Dogs behaving badly tonight ch4

[Allthatworkandwhatnow543]

Much as I love Graeme Hall - love a man in tweed😃 - and his positive, friendly approach; plus he seems like a decent guy and a good dog trainer, the programme frustrates me because he never underlines the obvious; that certain dogs, usually working breeds, need a lot more stimulus and interest in their lives than an ordinary domestic household can give them, although it was pretty obvious in both of these cases.

Tonight, the programme featured a German Shepherd who span around holding his tail for attention, and had been doing so for eight years ☹️ and a gorgeous, bright as a button Parsons Jack Russell, who snatched glasses off people's faces and barked at coats when people took them off and put them on.

So he solves the problems, which was attention-seeking in both cases - well he shows the owners how to resolve them, and checks in over a longer period of time - but the underlying issue is still there. Both sets of owners tonight seemed like lovely people so this post is not directed at them in particular, but potential dog owners in general need to be more aware of DNA and much more aware of origins of breeds before they buy!

It sounds so obvious but before buying, check that you have the time and environment to give a working breed, the equivalent stimulus and interest that a full time job would provide! Rant over!

I very much agree that you need to meet the needs of your dog. My girl is a mix of dogs with very different traits so it took a while for me to figure out what her particular needs were. I couldn't just look up 'GSD' and put in the right groundwork (though plenty of people can but for some unfathomable reason don't seem to).

I now know she needs to run hard, she needs to "hunt", and she needs a strong bond with me and for me to be fun and interactive, and altogether that equals a happy contented dog who I can rely on to not disappear over the horizon and who is super chill in the house. All through only positive training methods.

The woman with the 8 chihuahuas annoyed me. Spent more time dressing them than actually dog training them. It's like she hadn't considered letting the outside to have a wee and a poo.

And as for having 8 dogs...

You sure you’re not his agent 😂 😉

I saw one recently when they said the (very nervous) dog was now happy to be petted whilst out and about, as the dog looked very uncomfortable and was giving a whale eye. I also think the programme doesn't convey that fixing certain issues takes a long time and sustained effort. And sometimes you have to modify your life to what your dog can and can't cope with, especially if they're a rescue.

But I agree with you OP, people should think long and hard about what type of dog suits their lifestyle and circumstances before getting a dog. And sometimes the answer is I can't give a dog a good home so I don't get one.

I really like Graeme and don't think pointing out the owners are terrible is helpful, he gives solid advice and improves relationships at home, which is what we ultimately all want.

I have to watch his show with headphones on because my daft dogs bark at dogs on tv! 😝

However, we contacted them for an issue with one of ours seeking help- he would madly run around the exterior of our garden, which was unfortunately within a park, so had a path running around 2 sides of it which dog walkers used. He would bark himself hysterical and could not be brought in for love nor money for a solid 5-10 mins then he'd cry with tiredness.

The team were keen at first- loads of contact and videos requested- they loved that we had a unique angle with the location of our house within the park. At the last stage they pulled out from helping us, saying they'd conferred as a team with Graeme and he didn't think we were help-able!

(A decent behaviourist, ££££, anti anxiety medication, and putting him on a long lead every time he entered the garden so he could be immediately pulled back indoors solved the problem)

I absolutely agree.

I absolutely adore border collies, and would love to have one.

But unfortunately I don't have a flock of sheep. So I got a miniature poodle.

Totally agree that calling out the owners would be counter-productive. I am not even doing that here. It’s too late once a dog has been purchased, The owners need support from that point on.

That’s really strange about your experience with GH’s company bc there was an apisode featuring EXACTLY this issue, but with two dogs I think, whose garden backed on to some sort of public right of way. And the solution you described was exactly what he did to solve the issue.

No way! Was it last season? I didn't watch it as it's so stressful trying to watch it with my idiot dogs who bark at the screen. Ooh that's made me annoyed, they literally said 'we don't think we can help with this issue as it's very complex and recommend a behaviourist'.

Is it me or has our Graeme been given a few too many tasty treats lately? He looks as though he's had to be corseted into his waistcoat and cravat.

Really surprised at all the hate for GH.

But his methods do work.

But they're not his methods. He gets advice from other trainers and pretends it's his.

He's not a qualified dog trainer.

I'm not.
Not because I dislike him as such (though I never quite believe what I see on TV) but because the general vibe of this board is very strongly pro force-free training. Some posters think that you shouldn't even say no to your dog.

I'm not in that camp. I believe that dogs can handle moderately aversive experiences that they can predict and learn to avoid, that moderate stress builds resilience and stability, and that correcting your dog won't ruin your relationship but will speed up training (leading to more freedom for the dog in a shorter time frame). I've read a lot of research, and keenly watched a lot of dogs and owners, so I'm not just making this up as I go along.

I 100% agree with OP that there should be a lot more emphasis placed on what a dog is likely to need. I have a hard-hunting HPR breed and they are so much happier for having a proper outlet. If my older dog gets what she needs, she is wonderful (entirely appropriate with other dogs, great with children, reliable and sensible). If she doesn't, after about 3 weeks she turns into a real pita. If she'd never got what she needed, I suspect she'd be a hyper, reactive mess.

There is a constant sad procession across this board of OPs with working-line dogs, often spaniels, who are running them ragged, on anxiety meds, barking at everything, resource guarding, snapping at the DC. Owners and dogs are all thoroughly miserable, and it's very sad.

I’ve never seen him punish a dog. He uses positive rewards for the desired behaviour. It works All tv programs have advisors. As for qualifications, experience in a field can be just as valuable if not more so.

There is a constant sad procession across this board of OPs with working-line dogs, often spaniels, who are running them ragged, on anxiety meds, barking at everything, resource guarding, snapping at the DC. Owners and dogs are all thoroughly miserable, and it's very sad.

Absolutely agree with this. Far too many people get dogs they can't cope with or handle - and it's the dog that suffers.

I know Graeme (not well).

His background is in management and he moved into dog training because the problems were nearly always with the owners not the dogs. So he comes at it from human behaviour not dog behaviour first. I'm not sure the programme reflects that particularly.

Dogs behaving badly is a really poor TV show and is just edited to make entertaining viewing and gives rubbish advice. Experience needs to be good if experience counts qualifications do matter.

Underdogs to Superdogs still a pretty waterdown TV show but it shows the different activities that dogs can do to encourage their natural skills and then prevent problems for the dogs and owners.

Virtually every dog we meet these days is a doodle cross or fluffball hashup. I suppose people buy them as they are cute and fluffy, but not understanding that a cockapoo, for example, is a mix of two active working breeds. It's the same with working cockers, small and cute but with a genetic need to be busy, all the time.
The woman in DBVB last night was classic. New life, new home, so she buys two cockapoos who are then left on their own while she's out at work.

He advertises himself as a "Master Dog Trainer" yet has zero qualifications to his name - it's bullshit, basically.

And as for punishment - he's toned it down recently but in the earlier seasons he did a lot of yanking dogs on their collars, and there was one memorable episode where he got up in the face of a Great Dane and shouted at it from about an inch away

And yes, programmes have advisors but they're credited and included. Graeme uses them to learn the techniques and then acts as though he came up with it all himself.

A dog trainer I know was asked to train Graeme on a certain issue before he trained a dog on the show...

People need to remember it's a TV show designed to entertain. A proper programme about how to train dogs in a sensible, calm way would be very boring, unfortunately!

He comes at it from a human perspective because he's not a dog trainer and doesn't really understand dogs 🙈

i always wanted a parsons

Oh look. A working cocker spaniel that is not having her needs met labelled as attention seeking 😐Easy to confuse a dog into 'behaving'. Less easy to actually meet their needs especially for a working dog.

the Chihuahuas were crazy though
or at least their owner was!

I gave up watching this programme a long time ago because I felt too many of the owners were just plain lazy and couldn't be bothered to do even the basics of training.

I don't dislike Graham, athough at times I don't know why he didn't have a right go at the owner(s) for being so clueless and pathetic. Felt sorry for the poor dogs.

I don't think there's been more than one or two episodes in recent years where a dog hasn't been told they're "attention seeking".