In 2001 I watched a TV programme which altered the course of my life. The Dog Listener, with Jan Fennell, saw her go into people’s homes to resolve problems with dog behaviour. I had no idea that just a few years later I’d be doing the same thing!
I’m not sure what I was expecting from the TV programme, but what I saw staggered me. Whether the problem was aggression, nervousness, pulling on the lead or a host of other behaviours, she dealt with it calmly and quietly, but more importantly, without forcing the dog to do anything. She actually got the dogs to change their minds about what they had been doing, and to freely choose to do what she asked them- no bullying, no coercion.
When I then read Jan’s book ‘The Dog Listener’ it was clear that she understood how a dog thinks and could see the world from a dog’s point of view. It was this which allowed her to communicate so effectively with the dogs she helped.
Of course, as the old saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun; Jan developed her method after seeing ‘The Man Who Listens To Horses’, Monty Roberts, work with a previously unridden horse and have it accept saddle and rider in just over twenty minutes. He did this by using body language to establish a rapport with the horse, in effect communicating with it in its own language. Again, amazed by this display, Jan then decided this rapport must be possible with dogs too. She studied videos of canines in their natural environment- wolves, dingoes and wild dogs- and saw echoes of the behaviour of her own dogs. Over time Jan developed her method, based on the communication that was taking place in wolf and dog packs in the wild and started using it with her own dogs with startling results. Soon, people in her neighbourhood were asking her to come and help them with their dog behaviour problems, and from there word spread to local radio and TV.
Last year I found out that I could go on a course to explore dog-listening, and after completing the foundation course, I was invited to do the advanced course which would qualify me to practise canine communication. Business has been brisk, and I have been helping dogs and their owners in Derbyshire, Yorkshire and as far away as Lancashire! To see peace and contentment on an owner’s (and a dog’s) face is one of the best feelings there is and I look forward to sharing my ideas and experiences with you over the coming months.
|
