The Practical Dog Listener: The 30-Day Path to a Lifelong Understanding of Your Dog

The Practical Dog Listener: The 30-Day Path to a Lifelong Understanding of Your Dog
Jan Fennell

In THE DOG LISTENER, Jan Fennell changed the way we think about our best friends. Now, in this indispensible companion volume, she deals with the day-to-day practicalities of putting those principles to work.In THE PRACTICAL DOG LISTENER, Jan Fennell distils her ideas into a simple 30-day guide that will enable everyone to use her remarkable method in a practical context. She covers every element of pet ownership – from introducing a dog to its new home and handling it in public, to dealing with behavioural problems. With detailed sections on everything from exercise to diet, there will also be problem-solving guides, dealing with worries such as biting or anxiety.Once again, Jan illustrates her points with entertaining and inspiring real-life cases from her own work with damaged and delinquent dogs. She even tells the saga of the Devil Dog – a tale to reassure even the most desperate owner that perseverance really does pay off!

The Practical Dog Listener

The 30-day path to a lifelong understanding of your dog

Jan Fennell

For Sasha, Barmie and Raffie

Also to Sadie, the star of this book 5/12/1995–28/10/2005

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#u86afd3cc-fece-5450-b9cd-ae4ec173eb3d)

Title Page (#u27343aac-847e-5f9c-8ae2-bd4f8765d3fa)

CAUTION (#u470ca918-afd1-5af8-962a-de9629607e9a)

INTRODUCTION (#u44e0dd5d-3f3a-587a-9086-a931673bff24)

PROLOGUE (#ue389f1d2-4211-5125-9e75-7dfefda3afc0)

PART ONE: Day-1 (#udbca0635-3399-50f3-a240-d5d7d10a5a4d)

PART TWO The First 48 Hours (#u1ac63eb4-be44-5c71-a541-3c59aa454b0a)

PART THREE: Days 3–7 (#litres_trial_promo)

PART FOUR: Days 8–14 (#litres_trial_promo)

PART FIVE: Days 15–21 (#litres_trial_promo)

PART SIX: Days 22–30 (#litres_trial_promo)

PART SEVEN: Day 31 Onwards… (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Images (#litres_trial_promo)

Index (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

CAUTION (#ulink_1bae028f-cd56-504e-9f72-f26915c7afab)

It is important to state here that my method cannot remove the aggressive tendencies of any dog. Certain breeds have been raised specifically for the purpose of fighting, and my methods will never be able to alter their potentially savage nature. What my method can do is allow people to manage their dogs so that this aggressive instinct is never called upon. Please exercise the greatest of caution when working with such dogs.

INTRODUCTION (#ulink_2d097f82-701d-53c0-83d6-64f4b3b1f5c1)

The response to the publication of my first book, The Dog Listener, has been truly humbling. I seem to have struck a chord with so many people who share my belief that humans and dogs can enjoy a peaceful and rewarding coexistence. The thought that many of these people are now successfully implementing the compassionate training method I outlined, and so are learning to understand the dog’s own language, heartens me enormously.

The many words of support I have received since publication echo those I first heard on a much smaller scale when I began treating problematic dogs almost ten years ago. At the time, people raised on the idea of ‘obedience training’, of sublimating the dog’s will to that of its human ‘master’, were overwhelmed to discover that dogs could coexist with humans while still exercising their own free will. They were amazed to discover that, as I like to put it, the best form of control is using the dog’s self-control.

People’s responses to the practicalities of applying my method have conformed to an equally familiar pattern. And it was here that the seeds of the idea for this book were sown. From my earliest experiences in dealing with owners on a one-on-one basis, I quickly learned that no two dogs, no two homes and no two relationships between dog and owner are the same. On the one hand, this is one of the main reasons why my work remains such a source of fascination to me. However, this also makes it natural that my work divides itself into two distinct phases: the home visit itself and the post-visit, or backup, service.

During the crucial first consultation, it is my job to explain and demonstrate the principles that underpin my work. From there, I go on to offer owners basic instructions on how to implement my method. Many owners are able to replicate my method almost instantaneously, yet just as many require ongoing supervision. This is no criticism of any of them: while, at heart, my method is a simple one, the practicalities of implementing it are at times demanding. Some people don’t have the time or the resources to devote themselves as fully as others. Some have tried so many different methods, they cannot separate mine from the others. Equally, while I believe all dogs understand and react to my signals in the same way, every dog has a personality that can manifest itself in a different form of behaviour. Some dogs are simply more strong-willed and resistant than others. As a result, I make sure I am always at the end of a telephone line to guide owners through the difficult moments.

My first book was, in many ways, the equivalent of the home visit. Within its pages I outlined my ideas and explained how they evolved through long and hard experience. It was, if you like, my mission statement. Now I have produced this second book as the backup, the practical guide to putting that philosophy to work. The reaction to the first book has helped shape the content of this companion volume. Many of the people who have contacted me since reading The Dog Listener have asked me to develop specific ideas touched on in the first book. Most of them have wanted to apply them to the practical realities of their own situations. Many people, for instance, own more than one dog. Others find it hard to impose themselves on their dog, to present the signals consistently and to interpret their dog’s reaction correctly. Some find it difficult to incorporate my method into their hectic lives. Others have dogs that have displayed behaviour so bizarre, it simply hadn’t occurred to me it existed! I have no doubt there are dogs out there with traits that I still haven’t imagined. Nevertheless, I have done my best to cover as many of the unexplored areas as I can in this book.

My goal is to allow anyone to implement my method. So, to make it as accessible as possible, I have divided what follows into a guide through the key phases of the crucial first thirty days. I am adamant in my belief that the work of a responsible and caring owner begins even before a dog arrives within the home. With this in mind, I have included a section on the all-important preparations required too. From meeting and corresponding with people, I know how many readers enjoyed hearing of my adventures in treating problem dogs, so I have made sure I have included as many anecdotal examples as possible to illustrate my points. In response to readers’ comments, there are also step-by-step photographs.

There are goals that can be achieved at regular intervals throughout this method. For instance, it is my belief that most dogs and their owners can attain a basic new understanding of each other within two days. Within a week, I believe most owners should be ready to begin taking their dogs out on walks in public places. At the same time, I am not so foolish as to claim that my method will turn even the most difficult and badly behaved dog into the perfect companion within a month. Nor am I going to promise that every dog’s progress will conform to precisely the same pattern. If you find your dog is not doing something within four, fourteen – or even forty – days, you should not despair. Results will come with application and patience. Provided you persevere and apply my ideas consistently, even the most desperate owner should see huge improvements within this first month. Perhaps even more importantly, you should also have changed your perspective of your dog. Both of you should then be ready to join the growing band of owners and dogs that are enjoying a happier and more fulfilling life together.

Lincolnshire, England, October 2001

PROLOGUE (#ulink_e8e4cb32-6716-5bc4-896e-81ae8801d3ff)

Home Truths

In the decade since I first began developing my ideas about communicating with dogs, I feel as if I’ve been travelling a long, mysterious – and seemingly endless – road. If I am honest, it has been a journey filled with more than its fair share of wrong turns and blind alleys. Yet around every corner there has been something new to learn.

My travels have now taken me far from home, and the close-knit community of friends and fellow dog lovers within which I began my work. It has been a privilege to meet and help – either directly or indirectly – dogs and owners as far afield as Thailand and the United States, New Zealand and France. Wherever I have travelled I have encountered situations that, sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically, have deepened my understanding and reaffirmed my belief in the principles of the hidden language that underpins dog behaviour. It is ironic, then, that the most powerful and painful lesson of recent times should have been delivered within the confines of my own home.

There’s an old saying that if you want to give God a laugh, you tell him your plans. It never seemed so apt as it did in May 2001. At the time, I must admit, I had been feeling on top of the world. I had travelled to Poland to promote the publication of my first book, The Dog Listener. It was the first time I had ventured abroad to talk about my work. Meeting dog lovers in cities like Warsaw, Lodz and Cracow was an exciting and uplifting experience, something I’d never imagined would happen to me. I was guest of honour at the country’s main dog show and was feted on television shows and at Champagne receptions and dinners; they treated me like royalty. On the plane back from Warsaw, I had much more to look forward to: a follow-up book, planning a series for television in the UK and finalising the details for my trip to New York, for the launch of the American edition of the book in late July – all heady stuff.

It wasn’t long after I had set my suitcases down that I was brought crashing back to earth. God, it seemed, had got wind of my plans. At the time my partner, Glenn, and I shared our home in Lincolnshire with nine dogs. I’d set off to Poland knowing that the oldest of them, my eleven-year-old Jack Russell, Barmie, had been ill for some time. I wrote about Barmie in my previous book. I had come across him at an animal sanctuary where he had been brought after being discovered tied to a concrete block by a piece of rope. He had been horribly emaciated and was trembling: not just because it was winter at the time but also because he was utterly petrified of humans. I dread to think what sort of abuse he had suffered in his earlier life. The sanctuary was ready to put him to sleep because he was too nervous and aggressive to fit into a family home. I took him in and he became the first great test of my compassionate training method, then in its embryonic stage.

In the seven years I’d had him, Barmie had overcome his fear to lead a happy and fulfilled life. He was a bundle of good-natured energy. Unfortunately, because of the damage he’d suffered in his early years, he’d needed a great deal of medication. As he reached the autumn years of his life, it was clear the cumulative effect of the necessary steroids had weakened him. By that Spring his coat was bare – more skin than fur – his liver was enlarged and he was terribly weak. He was vomiting a lot: everything was breaking down. I’d been telling friends before my trip to Poland that I feared the worst. Sure enough, I got back to learn that he was in a pitiful state. I knew his time was at hand.

An even bigger bombshell lay ahead, however. Even before Barmie, my greatest insight into canine behaviour had been provided by Sasha, a beautiful, black German shepherd I had acquired as a puppy. I had begun my search for a new approach to communicating with dogs in 1990 after meeting the ‘Horse Whisperer’, Monty Roberts. Seeing him bring wild and untamed horses under control without resorting to force or violence of any kind had struck a profound chord within me. I had set out to find a way of training dogs in the same non-violent manner, communicating with the dog in its own language in the same way that Monty connected with horses. Sasha had come into my home soon afterwards and immediately proved an inspiration. More than any other of my dogs, Sasha had shown me the startling similarities between the leadership behaviour within the wolf pack and the domestic ‘pack’ of its distant relative, the dog. Without her guiding example, I would never have gained the knowledge I possess today.

Sasha was eight years old. She’d had problems with her waterworks about six weeks earlier, but a course of antibiotics seemed to cure her. About five days before I had flown to Poland the problem returned, only this time she was passing blood. The vet prescribed a stronger antibiotic and asked us to provide a urine sample so that he could work out the precise nature of her problem. When I got back from Poland, Glenn told me he had difficulty getting this from Sasha; she was having trouble passing water of any kind and her stomach had turned into a hard mass.

I had arrived back on a Thursday evening. On the Friday morning we had arranged to take Barmie to the vet. To be honest, I sensed the end was near. That morning he had been sick in the garden and had been unable to lift himself back to his feet after falling. When I described Sasha’s condition to the vet, he told me to bring her along for an examination as well.

While one vet went off to examine Sasha, we went into one of the rooms with Barmie. It was clear now that he was in some pain. We took the decision to have him put to sleep. There are owners who can’t bear to be present at this moment but, for me, it’s so important that the last thing a dog sees is a friendly face, and that’s what I provided for Barmie. At around noon on Friday, I sat there with him and cuddled him as the injection was administered. He was ready to go: he passed away within seconds.

On the way out, we spoke to the vet who was examining Sasha. The early prognosis seemed to be that she had a blockage, perhaps stones. I was so upset about Barmie I couldn’t really think beyond that. I told them to do whatever was necessary, even if it meant operating. To be honest, I assumed the problem was treatable.