trust us to help them out of situations. 

Recently one of my dogs got caught 

up in wire. I was able to ask him to be 

still while I unhooked him and guided 

him out of the mess. He did this by 

HAND SINGNAL DURING 

THE SPIDER EXERCISE 

30

even suggest that they go back. Hand 

signals can be very useful indeed. Then 

they can find their way down slowly 

and safely. When walking on loose 

stones or coastal paths I can see them 

putting their skills to good use all on 

their own. 

THE SPIDER EXERCISE 

following my hand, and remained 

calm without panicking. Also, it opens 

up communication between dog and 

owner in a fun way. It gives people 

practical activities to do with their 

dogs and increases their bond. It is fun 

for people and dogs of all ages and 

ability, and it helps people to improve 

their handling skills. The lead must 

always be loose! 

Following the hand can be done 

anywhere — in the city, town, garden 

or country. It is useful in the country 

to encourage our dogs through a dog 

gate, which can be quite a small gap. It 

gets dogs to increase their concentration 

span when young, in a nice, safe 

and easy way. People get success quite 

quickly and enjoy their time with their 

dogs more. Often where relationships 

have broken down, I find the simple 

exercises mean that the dogs and their 

humans start to like each other again. 

REAL AGILITY 

When I set up agility equipment in 

the garden, my dogs never just run 

around jumping over the jumps, doing 

the weaving polls etc. One of them 

does like to go through the tunnel 

without being asked, but no one else 

does. With natural agility, I find that 

once they learn to do it, they do it 

for fun without being asked, which to 

my mind means that they really like 

it. My dogs will find special places to 

climb onto; they look down on me as 

they find it fun, and they get attention 

for it. They love to be looked at and 

told how clever they are. With natural 

agility no equipment is needed, there 

are many more choices, and it gives 

them the confidence to just jump for 

the joy of jumping whenever they feel 

like it. Some dogs I see — quite a few 

actually — seem to have problems 

coordinating their back legs, and many 

just can’t jump at all in the beginning, 

as their lives have been too onedimensional. 

They have always been 

on the floor, walking on lead, no hills, 

no stairs, no jumping up, no exploring 

— it can take time for them to learn. 

However, once they get it there is no 

stopping them! They grow in stature 

and feel good about themselves, and 

their people grow and feel good too 

POSING 

Once your dogs learn to trust your 

judgement they may start to look at 

things, and then look at you to see if 

it’s okay. There is a nice dialogue that 

goes on: “Look at that tree trunk or 

wall; what do you think?” It encourages 

dogs to want to include us, which 

I find wonderful. 

HOLD OR WAIT 

Learning to wait in the car or on a log 

or on some obstacle means that if 

our dogs get caught up they can be 

stopped from getting into something 

dangerous, such as bog patches or 

wire that they can’t see. I can ask my 

Lurchers to stop where they are; I can 

STEPS 

I see many dogs who are not allowed 

upstairs, so when it comes to steps 

they rush up and down as they don’t 

know how to go slowly and use their 

bodies. This can be dangerous for 

dogs as well as people, so giving them 

opportunities to learn about simple 

things like steps and showing them 

calmly how to cope with them is a 

very good idea. 

SPIDER DOG 

I have used this exercise in order to 

help them learn what each muscle 

does and find out about their own 

bodies. I use this exercise for physiotherapy 

as well. When doing this 

exercise I think dogs need claws; too 

often they are cut short, whereas they 

need them for climbing and (to act as) 

the studs when cornering. 

SLEEP FOR A WEEK 

It is important for our dogs to have 

lots of quality, safe and comfortable 

sleep. It gives time for their bodies 

to rest, grow, repair, chill, dream and 

restore. 


31

A strong partnership: 

Empowerment to an 

intimidating environment 

UNDINE 

NICKERL, 

GERMANY 

TOMTE 

My canine friend Tomte knows cues or 

signals, not commands. We don’t do 

obedience training like “Sit“ or “Heel“. 

Instead, he knows “Wait“ and does 

this reliably. He likes to run off-leash 

and to immerse himself in his own 

world. He doesn’t always have time 

for me. Sometimes, other things are 

more important to him. But that’s all 

right. When I call him, he comes to me 

happily and quickly. This reliable recall 

means freedom and safety for him. 

Tomte has already learned a lot. He 

knows how to behave well in our human 

world. If he gets into an exciting 

or upsetting situation, he is now able 

to cope with it, of his own accord. It’s 

important to me to give him as much 

latitude as he needs to be content. He 

is allowed to make his own decisions 

and gain his experiences. At the same 

time, I am always there whenever he 

needs support. This has made Tomte 

confident and self-reliant. Our relationship 

is characterized by mutual 

respect and trust. I like him a lot, and I 

think he likes me, too. We are friends. 

It has not always been like this. He 

came to me unexpectedly, out of the 

blue, on Christmas Eve of 2007. Friends 

of mine – veterinarians volunteering 

for a spay-and-neuter project in 

Southern Europe – had found him 

lying injured at the side of a highway. 

The first time I saw him he was 

extremely malnourished and suffering 

from an old, untreated luxation of the 

hip. 

He underwent surgery for his hip 

and recovered quickly. In the following 

weeks I got to know a dog who 

showed timid, insecure or fearful 

reactions in almost any given situation. 

It was only in interaction with our 

dogs that we saw him exuberant and 

happy, acting freely. In such situations 

he seemed like a perfectly normal, 

healthy dog. He became familiar with 

us quite soon, too, and his behaviour 

towards us was careful, but increasingly 

open. Severe problems developed 

on our walks. After a phase of absolute 

passivity he began to bark and snap 

at passers-by, lorries, motorbikes and 

other dogs. Outdoors, anything that 

moved was too much for him. Our 

dog-walking area is much frequented 

by dogs, strollers, children, joggers, 

cyclists and mountain bikers. In order 

to get there, we have to cross a street 

with a very high volume of traffic. 

Over the following weeks my walks 

with him became extremely stressful 

and dangerous. More than once he 

almost pulled me into traffic because 

I had not noticed a truck in time. I had 

to see all potential fear triggers before 

he did, in order to make the situa- 

32

tion bearable for him by creating the 

biggest possible distance. The consequence 

of Tomte’s behaviour was that 

he could not be let off-leash. He had 

no opportunity to make contact with 

other dogs, and I was tense, insecure 

and fearful as well. This was not a 

good foundation for having fun and 

adventures together. This was not the 

life I want a dog to live. 

EMPOWERMENT 

I am an occupational therapist. One 

significant element of my work is 

empowerment. That means encouraging 

people to discover their own 

strengths and to make use of their 

capabilities for problem solving. This 

ability affords any individual, whether 

human or animal, personal power and 

a certain control over their environment, 

which is crucial for emotional 

well-being. The individual does not 

feel helpless or at the mercy of a 

frightening situation. For our dogs, 

James O’Heare simplifies the definition 

of “Empowerment as the process by 

which individuals acquire behaviour 

patterns that effectively and efficiently 

contact reinforcers and avoid 

or escape aversers. To be empowered 

is to be adaptable and capable of 

operating on one’s own environment.” 

Tomte’s strategy of handling arousing 

situations by barking and snapping had 

been successful for him so far, because 

no one ever came too close. I wanted 

him to become familiar with other 

possibly useful behaviours. These 

behaviours were to be better adapted 

to our human world, make him feel 

safe and increase his sense of wellbeing. 

Today, he enjoys the freedom 

and self-composure to truly cope with 

such situations, and he is confident 

and content. 

can become an unconscious marker 

signal, often given most untimely. And 

last, but not least, Tomte has learned 

that he can control his environment 

through his behaviour. By behaving in 

a way that I like, he influences my behaviour 

– I do something that is pleasant 

for him. He steers and controls his 

environment, which is self-reinforcing. 

As marker signals for Tomte I use a 

clicker and a verbal marker. His marker 

word is “click“, and like the clicker, it 

has been classically conditioned. Both 

markers tell him that his behaviour is 

correct and a reward is forthcoming. 

In highly arousing situations I use the 

clicker because it is easier to perceive 

for Tomte, and he reacts to it faster 

than to a spoken word. In everyday 

life, I use our verbal marker. 

I don’t train specific exercises like 

“Sit“, “Heel“, “Down“ or “Look at me“. 

I use the marker to mark a desired 

behaviour. In contrast to “classical 

clicker training“ the aim is not to teach 

tricks through frequent repetition. I 

support Tomte in changing his own 

behaviour. He learns to better adapt to 

our human environment. Thus, today I 

mark being able to remain calm when 

looking at an unfamiliar dog, orienting 

to me or moving aside when a jogger 

approaches. I reward him whenever 

he shows “good“ behaviour. In this 

process I consider it important to create 

an environment in which he makes 

as few mistakes as possible. Outdoors, 

my influence in this respect is limited, 

of course. If he cannot show the 

desired behaviour, I help him get out 

of the situation. His behaviour is never 

corrected. Instead, I wait for the next 

opportunity. Then he can do better 

and learn something. 

REINFORCER 

In order to accomplish a change in 

Tomte´s behaviour, a reward must become 

a so-called reinforcer, something 

that makes a real good benefit to him 

in this particular situation. I would 

define a reward as something that I 

expect my dog will like and want to 

have. A reinforcer, by contrast, is defined 

in psychology as a consequence 

of a behaviour that increases the probability 

of occurrence of this behaviour. 

REWARD 

Thus, whether a reward is also a 

reinforcer can only be assessed over 

time. It has proven to be a reinforcer if 

it increases the latency, rate, duration 

or magnitude of a behaviour. In order 

to achieve this, rewards have to meet 

the dog’s needs and desires. If Tomte 

had just been scared by a lorry or a 

stranger, food would certainly not 

have been a good reward. He could 

not take a treat because his body was 

primed to fight or flee, not to feed. If, 

however, I gave him the opportunity 

to increase his distance to the stimulus, 

the behaviour “increasing distance“ 

definitely became a strong reward. 

If he wants to chase a cat, I cannot 

reach him with food, either. In this 

case, “watching the cat together“ 

can become a good reinforcer. If this 

opportunity has passed, I can make 

food more valuable by showing him a 

MARKER SIGNALS 

In order to communicate with Tomte, 

I use marker signals. His reactions are 

very, very fast. I am not. The advantage 

of a marker is that it allows me to 

mark and reinforce desired behaviours 

most precisely at any given time. By 

aptly choosing the reward, using varied 

and functional reinforcers, I make 

my reward more attractive and raise 

anticipation. Also, working with markers 

reduces the danger of giving Tomte 

confusing feedback through unconscious, 

adverse body language. Reaching 

into the treat bag, for example, 


33

treat and then suddenly throwing it. 

This gives Tomte an opportunity to 

“go hunting“ for the treat. Thus, he can 

finish the behaviour pattern he has 

begun, though not with the cat. I have 

used a motivation-oriented reward. 

TOP 20 

I regularly write down a Top Twenty 

list of possible rewards and evaluate 

them for Tomte and for myself. There 

are some highly valuable rewards for 

Tomte that I don’t like to use, such 

as rolling in unspeakable stuff. Thus, I 

regularly consider what I want to use 

as a reward and which reward might 

become a reinforcer in which situation. 

Because Tomte used to be a stray, 

food is a very valuable reward for him 

in many situations. But he likes it even 

better if I make the food more exciting 

by hiding or throwing it. 

JOINT VENTURE 

Searching games like a lost retrieve are 

often good reinforcers when Tomte 

has seen a rabbit and does not give 

chase. I know where we are likely to 

encounter rabbits and drop his toy 

before we get there. If he only looks 

at the rabbits and orients to me, I mark 

this and send him away from the rabbit 

on a lost retrieve, back on our trail. 

This allows him to relieve his tension 

through movement on a task he loves. 

Important rewards for him are also 

little tricks that operate on Premack’s 

principle. David Premack is a psychologist 

and behaviourist. In 1962 he defined 

Premack’s principle, stating that a 

reinforcer need not necessarily satisfy 

a biological or inherent need like food, 

but that any behaviour with higher 

spontaneous occurrence than another 

reinforces this other behaviour. 

Something that Tomte has learned in 

an exclusively positive context is great 

fun for him, and he offers those behaviours 

spontaneously, for example a 

nose touch to my hand or a paw touch 

to my foot. 

I can use both as reinforcers for a 

desired behaviour. These are reward 

options that require neither food nor 

space, time nor equipment. All that 

matters is that these behaviours are 

requested and highly reinforced in 

between, i.e. “recharged“. 

SHOWING AND NAMING 

Then I learned about the concept of 

“showing and naming“. I was astonished 

at how quickly Tomte’s behaviour 

towards cars and people changed. 

Showing and naming is originally part 

of Kayce Cover’s work. She calls this 

“teaching concepts“. The dog is made 

aware of objects, people or situations 

in his environment and the relevant 

trigger is named. Looking at these triggers 

is reinforced. Over time the dog 

will look at the trigger for longer and 

expect a reward from his human. Dr 

Blaschke-Berthold has modified this 

concept. The dog is marked for orienting 

toward the trigger and rewarded 

with food or play, whereas Kayce 

Cover only rewards with verbal praise. 

The reward is presented in a way that 

makes the dog orient back to the human. 

This behaviour is marked, as well, 

and in Ute Blaschke-Bertholds modified 

version, the human now suggests 

an alternate behaviour. This alternate 

behaviour should also be a functional 

reinforcer. When this sequence is associated 

thoroughly enough, the dog will 

show a distinctly positive emotional 

reaction and look at the trigger longer 

and longer while waiting for the positive 

feedback from his human. He will 

then execute the alternate behaviour 

of his own accord. 

So much for the theory. Now for my 

practice with Tomte. 

At the beginning of our training there 

were very few situations in which I 

was able to reward Tomte for calmly 

looking at a trigger. He reacted most 

severely to lorries, which, unfortunately, 

we encounter every day. His 

strong fear manifested itself in highly 

aroused barking and attacks. Though 

this was hard for me to do at first, I 

learned to click into this high arousal. 

My fear that I was spoiling my work 

with the clicker or reinforcing this 

unwanted behaviour dissolved when I 

understood what was really happening 

at that moment. 

There are three important points that I 

can address only briefly and in a highly 

simplified manner in this brief space. 

Firstly, at such a level of arousal, cognitive 

learning processes are severely 

restricted. As proven by a number of 

studies, an arousal level that is too 

high or, actually, to low, impedes or 

even inhibits learning. 

Secondly, in such a stressful situation 

barking and snapping are part 

of a reflexive reaction, and therefore 

unconscious. This means that it is not 

possible to reinforce this behaviour by 

clicking it. 

Thirdly, the positively conditioned and 

solidly associated sound of the clicker 

causes a release of dopamine in the 

brain. Just like fear, this is controlled 

by processes in the limbic system. It is 

impossible to influence these processes 

deliberately. Dopamine is an 

antagonist to cortisol, adrenaline and 

noradrenaline, the neurotransmitters 

of fear and stress. Thanks to the dopamine 

release caused by the clicker, 

Tomte became responsive again more 

quickly every time and was soon able 

to remain calm for a few moments. 

This was my chance to reward his 

34

looking calmly at the trigger with verbal 

praise. If he averted his gaze from 

the trigger, I marked this behaviour 

and rewarded him with play or food. 

Now I was able to use the clicker as 

a behavioural marker again because 

Tomte’s arousal had decreased enough 

for him to be capable of conscious, 

deliberate behaviour. Following this, I 

used the nose touch to guide him to 

my other side, away from the trigger. 

This is a functional reward because he 

would choose to increase the distance 

if he was not restricted by the 

leash and by me. In this position, I first 

rewarded him with liver paste from a 

tube. This is a highly valuable treat and 

the tube also prolongs the rewarding 

time, which means I was enhancing the 

position by my side. 

When Tomte was able to look calmly 

for a little longer, I started to name 

the triggers that are relevant for us. 

Tomte looks at the trigger. The trigger 

is named, followed by the marker 

signal. I give verbal praise and a reward 

close to me. Then I ask for the 

alternate behaviour and reinforce the 

correct position with the food tube. 

As of today, Tomte knows five signals: 

Auto or “car“ for anything that has a 

motor, Leute or “people” for humans 

and Kinder or “children” for groups of 

kids. This differentiation has proven 

useful, because children as a group 

were a stronger trigger. He also knows 

Hund, i.e. “dog“ for an unfamiliar dog 

and Hase, “rabbit”, for anything that 

is small and scurries off. Showing and 

naming is well suited to preventing 

hunting expeditions. In terms of classical 

conditioning, the rabbit comes 

to predict a fun game with the dog’s 

human. 

On our walks there are now four versions 

of “showing and naming”: 

A trigger appears, Tomte looks at it 

and returns to whatever was interesting 

him previously. He has no time for 

me and there is no reason to interrupt 

his business. I do not intervene. Several 

former triggers don’t impress him any 

longer; his arousal level doesn’t rise. 

If something does upset him, he no 

longer panics in fear. He knows that 

he can cope with this situation by offering 

the trained alternate behaviour. 

He comes to my side. In my view, this 

is where we come full circle. Tomte 

is now capable of mastering a difficult 

situation himself. He is “empowered“. 

This was our aim, and we 

have achieved it. Now we have all the 

freedom I want for my dog to live a 

full life. 

In the second version, Tomte is so 

immersed in his own world that he 

doesn’t notice an approaching dog. In 

this case, I give him the word so that 

he won’t be startled: “Tomte, there’s a 

dog coming!” He looks at the dog and 

then decides. If he wants to have fun 

with me, we look at the dog together 

and play “showing and naming“. Or he 

just wants to keep doing whatever he 

was doing. Both decisions are good 

and correct. 

Working with “showing and naming” 

has been so much fun for both of us 

that we have kept the exercise as a 

game. That is our third version. I see 

people and ask: “Tomte, where are 

the people?” Tomte scans our surroundings, 

and when he has found the 

people, he looks at them and then at 

me, and we do something nice. 

The fourth version makes me particularly 

happy. It feels like a present because 

I had not expected this. We are 

on our walk and I am immersed in my 

thoughts. Tomte sees a dog. He looks 

at me until I take notice. He points the 

dog out to me by looking at it with 

great intensity and then performing 

the alternate behaviour. Classical conditioning 

has turned a former trigger 

of fear into a promise of fun. 

In an environment that used to be so 

difficult for him that I was not sure I 

would be able to keep him, he now 

cooperates with me. Today we truly 

go our way together, as partners and 

friends. 


35

Edinburgh – Sunday 30.09 

Home-made nose and 

brain games 

AGNES 

DEGEN 


I have put together a little book that 

gives owners some ideas on how they 

can create home-made nose and brain 

games for their dogs. You can find 

material for these games anywhere in 

your home, either inside or in the garden. 

It also makes you a more creative 

dog owner! Once you get a few ideas, 

you’ll be amazed how inventive you 

become. Best of all, it’s not expensive. 

Of course there are really nice brain 

and nose games available in pet shops, 

but one can make just as good ones at 

home. It activates not only the owner’s 

brain, but also the brain of the dog! 

The games are started such that they 

are easy for the dog, and gradually 

they can be made a bit more difficult. 

Because the owner and the dog are 

doing something together, it also activates 

their social relations. It is therefore 

something I use and advise when 

people have new dogs. Especially with 

easy games, it strengthens the bond 

between the owner and the new dog. 

It stimulates self-confidence in the 

dog, which also helps the dog cope 

with everyday problems. It stimulates 

the natural dog’s natural instincts, giving 

the dog a nice hobby so he doesn’t 

get into undesired situations. And best 

of all, it reduces stress factors. Sniffing, 

chewing, focusing on the game lowers 

the heartbeat. 

I have designed the book like a recipe 

book. Every page has its own game, 

or “recipe”. Every game starts with a 

nice name that is easy to remember. 

The ingredients are what I needed 

to make the game — for example, a 

tube, a toy, or a box, depending on the 

game. There is then advice on how to 

prepare the game and set it up, followed 

by instructions on how to play 

the game with the dog. Included is a 

list of dos and don’ts. I may also advise 

on whether it is a very basic game that 

should be tried before other games, 

etc. Also, for example is advice on 

things the dog should not eat. At the 

end of each game I share a few words 

from “the chef” on our vision and 

about dogs. For example, I might write 

a few lines on wearing harnesses, or 

why one should never, ever punish a 

dog when he’s barking because he’s 

trying to tell us something. 

And of course no brain gain would 

be complete without an enriched 

environment. Smells, boxes with treats 

inside, a bottle with treats inside, 

something hanging on a string, all form 

part of the picture. Hiding things in 

closets or in trees, or in boxes filled 

with shredded paper are other ideas. 

The possibilities are endless. Threading 

toilet rolls containing treats on a hulahoop 

is a real fun challenge for a dog. 

And after all this of course, the dog 

needs a long, long sleep! 

My hope is that this book will reach a 

lot of dog owners. Dogs have fun with 

these games, and the owner as well. In 

the back of my mind when I am talking 

with dog owners, is the following little 

poem: 

I have moved stone, in a river on Earth 

The water will be different than before 

Because, by moving that stone, 

The flow will never go the same way 

again. 

(Bram Vermeulen) 

I hope that together we can move the 

stones in the lives of dogs and owners 

with our vision. The recipe book is free 

to download on my website: 

http://www.petnanny.nl/hondenschool/nose_braingames_uk.pdf 

Please feel free to hand it out to all 

dog owners. The last piece of advice 

in the little book says it all: Be sure to 

make every recipe with passion, love 

and respect the dog. Take the time and 

enjoy the moment, do it in a Burgundian 

way. 

36

Dog pulse in 

daily situations 

AGNES 

VAELIDALO, 

NORWAY 

What happens to a dog’s pulse when a person approaches him in a curve or walks straight towards him? 

Are there measurable differences? And what happens to a dog’s pulse in everyday situations such as 

sniffing interesting smells or chasing a ball? 

WHAT IS PULSE? 

Pulse is created by the heart as it 

pumps blood by contracting. The heart 

rate varies between resting pulse and 

maximum pulse. Oxygen and nutrients 

are pumped out to the cells in the 

body, and the blood also transports 

waste products out of the cells and 

non-oxygenated blood back to the 

lungs. The pulse slows when the dog 

is calm and relaxed, and rises when 

there is a reaction that requires action; 

the brain sets the body on alert and 

prepares the muscles for action. This 

happens whether the reaction is positive 

or negative. 

It is natural to have some stress during 

the day; everyone needs it, including 

our dogs. The heart rate increases 

whether the dog is happy, afraid, in 

pain, or has expectations, or is in heat 

or meets a bitch in heat, or during any 

kind of activity. 

How is it connected with stress? 

Increased pulse is a mechanism that 

prepares the body for something 

either good or bad. It keeps the necessary 

body functions on alert and ready 

for action. However, being alert for 

a prolonged time is stressful to the 

body and will in the short term lead 

to restlessness, overreactions, irritability, 

apathy, nervousness, anxiety, etc. 

In the long term, stress can result in 

all of these in addition to illness like a 

weakened immune system, shortened 

lifespan, major changes in behaviour 

and more. Thus if you have a dog with 

a high resting pulse, give this some 

extra thought. Most likely it will have 

a stress problem and this needs to be 

dealt with. 

Heartbeat 

When interpreting the data from pulse 

measurements it is important to take 

into account the situation the dog is 

in. When we perform our tests, we 

always do it inside and always try to 

make sure that the dog has visited the 

place before so it’s familiar with the 

area and there are fewer things he can 

react to. We use cameras at different 

angles so that we can observe the 

environment, because if I am doing a 

pulse experiment on a dog and walking 

towards him but someone is clapping 

their hands at the same time, this 

would of course affect the result. Thus 

it is important to be able to observe 

what is going on during the test. 

EQUIPMENT 

There is no pulse measurement equipment 

for dogs on the market. The one 

I use has been developed by Polar 

specifically for horses. In our project 

it is fitted to the dog’s harness, one 

pad at the front of the chest and the 

other on the back. This can be fitted 

to any dog harness, and if a dog has 

his own harness we try to use that, as 

he will be more comfortable with it. 

A microcontroller transmits the pulse 

signal to a computer via Bluetooth. 

The software, which was developed 

by my husband, is compatible with my 

tablet and smartphone. The equipment 

also includes cameras and a hard 

disc recorder. 

MAIN PROJECT 

Once when I was walking down the 

street on my way to work, I saw a dog 

and its owner coming towards me. 

From quite far away I saw that the dog 

was looking at me, and although he 

was not pulling I noticed that he was 

quite aware of my presence. About 50 

metres or so away from him I slowly 

walked out in a curve (there were no 

cars on the road). As I got closer the 

owner started pulling in his dog, at 

which point I suggested he not do 

that, and told him I was a dog trainer. 

The owner listened and the dog was 

perfect! The owner was amazed and 

thrilled, because he had received so 

many comments on his dog because 

it often reacted by barking and pulling 

on the leash. I explained that the dog 

was giving me perfectly good signals 

and that when I responded by walking 

in a curve there was no problem. The 

owner was so proud of his dog! We 

need to show dogs we approach that 

we are friendly. 

The main question of the project 

is: Should we walk in a curve 

when we meet a dog? 

I started the project about two years 

ago, and it is still ongoing. We are 

measuring pulse in dogs as an indicator 

of physiological response, and the goal 

is to see whether the calming signal 

“walk in a curve” has an effect. When 

dogs meet each other, their natural re- 


37

sponse is to walk in a curve, but what 

happens when an unfamiliar person 

does the same? Conversely, what happens 

when an unfamiliar person walks 

straight towards the dog? 

The equipment was set up in a dedicated 

inside area with cameras at several 

angles, and a marked spot where 

the owner would stand with the dog 

on lead. An unknown person would 

then walk straight on or curving towards 

the dog. If we noticed that the 

dog was reacting in any way negatively, 

the person would always approach in 

a curve, even if that meant changing 

from a direct course. We were careful 

not to put any pressure on the dog. 

We also checked with the owner that 

the dog did not otherwise have a 

problem meeting persons, and if it did, 

we always walked in the curve. 

One camera was positioned directly 

behind the dog, another one facing 

the dog at a distance, and a third 

camera showed a close-up of the dog. 

This was an important feature that 

helped owners see what was going on 

with their dog externally as well as 

internally. 

RESULTS 

In one case with the person walking 

towards the dog, the pulse was about 

90 to start with and rose very rapidly 

to almost 180, but the dog’s tail was 

wagging. He was perhaps a bit happy 

but also perhaps a bit worried. 

With another dog the pulse rose to 

above 190 when a strange person 

walked straight towards him but went 

down again as soon as the man walked 

away. It really helps owners to see how 

their dogs respond to people walking 

directly towards them. 

Conversely, when an unfamiliar person 

walked in a curve towards the dog, in 

several cases the pulse in fact went 

down, starting around 80 and ending 

up around 70. In the experiments, we 

noticed that the dogs become aware 

of the person already at quite a big 

distance of tens of metres. 

Putting all the results together, we have 

now done this with 62 dogs. The result 

is that on average the pulse rises 10.5% 

when walking straight towards the dog. 

But the average change for walking in a 

curve towards the dog gives a reduction 

of about 5.3%. Our prediction was that 

when meeting the dog straight on, the 

pulse would rise quite a lot, but that 

when curving the pulse would rise only 

a little. So we were surprised to see 

that it actually goes down. The worst 

case that I encountered was the pulse 

rising by more than 110% from, 85 to 

179. It is hard to imagine that many 

dogs actually have to deal with this 

every single day. Most of them cope 

with it; it’s not polite, but it’s copeable. 

On the other hand, some dogs really 

have a problem with this, and for them 

it’s quite frightening to see a person 

heading directly for them. 

The walking-in-a-curve project continues, 

and we are hoping to involve 

many hundreds of dogs, which will 

produce a better picture overall. 

OTHER DAILY SITUATIONS 

Currently we are looking at some 

other daily situations and their effects 

on pulse. We have only studied this 

in a few dogs so we cannot draw any 

conclusions yet. 

Using the voice 

In one video we took, I am telling the 

dog in quite a firm tone to sit. The 

pulse rises to about 220. He had quite 

a high pulse when he started, but it 

shot up very fast. In the same exercise 

with another dog, the pulse doubled. 

Conversely, when I got the dog to sit 

down with only a treat and no voice, 

the pulse went up only very little. One 

could say that the dog’s pulse rose 

in the first instance because he was 

expecting the treat, but in the second 

exercise case he was still expecting the 

treat but I did not use my voice, and 

his pulse only went up only a little. 

Rewarding 

In another video, the dog is sitting 

down and his owner drops a treat 

on the floor. The dog’s pulse remains 

around 70. The owner then starts to 

praise the dog by patting him on the 

side and leaning over him, and the 

dog’s pulse shoots up to 150. Of course 

that involves some movement so the 

pulse would rise to some extent, but 

doing this several times gives the same 

result. So if you have a dog that is 

otherwise a little bit stressed, maybe 

leaning over him and patting him is 

not the best idea! 

Searching for treats or fetching? 

With a dog that is normally quite 

stressed, when I tossed treats in 

the grass for him to find, the pulse 

dropped from 150 to under 100. 

Searching for treats is a wonderful 

exercise for any dog. With the same 

dog, I then held a stick as if I was going 

to throw it, and just seeing the stick 

caused his pulse to race up to over 

175 within a few seconds. Then I threw 

the stick just a couple of metres and 

the pulse shot up to around 190. The 

second time the pulse went up to 221. 

So if I had to choose which activity 

to do with this dog, there is no doubt 

that nose work would be by far the 

better option. It is not healthy to have 

38

a pulse that is very high, especially if it 

rises above 200. Doing this with other 

dogs gives the same result. 

Splitting up - does it work? 

One of the best incidences I got with 

splitting happened because I forgot 

to turn off my camera. One of the 

dogs on camera started barking at a 

lady in the hall where we were doing 

our experiments. The pulse in the 

dog rose quickly before I notice the 

situation, because I was preoccupied 

with something else. Finally I went 

between them with my back towards 

the dog. The dog then stopped. The 

pulse started slowing and ended up 

around 70 from 180, so my splitting action 

really helped that dog out of the 

situation. This situation worked even 

though I did not know the dog beyond 

having fitted him with the harness. 

Using the hand 

I have done this with two dogs. The 

first dog was sleeping and his pulse 

was just under 70. The pulse stayed 

about the same when the owner 

showed him the flat of her hand 

before leaving. In the second case the 

same dog was given the hand signal 

again, in a slightly different situation, 

and the pulse actually went down. 

Then the third time with the dog very 

relaxed, he was not given the hand signal 

and his pulse went up from around 

60 to 80. We then used another dog 

whose owner had never used the hand 

signal. The owner got up as usual, 

without using a hand signal, and the 

dog’s pulse rose from about 80 to 

about 150. We did the same again, 

with the owner showing the flat of the 

hand. Even though the dog had never 

seen the hand signal before, the pulse 

did not rise above 100. 

Cuddles! 

With a very calm dog with a pulse 

around 80, when his owner started to 

cuddle him the pulse rose to about 

135. I’m not saying that the dog wasn’t 

enjoying it or that we shouldn’t do 

this, but it does affect the dog. So if 

you are cuddling your dog to try to 

make him calm, it has the opposite 

effect. When I have classes with young 

dogs, and we are doing training such as 

learning to sit and relax, it is very important 

to be comfortable. If the owner 

is cuddling and fussing whereas they 

should just be leaving their dog alone, 

it is only making the dog stressed. So 

if your dog is quite stressed, the best 

thing to do is nothing, and he will 

gradually relax on his own. 

Bend over the dog or kneel down? 

With the dog I experimented with, 

when the owner bent over him the 

pulse rose from about 80 to about 

140. When the owner knelt down 

beside the dog and gently touched 

the harness, the pulse stayed roughly 

the same. It just shows how easily you 

can make a dog comfortable simply by 

bending your knee a bit. Many people 

have this problem especially with 

small dogs. To date I have only done it 

with one dog, and this particular dog 

is not generally stressed anyway. 

All of this shows how easy it is to 

make a dog a little more comfortable 

in daily situations. It doesn’t take much 

on our part, but the results in our dog 

are significant. 

The key to success 

ASTRID 

VERKUYL, 


About a year ago I met two highly 

motivated dog owners who wanted to 

learn from their dogs, give their dogs 

a job in life, and have fun. One was 

called Kitty, with her dog Foske, and 

the other was Ed, with his dog Windy. 

Both dogs are Kooikers. They live close 

to each other and therefore know 

each other well. The other thing they 

have in common is that both owners 

are disabled. They cannot take long 

walks, they cannot stand still for long 

periods of time, they have problems 

with uneven ground, and their body 

movements are sometimes unpredictable. 

So with these things in mind, we 

had to think about a job for the dogs 

that was good for the dogs but also 

for the owners. One of the things we 

came up with was to have the dog find 

the owner’s keys, and to indicate when 

they had found them. 

To start with, the dog was rewarded 

for showing any interest whatsoever 

in the keys. Then the dog had to be 

able to discriminate between keys. We 

did that by introducing other people’s 

keys. For indicating we chose the sit, 

which allows them to do the work 


39

well because the dogs automatically 

sit themselves, and it is a good way for 

the owners to treat them on time. 

KNOWING THE BREED 

The Kooiker is a Dutch hunting dog. It 

was originally used to lure and drive 

ducks into cages known as kooien, 

which were basically canals ending in 

traps in which the hunter could easily 

catch the fowl. The dogs lured the 

ducks by wagging their furry white 

tails. The breed is independent, which 

allows them to work by themselves. 

They are alert, which allows them to 

act quickly and they are not too noisy, 

which is important for luring. 

For the search, we chose good equipment 

such as a 3 m long leash, a 

harness, and of course good treats 

and plenty of water. A long leash is 

important because, as we all know, trying 

to learn something with someone 

standing over your shoulder is a bit 

uncomfortable. Sniffing also produces 

a dry mouth, which is why water is 

important. If the dogs are not drinking 

enough water, they can be inaccurate 

in their work. And of course 

breaks are important — for both dog 

and owner, especially in this case as 

the owners need plenty of breaks for 

their bodies. When a break is necessary 

is sometimes a bit difficult to tell, 

but as I like to tell the owners, when 

in doubt, keep out! Why are breaks 

important? Because when you want 

to learn something, you will remember 

it better next time if you allow 

the brain to eliminate the toxins that 

learning produces. People can concentrate 

for about 15 minutes very well; 

I’m not sure if this is true of dogs or 

if it is shorter. During breaks the brain 

can process the information from the 

previous session. We have all been in 

situations where someone is speaking 

and we hear the words, but they don’t 

make any sense because we are too 

tired. It may be a boring subject or a 

boring speaker, but most of the time 

it is because we don’t take breaks on 

time. 

STEP-BY-STEP TRAINING 

It’s important to do the training in 

little steps. So, every time the dog 

was successful, we made the task just 

a little bit more difficult. Success is 

important to keep the dog motivated. 

It’s the same with children; they don’t 

have much self-confidence so sometimes 

it helps to ask them something 

very simple in between other questions. 

Especially for children who have 

poor self-confidence, it helps them 

feel that they know something and it 

keeps them motivated. The same is 

true of dogs. 

As we know, dogs learn by association. 

So we have to associate the keys with 

something nice — which normally for 

dogs means food. We keep one hand 

behind the back and hold the key in 

the other hand, and as soon as the dog 

shows interest in the keys, he is treated 

from a flat hand. This is quite easy, 

because dogs are curious by nature 

and will want to investigate what you 

have in your hand. Having the hand 

with the treat behind the back ensures 

that the dog is more interested in the 

keys than in the treat. 

Next, we move the dog a little further 

away in the direction of the keys, starting 

by holding the keys further away 

from the body, sometimes changing 

hands, which stimulates the dog to 

think. Gradually we move the keys 

towards the ground. In this case, the 

owners were sitting on chairs, as it 

was more comfortable for them. In a 

funny episode with Ed and Windy this 

proved a bit challenging, because with 

the keys on the ground Ed was looking 

at Windy, and Wendy was looking at 

Ed, and they were a bit confused as 

to what to do next! Ed was probably 

expecting Windy to look for the keys, 

whereas Windy was looking to Ed for a 

treat. The solution to this is don’t look 

at your dog! Sometimes it also helps 

to look at the keys on the ground. You 

can also throw the keys a little further 

away, but we need to be careful with 

40

DIFFICULTIES IN TRAINING 

These can include the dog marking 

each box, which is common in the 

beginning, marking other keys, or losing 

attention. On the owner’s side he 

may move his hands too quickly into 

his pocket or let the dog wait too long 

for instructions. Sometimes the dog 

would sniff the key and sit down and 

look at the owner, but sometimes the 

owner would say, “Go on,” which is 

what I don’t want him to do, because 

the dog should not be dependent 

on the owner for doing the job. The 

owner has to quit talking to the dog 

and let the dog work alone. 

that as throwing things is not always 

a good idea. But for this dog just that 

little bit helped and he got the point. 

At this stage we introduced the word 

key. It can be introduced earlier if necessary 

but we decided to do it at this 

point. When the dog looked at the key 

on the ground, I said key or find the 

key. At that point the dog sat down, 

because she was looking at the owner, 

so it was easy for us and she got the 

reward for that. We decided to use 

that for marking. 

The next step was hiding the keys. We 

do that in little steps that are not too 

difficult. We use a lot of cardboard 

boxes for this; the owners collect 

them and bring them along. First we 

hide the owner’s keys and let the 

dog search for it among the boxes. 

We gradually make it more difficult. 

Finally we put the keys in a box, which 

is more difficult because the dog can 

no longer use its sense of sight; it has 

to use its nose. Gradually we increase 

the number of boxes, and the dog has 

to discriminate between them. It is 

important to give the dog the freedom 

to find the key in the right box. It 

is even better when we do it “double 

blind,” where the owner does not 

know where the key is, so he cannot 

inadvertently help the dog. It was really 

fun and it really made the owners 

proud of their dogs. 

Next we increased the difficulty by 

adding more keys. We introduced keys 

belonging to other people, starting 

with two and then more. Sometimes 

the dog recognized the owner’s keys 

visually, sometimes not, but the most 

important thing was the fun. Finding 

the right key with scent discrimination 

is necessary because we want to be 

sure that the dog is only looking for 

the owner’s keys. Sometimes we did a 

so-called negative search, where the 

owner’s keys were not among the ones 

we put out. It is good if the dog can 

learn to walk off without sitting down 

when the owner’s keys are not there. 

Then we gradually increased the difficulty 

by adding more boxes and more 

keys, including the keys of the owner. 

This means that the dog was more 

focused on working a little longer. The 

key to success is building things up. 

VARIATION 

We also used variation such as different 

objects to hide the keys. It meant 

that both the people and the dogs had 

to be creative! We even tried hanging 

socks from a washing line and putting 

the owner’s keys in one of them. This 

was a lot of fun even though a bit odd 

for the dog in the beginning! Hiding 

the keys in shoes or clogs (we are 

Dutch, after all!) is also fun. 

CONCLUSION 

The key to success is: 

Look for the possibilities instead of 

focusing too much on the limitations! 

There is always a possibility of changing 

something if you are aware of what 

you are doing. It was great working 

with these people and their dogs. We 

are already thinking about the next 

step, for example starting the car! 


41

A family of dogs 

Grandfather, father, mother, aunts, teenagers, puppies and friends… 

Ten dogs share life together in adog-friendly environment close to 

Bilbao, Spain. An insight into the life of this nice dog family. 

CRISTINA 

MURO, 

SPAIN 

For the last few years at AEPA Euskadi, 

we’ve had the privilege of being able 

to share in some of the experiences of 

a family of dogs belonging to two of 

our friends and former students, Esther 

and Iñaki. The couple has been raising 

Labradors near Bilbao for the last 

seven years. They are not limited to 

simply raising puppies with a mother 

and siblings. Rather, the puppies share 

their days with a big family of grandparents, 

fathers, mothers, aunts and 

adolescents. Ten adult dogs and a 

number of puppies live together in a 

rural area 10 km from Bilbao, Spain, in 

a “breeding center” called Avellanar 

Retriever. A large area has been created 

especially for them with grass, trees, a 

small wooden house, various kennels, a 

small swimming pool, and loads of objects 

to satisfy the natural curiosity of 

dogs. There is even music, particularly 

Mozart, which the owners love. 

Esther and Iñaki do not advertise, 

except on their website, because by 

word-of-mouth alone puppies are 

reserved as much as a year before they 

are born. 

BEFORE BIRTH 

The couple works in a very responsible 

way with their dogs, particularly with 

the mother and with potential new 

owners. With new owners: 

• They are always available to resolve 

any doubts and to give appropriate 

information 

• They organise courses to teach new 

owners how to satisfy the puppies’ 

needs 

- The courses include “calming 

signals”, walking on a loose leash, 

stress, barking, fear, emotions, 

etc. The owners are therefore 

better equipped to help their 

puppy in the process of adaptation 

and throughout their life. 

• New owners accept and understand 

that the puppies will be staying at 

the centre with their mother, siblings 

and rest of the family until they are 

10 to 12 weeks old. During this time 

they can of course come to visit. 

THE PUPPY’S MOTHER 

All their dogs are important to Esther 

and Iñaki, but when one of their bitches 

is expecting puppies, a maximum of 

attention is afforded her. 

• The mother is given special treatment 

(diet, veterinary care, etc.) 

• The mother is allowed to choose 

where she will give birth. The owners 

are available in case of problems, but 

in general they leave her undisturbed. 

• The other dogs do not come into 

contact with the new family during 

the first three weeks. 

AFTER BIRTH 

During the first week, if everything has 

gone well, the mother takes care of 

everything. Esther and Iñaki observe 

developments discreetly without disturbing 

her or the puppies. Sometimes 

they touch the puppies very gently, 

imitating as closely as possible the way 

the mother does it. Around the third 

week when the puppies open their 

eyes and ears, the owners continue to 

make gentle movements and turn on a 

little music (Mozart of course!) 

Around the fourth week the puppies 

gradually receive a bit more stimulus; 

at this stage their little mouths are 

very important receptors of information. 

At the end of the first month they 

are ready to “explore the world 

The first adult dog that they are presented 

to must be very kind. The two 

males are very patient with the puppies 

and are often chosen for the first 

meeting. The other adults are then 

slowly introduced, two or three adults 

each day. The adults inspect the puppies 

with great curiosity, and the puppies 

often produce a little pee at this 

time. Their father, Pryor, loves to wash 

them and the puppies often gravitate 

towards him for this purpose. Gradually 

the puppies get to know the rest 

of the family as well as their different 

personalities. Their grandmother, Larta, 

does not have a lot of patience; their 

42

half-sister Nut from the same mother 

a year earlier is like a second mother 

to them. Their father is very patient 

and likes to play with them. Generally, 

all the adults are patient and kind; 

even their aunt Viña, who is normally 

quite impatient, becomes gentle and 

calm in the presence of the puppies. 

The puppies suckle until the age of 

seven to nine weeks. The mother 

allows this, and Esther and Iñaki do 

nothing to stop the flow of milk. However, 

they also provide “puppy food” 

as soon as the puppies are four weeks 

old, for those who want to taste it. 

The puppies gradually become used to 

a change in diet. 

REGURGITATION 

In Wolves, regurgitation is part of 

the process of changing the puppies’ 

diet from milk to solids, and is 

well described among adults. In dogs, 

however, only the mother is known 

to regurgitate. Esther and Iñaki have 

filmed a very rare case where Nut, 

the half-sister, is regurgitating food in 

the presence of the puppies. She had 

done this once before, but they had 

not caught it on film. There are several 

reasons that lead us to believe that 

it could have been intended for the 

puppies: 

• The family circumstances of these 

dogs are unusual, because the puppies 

are generally living only with 

their mother. 

• The bitch whined several times, and 

when the puppies approached, she 

regurgitated. 

• The other adults did not approach 

the vomit; remember these are Labradors, 

who would otherwise ingest 

such a feast immediately! 

But there are other reasons that 

suggest it might have been simply 

vomiting: 

• Regurgitation by dogs other than the 

mother is very rare (see reference). 

• The bitch whined; was she feeling 

unwell? 

• There was no begging behaviour 

whereby the puppies lick the adult’s 

mouth to provoke regurgitation. 

We cannot know for certain whether 

Nut was unwell, although the owners 

believe she was in the best of health. 

Nor do we know if it was just a coincidence. 

Possibly also, simply the presence 

of puppies could be a stimulus to 

elicit regurgitation. Nonetheless, it is 

an interesting incident that was worth 

recording. 

SHARED ACTIVITIES 

Around the seventh week almost all 

the adults participate in teaching the 

puppies the meaning of “don’t steal”. 

They use all kinds of objects including 

sticks, bread, a balloon etc. We have 

also recorded video of an adult growling 

at the puppies approaching his 

stick, but he showed no reaction when 

another adult approached. 

Both puppies and adults share many 

activities, like tearing up cardboard 

boxes, or playing tug-of-war with a 

dishtowel or a stick, etc. 

Around the ninth week the puppies 

seem to be little more careful towards 

certain objects (fear period?). The 

presence of adults with whom they 

have shared many good moments 

helps them regain their confidence. 

In this article I have described one of 

the litters that we have known. We are 

always very touched when Esther and 

Iñaki invite us to share some moments 

with a real family of dogs. The adults 

have known each other for many years, 

and we can observe how they interact 

with the puppies. The puppies are 

simply there, among the adults, playing 

with a toboggan or branches or 

stones... And the adults are generally 

calm, the mother keeping a careful eye 

on the puppies, taking part in games, 

coming near them if they whine, and 

letting them sleep in peace. We cannot 

help but see them through human 

eyes and attribute to them kindness, a 

sense of humour, affection etc. Is there 

such a big difference from our human 

families? 

Iñaki and Esther asked me to transmit 

their gratitude for all they have learnt, 

which has helped them improve the 

conditions for puppies and the whole 

family of dogs. 

Sadly, the great majority of puppies 

that we know are not raised this way. 

A puppy bought in a shop almost 

certainly comes from a puppy farm. 

The British Kennel Club writes the 

following: 

Puppy farms are like factory farms 

where dogs are bred purely for profit. 

The dogs are normally bred too often; 

many are unhealthy, and often live 

in unbearably poor conditions. The 

puppies are generally removed from 

their mothers far too early and sent 

by rail or van to ‘dealers’ or pet shops 

in the big cities to satisfy the public’s 

demands. Many are severely traumatised 

by the transition, and some do 

not make it alive. Do not buy a puppy 

or a dog from these sources, as they 

will have had the worst possible start 

in life, and are far more likely to have 

health and temperament problems. 

Thanks to: 

Esther Esteban and Iñaki Rodríguez 

from Avellanar Retriever (pictures and 

videos) 

Iñaki Linaza (pictures and videos) 

REFERENCES: 

• http://www.avellanarretriever.com 

• http://www.aepa-euskadi.org 

• Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs 

• Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 

Volume 7, Issue 5 , Pages 268-275, September 2012 

• S.K. Pal, Parental care in free-ranging dogs, Canis familiaris, Applied 

Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 90, Issue 1, January 2005, Pages 31-47, 

ISSN 0168-1591, 10.1016/j.applanim.2004.08.002. 

• http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/208 


43

Use of a pheromone collar in 

the therapy of behavioural 

disorders in dogs 

MARTINA 

NACERADSKA, 

CZECH REPUBLIC 

We can consider problem behaviour 

as behaviour that alters the relationship 

between the owner and their 

dog, for example when the dog loves 

to dig. Many owners who have a very 

nice garden also have a dog that loves 

to dig. At one of my puppy classes I 

suggested the owner create a special 

digging area for her dog. The dog understood 

quickly that he is allowed to 

dig there, and the owner was thrilled 

when he left the rest of her garden 

alone. At the same time, his natural instincts 

were fulfilled. From the human 

point of view even an instinctive dog 

behaviour could be considered to be a 

problem. In the majority of cases, the 

real cause of the problem behaviour is 

the owner. 

In the majority of cases I encounter 

with problem behaviour, the real problem 

is the owner. In one case the dog 

was drinking a lot and peeing inside, 

because of illness, and the owner 

solved the problem by disallowing 

the dog to drink because she didn’t 

want him urinating inside. Recently 

a woman brought a four-month-old 

Chihuahua to my puppy school class, 

and would not put it on the ground. 

She explained that she was afraid that 

her Chihuahua would bite and harm 

other dogs. We did a little parallel 

walking and after about an hour the 

little puppy was totally comfortable 

sniffing around about a metre away 

from another dog. The homework I 

gave the owner was simply to let the 

dog be a dog. 

CAUSES 

The most frequent causes of problem 

behaviour in dogs are stress, altered 

socialisation in puppyhood and inconsistency 

of the owner in handling 

their dog. The behaviour of the owner 

escalates the problem by frequent 

misunderstanding. A dog can normally 

learn a maximum of about 200 words, 

but some owners use loads of words 

for just one command. Owners ask the 

dog in several sentences to go to the 

sofa, and when the dog looks confused 

they think he is stupid. 

THERAPY 

The change of owner’s behaviour is 

often required for success in solving 

problem behaviour. An individual approach 

is required in every case. It is 

very important that the owner learn 

the calming signals that dogs display 

when they feel stressed or tense. 

Dogs use these signals to calm down 

a conflict situation or to avoid a conflict. 

Calming signals are, for example, 

yawning, turning the head to one side, 

blinking or licking the nose. In some 

cases where the dog gets overexcited 

CHART OF PERCENTAGE OF SUCCESS IN THERAPY 

100% 

90% 

80% 

70% 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

20% 

10% 

0% 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 

Unsuccessful 

Partial improvement 

Successful 

1 Separation anxiety, vocalisation 

2 Separation anxiety, destructive behaviour 

3 Separation anxiety, elimination 

4 Acral lick dermatitis 

5 Hyperactivity 

6 Excessive shyness 

7 Phobias related to noise (fireworks, 

thunderstorm) 

8 Aggression 

9 Excessive barking 

44

in the car, I suggest that the owner 

yawn, and often the dog calms down. 

In some cases I use natural remedies 

such as Serene UM, Ananxivia and 

Relaxan. I was taught at university to 

use medicaments like clomipramine 

and such, which make the dog sleepy 

and do not solve the problem at all. I 

like to use a more natural way of helping, 

like pheromones such as the D.A.P. 

plug-in or Settle Down collar. 

PHEROMONES 

Pheromones are a specialised form of 

chemical communication. They are 

processed by the vomeronasal organ, 

which is located on either sides of 

the nasal septum. I had a strange case 

where the owner brought her dog 

to my practice because she believed 

he had some kind of disease – he 

flemed. I told her he was probably just 

scenting a bitch on heat, and that was 

that. Problem solved. Pheromones are 

secreted from a number of different 

glands. They act on both the limbic 

system and the hypothalamus and initiate 

physiological reactions without 

adverse or toxic effects. 

Pheromone-secreting glands are important for 

the following reasons: 

Social relationships 

For example in the facial area such 

as the chin, cheeks, lips, vibrissae and 

base of the ear there are pheromonesecreting 

glands that important for 

social relationships. At the opposite 

end of the body is the perianal region 

(supracaudal, circumanal, and anal 

glands) and genital region (preputial, 

vulvar, and urethral glands). Dogs are 

very interested in sniffing these areas. 

Territorial marking 

Glands in the pedal (paw) region include 

the plantar pads and interdigital skin. 

Calming of both juvenile and adult 

dogs 

Recently, pheromone-secreting glands 

have been discovered in the mammary 

region, sebaceous glands in the 

inter-mammary sulcus, which secretes 

pheromones a few days post-parturition 

up to four months. These pheromones 

can calm down both juvenile 

and adult dogs. 

RETROSPECTIVE STUDY 

A retrospective study included 44 

dogs of 26 breeds with behavioural 

problems. The most frequent breeds 

of dogs were crossbreeds (10/44) and 

the Jack Russell terrier (7/44). There 

were no major differences between 

24 males and 20 females in the study. 

In the Czech Republic the Jack Russell 

terrier is probably the most common 

breed. People do not understand the 

needs of this breed at all. They leave it 

for hours and hours alone at home. 

Pheromone collars were used as 

therapy of behavioural disorders such 

as separation anxiety, acral lick dermatitis, 

hyperactivity, excessive shyness, 

phobias related to noise, aggression, 

and barking. Pheromone collars were 

used as a single treatment in 23 of 44 

cases. Together with natural medicaments 

(Serene UM, Ananxivia and 

Relaxan) pheromone collars were used 

in eight of 44 cases. They were applied 

in combination with change of owner’s 

behaviour in four of 44. In nine of 44 

cases pheromone collars were used 

with both medicaments and change of 

owner’s behaviour. I asked owners to 

change their own behaviour; some did 

not want to do anything except giving 

treatment to the dog. I collected data 

by calling the owners and asking how 

the dog was doing. When I asked one 

owner how he had experienced the 

pheromone collar, he said it was great 

because his dog did not have any ticks 

or fleas. 

“Aggressive behaviour” was not what 

PIE CHART OF COUNTS OF BEHAVIOURAL DISORDERS 

3 

5 

1 Separation anxiety, vocalisation 5 

8 

2 Separation anxiety, destructive behaviour 15 

4 

10 

3 

15 

Separation anxiety, 

vocalisation 


destructive behaviour 


elimination 

Acral lick dermatitis 

Hyperactivity 

Excessive shyness 

Phobias related to 

noise (fireworks, 

thunderstorm) 

Aggression 

Excessive barking 

3 Separation anxiety, elimination 3 

4 Acral lick dermatitis 2 

5 Hyperactivity 10 

6 Excessive shyness 10 

7 Phobias related to noise 

(fireworks, thunderstorm) 4 

8 Aggression 8 

2 

9 Excessive barking 3 

10 


45

some call “dominant aggression”; in 

my research I found that the dog was 

afraid or stressed. The so-called aggression 

was a last resort for the dog. 

Results 

With the use of the above-described 

means, problems were solved in 18 

of 44 cases, partial improvement was 

seen in 21 of 44 cases and in five cases 

no change in behaviour was observed. 

The overall success of therapy was 

88%. The use of a pheromone collar 

was the most efficient (100%) in 

treatment of separation anxiety with 

urination and acral lick dermatitis. 

The five cases in which there was no 

change dealt mostly with phobias, and 

pheromones do not seem to have an 

effect on these because phobia is a 

very complex phenomenon. 

Problem behaviour from the point of 

view of the owner is more common 

than the natural behaviour of the dog; 

in most of cases the owner intensifies 

the problem behaviour by misunderstanding 

the real problem. The most 

commonly presented problem was 

separation anxiety (23/44 cases). This 

is a typical problem of our time. People 

purchase dogs, without knowing 

anything about the particular breed’s 

needs, because it is fashionable to 

have a nice dog. 

CONCLUSION 

Therapy for separation anxiety: 

The basis of the therapy is to reduce 

the addiction of the dog to the owner, 

but it must be done slowly and gently. 

A change in owner´s behaviour is 

required. The dog should not be alone 

at all at the start and no more than 4 

hours at the end. The therapy involves 

games that increase the dog’s selfconfidence, 

for example hiding treats 

around the flat, brain-teasers, kong 

toys, wobbler toy, etc.. A pheromone 

collar could be one of the possibilities 

to help the dog. One game that is 

great fun for any breed is to wrap up 

some treats in a towel and let the dog 

unroll it. This can be done even with 

the tiniest Chihuahua. 

To conclude, pheromone collars 

can be useful in the treatment of 

behavioural disorders without any 

side effects. There is no 100% magic 

treatment that solves all problems, but 

we can try to help. The overall success 

of therapy was 88%, but the presented 

study included only 44 dogs. 

Proof with a larger number of dogs is 

needed. 

Acknowledgement 

I would like to thank the Hlavkas Foundation 

for their financial support of 

my study, presented at the PDTE AGM 

in Scotland. 

Physiotherapy 

and disability 

PAOLA 

CORVINO, 

ITALY 

Our Physiotherapy Centre offers 

rehabilitation and assistance to 

animals disabled by various pathologies 

of either neurological or orthopaedic 

nature. Its permanent staff of 

physiotherapists and nurses apply 

conventional human physiotherapy/ 

rehabilitation techniques to animals as 

indicated by the veterinary surgeons, 

bearing in mind the anatomical, structural 

and biochemical differences of 

our four-pawed patients. 

ORGANISATION OF PATIENT CARE 

The organisation of patient care has 

to be shared among the following: the 

referring veterinary surgeon, the pet 

owner, the veterinary specialist and 

the physiotherapist. 

WHAT IS PHYSIOTHERAPY FOR? 

It is not just to treat different pathologies 

linked to motion disturbances, but 

also to take care of functions related 

to superior cortical functions, cardiorespiratory 

or gastro-enteric functions 

(sphincteric muscles). 

WHAT THE PHYSIOTHERAPIST 

NEEDS TO KNOW 

The task of helping the patient back to 

health requires organisation, technical 

ability and an empathy with the 

patient’s needs. But it is also mandatory 

to establish and maintain a good 

relationship with the patient’s family. 

As we all know, owners can sometimes 

be a big problem. It is important for 

the physiotherapist to work as a team, 

acknowledging the respective roles 

of each member (vet, family, etc.) and 

adding their specific contribution to 

the interest of the patient. 

46

CONVENTIONAL PHYSIOTHERAPY 

The physiotherapy that we apply 

at the Centre is either physical and 

instrumental, or manual. Physical and 

instrumental therapy is used to act on 

muscular, tendon insertion or articular 

pain. It resolves muscular contractions, 

tendinopathy insertions, oedemas and 

pain from osteodegenerative pathologies. 

Instrumental therapy acts through 

electrostimulation, ultrasound therapy, 

magnetotherapy, anthalgic currents 

(TENS endorphins) and laser therapy. 

Manual therapy includes active and 

passive mobilisation, lymph drainage, 

pompage, connective massage, Rolfing, 

and Cyriax. 

MOTION RE-EDUCATION 

This is extremely important and 

involves movement, hydrotherapy, and 

treadmills. It concentrates on muscle, 

articulation, posture and movement 

recovery, which for whatever reason 

has been lost or reduced from the 

original function. It aims to recover 

muscular posture through the use of a 

movement training protocol and the 

use of unstable surfaces. Hydrotherapy 

involves a reduction in the force of 

gravity, which allows the patient to 

carry out complex movements that are 

not generally possible in normal conditions. 

From the psychological point 

of view the body image of the movement 

is also maintained. The treadmill 

leads to recovery from muscular injury, 

with particular attention to balanced 

posture, distribution of weight and 

coordination. 

Finally, we use neuromuscular support, 

proprioceptive exercises and occupational 

therapy. And by occupational 

therapy, we mean that a dog that is 

undergoing this treatment should not 

get bored. 

The rehabilitation protocol has to 

take into consideration the medical 

background and suggestions of the vet 

and surgeon, the dog’s past medical 

history, the nature of the patient and 

its family, and whether the patient will 

be treated on an outpatient basis or 

in-house. The handling of the disabled 

patient has to take into account 

the patient’s pathology, age, breed, 

environmental difficulties, response 

to stimulation, diet, residual motion 

capabilities, and self-sufficiency. 

Therapy is given in order to prevent 

deformities, prevent bedsores, maintain 

hygiene and care of the disabled 

patient, chief functional recovery, and 

recover bladder functioning, which is 

extremely important. 

Of immense importance is rest. Rest 

requires setting up an appropriate 

contained space such as a kennel, 

anti-bedsore equipment such as highdensity 

foam, non-allergic transpiring 

material (cotton), postural positioning, 

and occupational therapy as mentioned 

above (the dog not getting 

bored). 

ASSISTED MOVEMENT 

Assistant movement aims to maintain 

the body’s shape and pace. The support 

that we use for assisted movement 

includes collars, a breast harness, 

suspenders (front/hind), and a ring. 

These aids are the link between the 

therapist and the patient. No trolley 

could ever substitute them! Unfortunately, 

sometimes the patient has to 

end up on a trolley. In our experience 

it has happened very few times, but 

in that case we have to try to get the 

patient to accept the trolley and feel 

comfortable with it. 

DAISY 

Daisy had a herniated disc (T11 T13) 

at admission. This was treated with 

magnetotherapy, anthalgic currents, 

passive articular mobilisation, and a 

treadmill. By 10 days she was walking, 

with help, on a treadmill. 

NIKI 

This was one of our most difficult 

cases. This cross-breed came to us 

with polyneuropathy and was treated 

with magnetotherapy, neuromuscular 

facilitation/support, passive articular 

mobilisation, hydrotherapy, motor reeducation, 

and proprioceptive training 

exercises. He was discharged at 50 

days after in-house treatment and had 

made great improvement. 

Returning the patient to family life 

means that the owner has to be 

carefully instructed on the following: 

setting up living spaces for the patient, 

handling the animal in day-to-day 

life, keeping up with the rehabilitative 

protocol, and prevention of incidents 

that might hamper successful rehabilitation. 

If everyone shares the same 

objective, then everyone shares in the 

success! 

To date we have treated 850 dogs and 

25 cats: 52% were neurological, 41% 

were orthopaedic, and 7% were both 

neurological and orthopaedic. Of 

these, 16% were treated in-house and 

84% as day patients. The rehabilitation 

period has ranged from seven days to 

3 months. 

PATIENT’S CHARACTER 

This is perhaps the focal point to be 

taken into consideration when starting 

the treatment. It is necessary to evaluate 

the patient’s character as well as its 

owner’s attitude. A depressed owner is 

no help. The owner must be made to 

understand that his/her negative feelings 

are practically absorbed by the 

pet and will result in a slow recovery. 

On the other hand, an encouraging 

owner who keeps a hopeful attitude 

and positively acknowledges any 

minor improvement will be an unexpected 

and incredible support. 


47

Strategies for solving 

dog-to-dog problems 

TURID 

RUGAAS, 

NORWAY 

We want our dogs to be social and to be able to be with other dogs and have a good time — and to be 

able to meet other dogs without having a fit. 

Dog-to-dog problems can have many 

reasons, but they are quite easy to 

resolve. Carolin Reger talks in another 

part of this issue about people visiting 

each other’s gardens with their dogs. 

A few weeks ago, some friends of ours 

brought their dogs to our garden. We 

started off with them meeting two 

by two, just a couple of times, and 

they very quickly became confident 

with each other. Dogs can learn to be 

social, and to be together in a nice 

way. It doesn’t mean they have to 

play. They can just be walking around 

exploring an area together, and often 

when they are finished with that, they 

just sit or lie around and relax. That’s 

what it’s all about. 

I have done a lot of consultations during 

my life, and I’ve had a lot of really 

very unsocial dogs for training. What 

I have learnt is that any dog, without 

anything taken into consideration, can 

become social, no matter what the 

problem was and how awful it looked. 

So for me it’s totally unacceptable to 

get rid of a dog because of dog-todog 

problems. I’m totally confident 

that you can bring me any kind of 

“monster” and he can become social. It 

may need a little patience but it works. 

WHAT IS A DOG-TO-DOG PROBLEM? 

• It can have to do with fear; a dog has 

learnt to be afraid of another dog or 

other dogs or types of dog. 

• It can involve being angry at one dog 

or dog type for some reason. I don’t 

think there is any one of us who has 

never been angry. Just like us, dogs 

have a right to be angry. 

• They may be defensive because they 

haven’t had a chance to develop 

their social skills; they have been 

stressed so much with ball throwing 

and Frisbees and sticks that they 

don’t have any brain sense left. So 

they cannot be social no matter how 

much they try. 

• They can be sick. 

• In some cases a dog can be absolutely 

sure he has a job to do. In some 

cases it’s not the right job that he 

should have, but he might feel that 

for example he has to protect you, 

because you are so whimsical that 

he feels he has to take care of you. It 

shouldn’t be the dog’s job; it should 

be yours. 

Although there are many, many reasons 

for a dog-to-dog problems, one 

thing it never is, is aggression. Sometimes 

people get hysterical when their 

dog is just a little bit worried. One 

little dog that my dog came up to was 

a bit worried and started to pee. My 

dog, who is very social, understood 

and let the little dog be. The next 

time they met the little dog was much 

more confident because my dog had 

been so polite the last time. Today 

they are really good friends. 

It can be anything from a little shyness, 

a little worry, to a full panic. The 

symptoms vary a lot, but generally 

they fall into these four categories: 

flight, fight, fiddle and freeze. 

• Flight does not necessarily mean 

running away; it can just involve shying 

away a little. 

• Fight doesn’t mean fighting it can be 

a little showing of the teeth, a little 

snap or a growl. 

• Fiddling can be a lot of different 

things, it can involve biting the leash, 

jumping up and down and a number 

of other things, just like we do sometimes 

when we don’t know how to 

handle a situation — like biting our 

nails, scratching our ear, looking at 

the sky, et cetera. Biting the leash is 

a very common symptom in puppies 

because we do too much with them 

and expose them to too much all 

the time. 

• Freeze can mean just standing a little 

pretending not to be there, looking 

away. A dog will often freeze when 

we bend over him, because dogs absolutely 

do not like that. There are a 

whole variety of reactions, like going 

around in a curve when a dog wants 

get come out of a situation. A dog 

showing his teeth is not aggressive; it 

just means someone or another dog 

got too close, and the mistake is that 

of the owners. It was their job not to 

let the dog get too close. 

REASONS 

There can be many reasons for dog-todog 

problems. Very often it is illness 

or pain. When you feel pain, such as 

a really bad leg or hip, you are careful 

not to get into situations that might 

knock you over, or where you might 

get bumped into. It’s the same with 

dogs. And of course it limits their 

social ability. 

Stress is also one of the main reasons. 

We have to find out why the dog has a 

dog-to-dog problem. 

STRATEGIES 

Knowledge 

We have to have knowledge of what 

makes a dog tick. We need to know 

a little bit about the dog’s health; we 

need to observe the dog and know a 

48

little bit about its development. We 

need to really work on our observation 

skills, because that is the most 

important thing. Very often the reason 

starts in puppyhood. That is why when 

there is a puppy class, it is important 

to check that there is no puppy that 

can mob or bully the others, because 

if one big puppy bullies another one, 

you very quickly get a small frightened 

puppy who can actually drag that fear 

into adulthood. We have to be careful 

with puppies; they have to meet 

nice dogs. They should grow up to 

be confident and social in a nice way, 

so we must never put puppies into a 

situation where they can start being 

fearful. Next time there is a similar 

situation developing, the cortex in the 

brain picks out the fear very quickly, 

fast-tracks it to the nervous system 

and brain, and the dog is afraid before 

you have even thought about it. It 

happens so quickly that there is nothing 

one can do about it. Treats don’t 

help either; it’s too late. In such cases, 

training is no good. You have to help 

the dog not to get into that situation 

to start with. 

Provocation can even include people 

doing stupid things, like throwing 

their hands up in the air and yelling 

“Oooooooo! What a wonderful dog,” 

which can really make a dog worried! 

If you have a dog that has a dog-todog 

problem, whatever the problem, 

there are two main steps to take. 

Take away the possibility for the dog to react 

That means that we have to protect 

the dog from the situation. We have to 

organize things to ensure that we do 

not put the dog in that situation for 

a period of time. This will allow him 

to calm down and keep his a distance. 

We have to start by helping the dog 

not to be exposed to the fear. When 

that situation is even getting close, the 

fear passes so quickly to the brain’s 

cortex that we can’t do a thing about 

it; it’s already too late. The fast track 

of a fear response is almost instant. So 

we have to take away the possibility 

for the dog to react for a period of 

time, which can be weeks or months, 

but we have to do it, and only then 

can we start making a programme for 

the dog to help him become social 

again. 

Teach an alternative behaviour 

This is when teaching comes into the 

picture. Today, I do this teaching a 

little differently than I used to. I am 

always quite careful, but I know the 

power of letting the dog have choices. 

It’s the most powerful tool you have. 

Step back, let go of your control, and 

let the dog have choices. It should be 

in such a way that the dog cannot get 

into difficulties. There are lots of tools 

we can use, but choices that allow the 

dog to get back his self-confidence 

are absolutely imperative. That’s where 

I have gone away from training quite 

a bit. I used to treat dogs for looking 

at other dogs, but I knew it wasn’t 

totally correct. It didn’t work the way 

I wanted it to, because we want the 

dog to gain self-confidence, and the 

feeling of being able to cope, which is 

totally different. 

STRATEGIES FOR GETTING OUT OF 

A SITUATION 

This includes curving, changing direction, 

moving away, getting enough 

distance, and enough time to think, 

which is very important. Most people 

don’t take enough time for the dog 

to think about what is going on. Dogs 

have a brain! And they can use it if we 

let them, which means giving them a 

little time, because it makes them feel 

safe so they can actually start thinking. 

Curving is very, very important. Curve 

with your dog, or even without him, as 

I do when I meet dogs. That is something 

that should be so laid down in 

us so strongly that we do it almost 

without thinking. 

You have to practice seeing things at a 

distance, in a relaxed way. This is also 

imperative because with the proper 

distance the dog learns to cope. 

Remember that dogs are visual; they 

learn mostly from what they see, especially 

at a distance. 

Other strategies include splitting up, 

parallel walking, social walks, building 

up the dog’s possibilities to cope with 

the situation, calm activities, concentrated 

activities, and choices of what 

to do. 

I have seen for nearly 40 years how 

splitting up works. It helps the dogs 

immediately, and the article by Agnes 

Vaelidalo in this issue (Dog Pulse in 

Daily Situations) is proof of just how 

important it is. 

SOLUTIONS 

Being together in a calm and nice 

atmosphere is very important. People 

nowadays have a tendency to want 

to train and do things; they feel they 

have to have activities, or work with 

their dog, but dogs don’t learn much 

from that. They need to be together 

in a calm way. So visiting gardens and 

going for walks together is absolutely 

the best tool we have for making our 

dogs social, or making them social 

again if they have problems. Start 

gently, for example with one other 

dog that they can accept after a while. 

I have never, ever seen a case that was 

impossible. It is really powerful to let 

them have choices. Because then we 

don’t do anything, we don’t ask them 

anything. We don’t treat them; we just 

give them time to find things out by 

themselves and to have choices. This is 

the way they learn best. 

The same is true of us. We also learn 

best when we have choices. If somebody 

pushes you into a learning 

situation that you really do not want, 

you don’t learn anything. I went on a 

course quite recently to learn Power- 


49

Point; I came home and felt I hadn’t 

learnt a thing. 

Enriched environments, going to 

new places and letting the dog check 

things out is a great way to build confidence. 

Get your friends and family 

members involved. Sometimes it only 

takes a few minutes in an interesting 

place, and the dog will sleep for the 

rest of the day. Getting a lot of new 

information through the senses is very 

tiring. It is much more important than 

marching along in the park. 

FORGET ABOUT THE FINAL 

PRODUCT 

Do not think about the final perfect 

product, which is what people often 

do; they think about what they can 

show off to people. Forget about that; 

it takes away the concentration and 

the skill to handle the situation you 

are dealing with at the moment. Think, 

rather, what you can do to help the 

dog. Is there something you need to 

do to teach him? Thinking about the 

final product means that people often 

overreact, because they can picture 

this nice dog walking alongside them 

and suddenly this dog is lurching and 

barking, and they think, “Oh dear, that 

was not the product I was looking for!” 

We just have to look at what we can 

do at the time. Can all dogs learn to 

like everybody? Of course not, and 

that’s not the goal. I would be very surprised 

if my dog liked everybody. So 

far he has almost done that, and that’s 

okay too. Do you like everybody? 

I hardly think so. There are some 

people I just can’t stand, and that’s my 

privilege. I can still be quite communicative 

and polite but that’s about 

it. In the same way, dogs can learn to 

communicate and have the necessary 

social skills to be polite. And in dogs, 

this includes simply going away, if they 

are allowed to. If your dog wants to go 

away and not have anything to do with 

a person or dog, he should be allowed 

to do that. My previous Shepherd was 

a little bit different, but he was also 

very good at showing when he needed 

help. If we met some difficulties when 

we were out somewhere, he would run 

to the car and sit beside it, showing 

me that he wanted to be there instead. 

And of course he was allowed to do 

that. That was his privilege. So, if your 

dog wants to get out of a situation, 

don’t push him or drag him into it. It’s 

his privilege to refuse. 

So a lot of dog-to-dog problems arise 

from the fact that we give them all 

this training rather than letting them 

learn to cope themselves, which is 

absolutely the most important. 

OUR JOB 

Our job is to let the dog choose his 

own friends, let him meet many dogs 

in safe circumstances, help him out 

of difficult situations, and give him 

mental stimulation. We must also keep 

an eye on our dog and read his signals, 

be attentive to our own actions, build 

up his independence, and not give attention 

for unwanted behaviour. 

A lot of dogs do not actually have a 

dog-to-dog problem. They get it little 

by little because people handle it the 

wrong way. They actually give the dog 

attention for the wrong thing. When 

the dog is young and excited, and he’s 

all happy about seeing another dog, 

the owner jerks back on the lead and 

stops him from looking at the dog. 

Instead they get him to heal, sit, lie 

down, or whatever. It doesn’t take long 

for that dog to learn that other dogs 

are dangerous. I think that’s the most 

common reason for dogs to become 

dog-to-dog aggressive. It’s not real 

aggression; it’s a learned behaviour, and 

it’s very common. If you walk around 

in a city, which I do quite often, you 

will see this happening all the time. As 

soon as the dog sees another dog, he 

gets a tight leash or something else. 

The best thing you can do for your 

dog is let him take part in daily activities. 

My dog loves being in the garden 

when there are people working there. 

Our builders have learned to show him 

all their tools. It is important for our 

dog to get to know the environment, 

what is there, and our ability to handle 

these situations gives him so much 

more self-confidence. Self-confidence 

is necessary for a dog to grow up 

and be social, knowing he can handle 

things. 

So give your dog choices — 

this is the most important 

message I have 

50

MINUTES OF THE AGM 2012 

In accordance with the AGM Agenda the following is a record of the AGM held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 

Sunday September 30th 2012. 

The meeting was opened by the President, Turid Rugaas from Norway. 

A gift was presented to each of the organisers by Turid Rugaas on behalf of the PDTE. 

The meeting was chaired by Ed van den Berg from the Netherlands. 

1A REGISTER OF THOSE PRESENT*) 

Ed van den Berg AM / Steffanie Binder AM / Paola Corvino AM / Agnes Degan AM / Erica Delvò AM / Paulina 

Druri AM / Chrissy Gough AM / Winnie Hartelius AM / Maria Hense FM / Arletta Hodge AM / Sonja Hoegen 

FM / Jan Hyams AM / Ronja Hyppölä AM / Andrea Knoblauch FM / Adelaide Lönnberg FM / Debby Lovell AM 

/ Leonardo Massaro AM / Maxwell Muir FM / Cristina Muro FM / Martina Naceradska AM / Jana Nemcova 

AM / Undine Nickerl FM / Agnieszka Nojszewska AM / / Christianne Pereira Armari AM / Dolores Palmer FM 

/ Roz Pooley / Stefanie Rentto AM / Susi Roger FM / Turid Rugaas HM / Bettina Salmelin / Rita Scaringi / 

Winkie Spiers FM / Emilia Tolonen FM / Agnes Vælidalo AM / Natalaya Verhoeven AM / Nelis Verhoeven FM 

/ Astrid Verkuyl AM / Claudia Zöllner AM 

*) The list of attendees may be incomplete due to the signed register having been mislaid. Apologies to those 

who did attend and are not listed here. 

1B APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 

Apologies were received from the following members who were unable to attend: 

Yiannis Arachovitis, Leonard “Buzz” Cecil, Pennie Clayton, Iris Esser, Raili Halme, Sheila Harper, Esther Herrera– 

Kivijärvi, Lisa Hird, Jeanne Hoogland, Sally Hopkins, Tiina Jor, Monique van Kessel, Gerd Köhler, Anne-Lill Kvam, 

Lisa Lang, Patrizia Legler, Deidre Long, Line Skaugerud, Olwen Turns, Magda Urban, Doris Vaterlaus, Pippa Woodward-Smith, 

Ali Zaffar 

2 MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM 

The minutes of the 2011 AGM were sent out in advance. The minutes were accepted by the membership. 

3 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – WINKIE SPIERS 

How lovely to see you all and welcome to the 2012 AGM here in Edinburgh. I’d like to thank Max and Cecile 

for hosting this year, it’s an enormous undertaking in terms of time and effort to organise something like this so 

thank you Max and Cecile very much indeed. This weekend and all the e-mails and information sent out leading 

up to the event, and the event so far, has been brilliantly and efficiently organised. 

Really pleased to see so many of you making the effort to be here, I know that it’s difficult to schedule time out 

of our busy lives but it’s so important to make the effort to learn more, develop ourselves, network and enjoy 

your membership of PDTE. I attend as many relevant seminars as I can but the PDTE annual AGM & seminar is 

always the highlight of my year, something I try to never miss. 

PDTE was set up in 1999 with the aim of improving the welfare of dogs everywhere and developing and promoting 

the best practices possible in dog training and dog care, this is what we continue to do with the help of 

our members, country representatives and the Board. It’s important that the PDTE continues to grow but also 

continues to uphold the highest standards in terms of practice and membership. The Board of PDTE continues 

to meet every month for online board meetings and we carefully read all membership applications and discuss 

to ensure that all associate and full members meet the highest possible standards in terms of up-to-date 

knowledge, training, understanding and handling of dogs. We also want to see members continue to learn year 

on year; investment in ourselves and our practice can only enhance our own dog’s lives and the lives of others 

that we come into contact with. Have pride in yourselves in all that you do and make an effort to network 

with others, set up discussion groups, use the forum, attend workshops, read books and be the best you can and 

promote PDTE responsibly and professionally. 

This year the Board has again stayed much the same which has provided good continuity and enabled us continue 

our work, this year there will be a few changes to the Board. All Board members work tirelessly for free, fitting 

in all that it takes to keep the PDTE running and progressing is no small feat – I thank you all, Turid, Andrea, 

51

Raili (who sadly for health reasons has been unable to join us), Pippa, Nelis and Adelaide our Board Assistant 

who so ably and generously assists us and also our member and election committee, Anne-Lill and Susi. Particularly 

I would like to thank Andrea who has worked incredibly hard as our membership secretary for a great many 

years and this year is stepping down for hopefully a well-earned rest. And thank you to Pippa for all your work 

as treasurer; Pippa is also stepping down this year. 

Our newsletter is of the highest quality and improves all the time thanks to Raili and her team and the content is 

always inspiring so thank all of you who contribute articles to it. Please have pride in the PDTE, it’s your organisation 

and don’t be afraid to get involved. Thank you all who do get involved and if you’ve not done so yet 

don’t be afraid to in any way that you can. 

I hope you continue to enjoy this weekend as much as I am and make the most of your PDTE membership. 

Winkie Spiers 

4 SECRETARIAL REPORTS 

Membership – Andrea Knoblauch 

There are now a total number of 103 members from 17 countries: 26 full members, 74 associate members, and 

three honorary lifetime members (Turid Rugaas, Norway; Sally Askew, England; Sheila Harper, England). 

NEW FULL MEMBER: 

Chrissy Gough, England 

NEW ASSOCIATE MEMBERS: 

During the past year 17 associate members joined from the following countries: 

1 from the Czech Republic / 2 from England / 1 from Finland/ 1 from Germany / 1 from Italy / 5 from the Netherlands 

/ 4 from Norway / 1 from Poland / 1 from Spain. 

New friends: 

There were two new friends — one from England and one from Ireland. 

Meetings – Nelis Verhoeven (standing in for Raili Halme) 

BOARD MEETINGS 

The Board met before the AGM, the only face-to-face meeting this year. 

During the year the Board met in a dedicated online chat room every month, totalling 11 meetings (two in 2011, 

nine in 2012), and communicated extensively by email. 

ACTION POINTS 

MARKETING 

Facebook 

The PDTE Facebook site continues to be very popular. 

Ed van den Berg has set up a new chat forum. 

Newsletter 

The newsletter has seen a number of improvements thanks to input from members. Members were encouraged 

to continue contributing articles, photographs and short stories and to announce their courses. 

Committees 

The past year has seen the various PDTE committees continue their work. 

Education and Ethics Committee – Turid Rugaas 

The Committee desires to encourage members to arrange PDTE workshops and is prepared to give advice and 

assistance. 

Marketing and Meetings Committee(s) – Raili Halme 

Raili Halme is responsible for both of these at present. 

Country Representatives (Turid Rugaas) 

52

The response from and interaction between country representatives has been excellent. 

COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVES 

Denmark: Turid Rugaas 

England: Ali Zaffar 

Finland: Raili Halme 

Germany: Sonja Hoegen 

Greece: Yiannis Arachovitis 

Italy: Chiara Gentileschi 

Netherlands: Nelis Verhoeven 

Norway: Turid Rugaas 

Poland: Agnieszka Nojszewska 

Scotland: Maxwell Muir 

Sweden: Monica Grönkvist-Carlsson 

Switzerland: Susi Roger 

SPONSORS 

The PDTE was again fortunate to be sponsored this year by Haqihana (AGM). 

Members 

Decisions were made concerning new members and transfers to full membership. PDTE events were discussed, as 

was support for various campaigns. 

5 FUTURE PLANS FOR THE PDTE – WINKIE SPIERS 

FUTURE PLANS FOR THE PDTE INCLUDE: 

• Increase our membership in all areas – Friends, Associates and Full Members 

• Continue to seek ways to improve information system from members to members and from Board and 

committees to members 

• Keep finding ways to provide benefits for members – price reductions on education, seminars and 

lectures 

• Explore ways to share and swap knowledge with a book and picture library etc. 

• More sponsors – within (members’ firms) and outside (as long as they comply with our ethics) 

– both long term and short term 

• Arrange more PDTE events everywhere. Encourage members to use the PDTE logo and to promote 

membership of the PDTE 

• More articles and stories from members for the Newsletter 

• Establish a solid membership of excellence and get the PDTE better known as an organization that 

doesn’t compromise on its professionalism or ethics. 

We would love all members to help and share their ideas. Please contact the Chairman with all you have in mind 

concerning the future of the PDTE :-) 

6 CORRESPONDENCE REPORT — WINKIE SPIERS 

The Chairman has written letters to various members and organizations regarding issues that arise during the 

year. 

7 TREASURER’S REPORT — NELIS VERHOEVEN (standing in for Pippa Woodward-Smith) 

The financial report was not finalised in time for the AGM. The Board proposed sending the report separately to 

the members within the next two months. There were no objections. 

8 ELECTION OF THE BOARD / SUB-COMMITTEE 

CANDIDATES FOR NOMINATION TO THE BOARD 

The following members were proposed and accepted for the Board positions: 

(Total participation: 38, vote counter Anne-Lill Kvam) 

President – TURID RUGAAS, Norway (votes in favour: 30) 

Chair – WINKIE SPIERS, UK (votes in favour: 33) 

Treasurer – SONJA HOEGEN, Germany (votes in favour: 32) 

Membership Secretary – NELIS VERHOEVEN, The Netherlands (votes in favour: 32) 

53

Meetings Secretary – RAILI HALME, Finland (votes in favour: 33) 

Board Understudy – MAXWELL MUIR, Scotland (votes in favour: 34) 

The following members were proposed for the Election Committee and have agreed to stay on for another year: 

ANNE-LILL KVAM, Norway (votes in favour: 34) 

SUSI ROGER, Switzerland (votes in favour: 34) 

Anyone wishing to nominate candidates for committees is asked to send an email to the meetings secretary 

(Raili Halme). 

9 VENUE/DATE OF THE NEXT AGM 

One proposal has been put forward for next year: 

The next AGM will be held on 28th-29th September 2013 in Volendam, near Amsterdam, Holland. 

Votes in favour: 34 

10 PRESIDENT’S CLOSING REMARKS – TURID RUGAAS 

Turid thanked the members for a good and very efficient meeting. On behalf of the Board she presented Andrea 

Knoblauch with a gift in recognition of the excellent work she has done for the past few years as Membership 

Secretary. A gift was also presented to the organisers of this year’s conference, Max and Cecile Muir. Turid encouraged 

members to continue networking and getting to know each other, and for as many as possible to join 

in the AGM weekend next year in Volendam, Holland. 

REMEMBER TO USE PDTE LOGOS 

ON YOUR WEBSITES, LEAFLETS, EVENTS... 

THE DOG — our best 

sponsor in Finland! 

“I am being raised in a dogoriented 

way without 

punishment or compulsion; 

I am encouraged and 

rewarded, and I am 

allowed to fulfil my 

species-specific needs. 

I love being a dog!” 

54

Dear PDTE members. 

Our new website pdte.eu is online. 

We added some new modern features. 

New Website 

@Home you can download the latest bulletin. 

@Marketing materials you can download the latest newsletter. 

@Members Dear PDTE members. area (login required). 

Articles and information. This section will be developed to a database with interesting 

Our new website pdte.eu is online. We added some new modern features. 

articles and other information. Do you want to contribute please contact the Board. 

@Home you can download the latest bulletin. 

Membership @Marketing materials renewal you can this download section the will latest provide newsletter. the electronic renewal form. Active July 

2013. @Members area (login required). 

Forum this section provides our forum. We have moved the forum pdteforum.com to 

Articles and information. This section will be developed to a database with interesting articles and other 

our own domain pdte.eu. 

information. Do you want to contribute please contact the Board. 

Chat. This section provides a private chat room for members 

@Contact Membership you renewal can this directly section will mail provide a board the electronic member. renewal form. Active July 2013. 

@Social media provides a link to our Facebook page. 

Forum this section provides our forum. We have moved the forum pdteforum.com to our own 

Domain pdte.eu. 

Please check it out.. http://www.pdte.eu 

We Chat. would This section like to provides improve a private the chat site room all for the members time. Do you have comments or questions? 

@Contact you can directly mail a board member. 

Don't hesitate to contact the Board. Would you like a login to the member area? 

@Social media provides a link to our Facebook page. 

Choose membership secretary at the contact form. Fill in your desired username (at 

least Please 6 check characters) it out. http://www.pdte.eu and password. 

We would like to improve the site all the time. Do you have comments or questions? 

Don’t hesitate to contact the Board. Would you like a login to the member area? 

Choose membership secretary at the contact form. Fill in your desired username 

(at least 6 characters) and password. 

55

Welcome to the Netherlands for the 15th Annual General Meeting 

of the Pet Dog Trainers of Europe 

28-30 September 2013 

Both PDTE members and non-members are welcome. 

The AGM expands knowledge and friendship! 

Stay in contact and meet colleagues and new people, and share ideas. 

The speakers (all PDTE members) on Saturday and Sunday will share about 

new developments, their own experiences and projects concerning dog 

welfare. 

On Monday we have a special programme that will differ somewhat from the 

years before. 

Main theme: Health and Happiness! 

Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information: 

www.PDTE.nl 

Hope to meet you in Volendam! 

Hosted by the Dutch PDTE team: 

Nelis Verhoeven, Natalya Verhoeven, 

Ellen Huijs, Astrid Verkuyl 

and Agnes Degen. 

Sponsor AGM 2013 

56

PDTE 2013 Winter Newsletter

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?