Female:

(music)

Nicely. Nicely.

They control me. I don't control them.

Heel.

Female:

Good dog. Come on. Come on boy. Good dog. No don't jump, come on.

Male:

Heel. Heel. Heel.

Male:

No. No.

Male:

Because it's a hell of a difficult to go for a walk with a dog like this. It's very unpleasant.

Male:

No. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit.

Male:

They don't really listen to you if you call them.

Female:

[inaudible 00:02:54]

Female:

[inaudible 00:03:25] sun is up. There you go.

Female:

So she's seven months old now. She's just excited. She's seven months old. She's very hyperactive.

Female:

Good girl. [inaudible 00:03:55]

Male:

One of our trainers has a very fancy dalmatian that he imported from London, who ate his lounge suite.

Female:

A trainer.

Male:

A trainer has a dog that ate his lounge suite.

Female:

Let's say no more shall we?

Male:

It's unbelievable.

Female:

Shall we say no more?

Male:

He says the dog ate his lounge suite.

Female:

The dog has such a kill to finish. Taking dogs to training is taking dogs to a hunt.

Pam:

The situation is actually very serious. Dogs are not compatible with their families, and they're not compatible with society. Statistics have actually revealed that more than three quarters of dog owners are experiencing behavioural disorders with their dogs. Further statistics indicate that more dogs die under the age of two as a result of being euthanized through behavioural disorders than from any other cause.

We are hearing there's no such thing as bad dogs, only bad owners, but what I've discovered in my research over 30 years is that it's not that there are bad owners, it's that there is a bad system.

Male:

I at the moment do a whole variety of plastic surgery, but for a long period of time I did a lot of trauma surgery, and in particular children with dog bite injuries. I probably drained a large number of patients from the [Stanton 00:05:44] area, and along with one of the plastic surgeons in Stanton probably saw most of the injuries that occurred.

The GPs in the area tell me that they send about 10% of dog bites through to the plastic surgeons, the other 90% are fairly minor and they cope with themselves. So our practise is really confined to the very severe 10% of dog bite injuries. Most of them are children, mainly on the face, but some adult injuries, particularly severe, where they've been attacked by dogs, and those are usually on the limbs and on the abdomen area.

One of the most severe injuries that I've treated in private practise was a family that had been attacked by two Pit Bull terriers. The mother was working in a scrapyard and these Pit Bull terriers broke down the door of the zozo hut she was working in. They attacked her, her son and her daughter. She managed to get the daughter pushed through the window and the daughter only needed about 200 stitches. The son had his throat ripped, he had one ear ripped off, the other partially ripped off, and about 10 or 15 major lacerations. The mother was virtually disembowelled and had far more severe injuries because she was the last to be pulled out of the hut.

I got the services of another plastic surgeon, and between us we put in over 18 man hours on the initial surgical experience with this family. The little boy I'm still reconstructing, we're busy making a new ear for him out of rib cartilage, and he's probably about one or two operations away from having his surgery completed.

Pam:

Don't worry about your dog.

Nicky:

Other way.

Pam:

Other way. Don't worry about your dog. Don't command her, and just ignore her. And if you tell her to stop barking, she's gonna start jumping on me, she's gonna think you're barking at me. So I didn't shout whoops and you didn't shout stop it, so she didn't bother to jump again. I also left my bag there which is nice and smelly for her too, to sniffle on.

All right. So let me do another entrance and see whether this time she doesn't jump at all.

Now what she wants is you people to command her to stop jumping, which means that you're barking at me. Can't get it right.

Okay so I just take no notice of her, and you see that time she didn't even jump up. Do you know why? Because you didn't bark at me. If you shouted at her to stop jumping up, she would have thought you were barking at me.

No, no no no no. Okay now watch, see I close off. Now when she comes to you, close off and get ... Come and stand over here. And what she wants you to do, what she wants to do is intimidate you. She does doesn't she?

Nicky:

Yes.

Pam:

Very nice. Makes you her victim.

Nicky:

Yes.

Pam:

So she hunts you. She can't hunt you if you don't behave like a prey. Preys wriggle and squeal and react and stare. So if you don't look at her, and you just close off, you don't react, react to her, then she can't intimidate you. You're in a cycle. She jumps on you, you stare, you squeal, you wriggle. You shout at her to get down which means you're barking at Nicky.

This is one visitor that hasn't come to visit your dogs. I'm come to visit you. I'm Pat.

Michael:

Michael.

Pam:

Nice to meet you. Let's just go through. Ignore your dogs, you haven't got any dogs. Come through Lorna. Okay you haven't got dogs. Hi I'm Pam, hi.

Okay now what you're actually doing by holding your dog back is you're setting the dog on me. Now by standing behind the dog you're actually giving the dog a tremendous amount of back up. So while you're waiting to see what the dog is going to do so that you can tell the dog not to, the dog does it. So the dog thinks it has to jump on visitors in order to get a command.

Before we start, let's pick up the valuables. It's a lot of valuables. Does she knock things over when she-

Female:

No. She generally doesn't come inside.

Pam:

We're not gonna come right if your dog doesn't come inside. So let's get to work on making the house temporarily dog friendly, and then afterwards when she's well managed you can go back to normal.

All right, so let's put things right out of reach, where she can't knock them over.

Female:

[inaudible 00:10:12]

Pam:

We don't want to have to shout at her and excite her with commands if she does.

Female:

Just giving her attention when she's naughty or she gets excited, because she gets love and kisses all the time.

Pam:

Look in the corner.

Female:

From the time that we get home I'm in the house cooking or I'm in the kitchen. So I start making food and whatever, and she's all around us all the time. So she's inquisitive, she wants to see what you're doing, she wants to smell it, see it. If I'm on the counter, working on the countertop she stands up and she wants to see what's going on.

So she's not being naughty, she's just inquisitive. So she gets love and kisses and biscuits and whatever. It's not that I'm trying to love her because if she doesn't do it she won't get a biscuit.

Pam:

Look in the corner, look in the corner. Hide your face like this. I'm gonna use all body talk. I'm listening to you all the time. So your logic is because the dog gets all the love and attention she wants ... Look in that corner quickly. Okay. Your logic is because your dog gets all the love and attention she wants 24 hours a day anyway, why should she want more attention ... Hands on your face, hands on your face. Stay like that, stay like that.

You see, now this is the ... Now stay passive. [Reon 00:11:40] walk off.

Did you see the expression in her eyes? Don't worry.

Michelle, you have to keep absolutely still. You're paying for your sins now okay?

Female:

Yeah but she's hurting me.

Pam:

You're paying for your sins. You have made that dog so bratish that now you've given in to her, you've stepped onto her, you've given her what she wants, so when you put your hands on your face to say I'm not going to talk to you, I'm not going to-

Female:

She doesn't like it.

Pam:

She's having a tantrum.

Female:

Ow.

Pam:

She's having a tantrum. Now I'm gonna take her, what do you call it, her baby away.

Female:

It's her squirrel's head, she bit him in half.

Pam:

Okay I'm going to take it away but you'll come back to all of these things later.

An emotionally immature dog is in fact a brat. When visitors come, if they're all falling round the dog then the dog's gonna think that the burglar's have come for its autograph. An emotionally immature dog does not protect its family. An emotionally immature dog thinks that the whole world is basically beating a path to the foot of their pedestal. So an emotionally mature dog knows it's loved and accepted and acknowledged. It knows its place, life can pass it by, it gets the love it needs, but it doesn't get all the love that it demands.

Hands on your face. All a big competition now. Put your hands on your face. That's it. That's it. When the contact points of the hands have gone, they all need to learn this, what you're actually doing is you're suffering for your sins. The more you've commanded and got angry in the past, the longer this is gonna take. You've gotta keep quiet because your laughter's giving them adrenaline.

Put your feet flat. We're just gonna sit like this and keep quiet. They're all having a competition to see who can make Beverly command. They're all saying, "I'm gonna make Beverly shout. I'm gonna make Beverly shout." And Beverly's not gonna shout so they're picking a fight. "Oh mummy will rescue me. Mummy will rescue me."

The way you give a dog emotional maturity is he's got to know his place, he's got to know where he is in the family. So many of our dogs are brats. We're taught they need lots of love and attention. If they get lots of love and attention then they're going to be very good, they're automatically going to want to please us. No such luck. Dogs are much too human for that.

So what I teach people is because dogs are made for family and society loving we treat them basically the way one would treat say an eight or nine year old child. You don't sit and stare at a child, you don't sit and stroke a child, you don't continually go to a child. When the child comes to you, sometimes you say, "I'm busy." You say that to the dog by just looking away like I did with my dog now. Sometimes you say "Hello" and, "Now run along and play", other times you get involved and then you can hug the dog, pet the dog, love the dog. But then you still say, "Now run along a play" by looking away.

You've got to change your behaviour.

Female:

[inaudible 00:15:21]

Pam:

Your dog's behaviour is a result of your behaviour. So while you're excitable and commanding, which means you're barking, your dog is hunting and excitable, which makes you excitable, commanding and agitated, which makes your dog agitated, which makes you agitated, and you are in that loop.

So what I'm actually doing is I'm saying you're the intelligent ones, you jump ... You do get compliments from me sometimes.

Female:

Thanks.

Pam:

You jump off the treadmill, and then the dog will jump off the treadmill. So instead of you running behind the dog to see what it's gonna do so that you can tell it not to, you sit back and you just say, "I'm not gonna command you anymore." And the dog sees that there's no point in being naughty.

The naughtiest dogs are the easiest dogs. Did you know that you had a very obedient dog before? It was terribly obedient. When it was jumping all over visitors and you were telling it not to and it went on jumping. It was very obedient. It was obeying the dog signals you didn't know you were sending. So what you were saying in dog language was the opposite to what you were saying in human language.

So while you were saying, "Go away." The dog heard, "Come and play." While you were saying, "Don't you dare." The dog heard, "I dare you." While you were saying [inaudible 00:16:47] the dog heard, "Come back." Do you see it?

Nicky:

I've been talking to people about training her, they've all said don't ever break eye contact because then I'm not the boss anymore.

Pam:

Is your dog your friend or is your dog your victim?

Nicky:

My friend.

Pam:

Well why are you turning into a victim by saying don't break eye ... I mean you know, is that a relationship? Don't break eye contact, as if your dog is your victim.

Nicky:

Jason!

Pam:

No.

Nicky:

Sorry.

Male:

He just wee'd all over the chair.

Pam:

And he got you there. He got just the reaction he wanted. The show is on the road again. Daddy's on the end of my spring. I got a reaction out of him. I made him angry. It was all such fun. When would you have the self discipline not to respond to your dog with commands the way he's setting you up? Or would you find-

Male:

It'll take a hell of a lot. I mean it's very difficult when you see him weeing on your furniture to sit back and just leave him alone.

Pam:

No. Rather punish him by walking out of the room. You see what you did was you rewarded the dog.

Male:

That'll become very ... It's quite a feat, to try to overcome that.

Pam:

The dog training system teaches you to subjugate your dog. So if you succeeded in what the dog trainers taught you, never break eye contact with your dog, then you'll turn your dog into a victim and then you will become your dog's victim. Victims seek their own victims. Your dog becomes a victim because he's scared of you, he's scared of you because he's a coward, cowards are bullies. And that's the cycle the dog trainers get you into.

So an insecure person told you that you mustn't break eye contact with your dog. Now imagine you're sitting staring your dog out, your husband comes in says, "Hello." "Hi darling. I'm just staring off my dog I'll speak to you just now." They're asking you to do something totally ridiculous. The bottom line is your dog isn't an issue. The trainer who told you that, dogs are his whole life. You've got other things in your life.

Living with a dog is like living with someone who speaks a completely different language. Let's say that I live with somebody who speaks Turkish, and I don't understand Turkish. And this person is constantly insulting me in Turkish. And then I say, "See how this person loves me, they're always talking to me." That is like dog owning. Dogs are cocking their leg and looking us straight in the face, they're crapping in front of us or at a distance where their back is turned to us, they sit with their backs turned to us, they sit on our feet, they walk between our feet. A lot of these things are actually doggy insults. So once we understand when a dog is insulting us we can then win the dog's respect and the desire to insult us goes.

But worse than that is if I see a dog jumping on a child and I shout at the dog to stop jumping on the child. The dog being a pack animal is going to think that I'm barking at the child, so the dog is going to jump more. If I say to a dog, "Go away." He sees another dog saying, "Come and play." If a dog is barking and I tell him to stop barking, he thinks I'm barking too. If I say, "Don't you dare do that." He hears, "I dare you to do that." If I say, "Look what you've done you naughty dog." He hears, "Look what you've done you clever dog."

Okay do you notice him taking no notice? Now let's say that this is a visitor ... Oh look he's stopped already. This is a visitor that doesn't like having the dogs climbing on them. If you want the dogs to leave me you can walk out, but look, they're leaving me anyway. They're so young that they haven't developed bad habits.

Right. It's distract. Okay. Now that one is determined to [inaudible 00:20:54]. You mustn't look. If you look, they've got you there. The game they're playing is to freak you out. Yum yum yum. Yum yum yum. Ooh delicious. Yum yum food. Distracted them away from the marbles. So basically if you see a two year old child doing something you don't like, as long as you say, "Don't do, don't do." They're gonna do it simply because they don't understand what you're saying. That's why they're terrible twos. But if you distract, if you just say, "Look at this picture." Or, "Look at that." Then you're actually going to distract them and with that distraction the idea of being naughty is out of their head.

Male:

Well they're still young at the moment, they mess and pee, they do their business all over the shop and I'm trying to get them trained to do it outside. But that's a bit difficult, maybe you can help us with that as well.

Pam:

Okay when you do house training it's mainly house training yourself. It's you learning when to catch. So when the puppies wake up you take them out, when they're finished eating you take them out, when you know they've been inside for a while you take them out. The only way that you can really teach dogs to be house trained, to do their business outside, is not to punish them and reprimand them, because it's negative reinforcement, they actually enjoy that attention.

So when they have finished eating, finished playing, they're sniffing around, just go quietly, pick them up and take them out. Don't make a fuss or put their noise in it or anything like that because it can actually give them thrills. Remember that your dogs are meant to be courageous. If they're going to stand up to a burglar it's no good being scared of a rolled up newspaper.

Male:

Oh okay. So we mustn't do that then.

Pam:

No. Rather do it passively, pick them up, and eventually the rhythm will just come in when they wake up. But when you see them doing it outside give them a nice pet. But ignore it when they do it in. People who reprimand their dogs, get angry with their dogs, they find their dogs come inside and do it in front of them, just to get a scary Punch and Judy show.

Your dog hasn't got any emotional maturity, because whenever she's with people she's constantly being looked at. Is that right?

Beverly:

Oh she is.

Pam:

So she thinks the world is made up of her fans. In order to have emotional maturity the dog has to be ignored sometimes, she's got to be with people and ignored, because she's a totally subjective dog. In order to be a good watchdog she's gotta be objective. The only way she can learn to be objective is to just be part of the furniture, be ignored, life passes her by, she's gotta get outside.

Now did do you think if your brought her in here that she'd be much more excitable, that she'd jump on me? Is she usually much more excitable when she comes in?

Beverly:

She is. Very much more with me, I've noticed. Funnily enough. [inaudible 00:23:55] and like she said, we had her up for sale, well we still have basically. I mean she's ...

Pam:

Would you like her off the furniture? Walk out the room.

Okay you can come back now. Sit down over here. Wasn't that easy?

Beverly:

Very much so.

Pam:

Now look. That's it, ignore her.

Walk out the room. And you go out.

Okay come back and sit down. Go back and sit. It's all gonna be done passively. Feet in, look in the corner. Look in the corner. That's it. How does that look?

If a dog jumps on the couch and you say get down, you've actually obeyed the dog. The dog sets you up to give that command. The pack leader is not most aggressive dog, the pack leader doesn't have to prove that he's a leader by throwing a punch, he's a leader by being dignified, aloof, decision-making, turning his back on the pack, leading the hunt.

Now at dog training you've got your dog at your side, which means your dog's head is in front of you, which makes the dog the pack leader. Now because you're holding your dog close you're going hunting, so now the dog's the leader of the hunt so he bogs first. So when you tell him to leave, you actually bark second. You confirmed his hunt, you confirmed his status, because you took a cue of him. All the dogs that bark second are subordinate and the dog that barks first is a leader. So dogs at training train the trainers to give commands. The pack leader is focused on you. At dog training you're completely focused on your dog. That focus gives the dog status.

So training a dog is watching the dog to see what he's going to do so that you can tell him not to. The principles that I've put into effect here are true leadership not force out of the army, not aggression, but basically dignified decision making and aloofness. We've walked in, ignored the dog, haven't taken a cue of him, cut him down to size by looking over the top of his head, snubbed him to show that we are the true leaders, and he's very humbled.

We forget that our dog is potentially our natural predator. And what we are doing is we are giving them obedience training, we're giving them lots and lots of exercise, keeping them fit, and therefore making our dogs very hyperactive and very predatory. Dogs in the wild don't run unless there's an emergency. Running actions therefore pump adrenaline and cause the dog's emergency nervous system to be activated. Dogs don't command each other, so while we are commanding the sharp outburst of a command is perceived by the dog as a barking signal, and the barking of other dogs causes reflex adrenaline secretions in the dog. So every time we command, we're causing reflex surges of adrenaline in our dogs, and our dogs are pumped full of adrenaline with all the running and our commanding and ball chasing, and it's making them all think that they are in a hunt.

I have discovered that so many dogs that run free and chase balls and play with his new age toys are very euphoric from all the adrenaline, and they are seeking more and more adrenaline. And one of the ways to get adrenaline is to make a child scream. So when a dog has been running a lot and he becomes used to being in a euphoric state, and then he goes cold turkey for more adrenaline, he can pull a child's hair, trip a child, bump someone, knock someone over, scrape his claws down someone, and get that scream, "Ow, don't! Leave me!" And each of those outcries give the dog an adrenaline surge.

So I take away the commands, I take away the free running, I feed for temperament and that way you shut down a hunt, and the dog that is not hunting is social. So when he is not hunting he's protecting his territory, nurturing his puppies, marking his territory, socialising with other dogs. And a dog cannot be hunting and social. So once you shut down the hunt a dog perceives us as fellow pack members and not as prey.

Don't mind boy, stand still, we're all gonna walk away. And he's looking for his prey. And he wants his prey to squeal, and he wants his back up pack, you, to bark. So he's looking for his prey to jump on, to perhaps hurt, to overwhelm, to make them squeal, and to make you bark.

That's it, just stay absolutely still. We're all gonna walk in different directions. Okay, just walk. Walk away, especially away when he's doing that.

He'll have two females getting him going. Okay, she's looking around. So he does the dirty work, and she's the one who sets him up for it. Can you see, it's dangerous stuff. Very dangerous with dogs predators.

Female:

[inaudible 00:29:14]

Pam:

We'll be ready for it. Now you see she can't work as a team with him because she can't coordinate us. So she's completely fooled. Up until now you've all been so predictable. She does something naughty, you tell her not ... Okay. Walk away from him when he barks at [Azizis 00:29:35].

I think stand still Azizis. Stand still and put your hands on your face. And we're all gonna walk around this corner. Walk away John, walk away.

Have you ever played with Bart?

Azizis:

Yeah I've played with Bart but not as much as with Baby. I mean I wouldn't say he's too important.

Pam:

And what sort of games do you play? Do you throw the ball?

Azizis:

Basically just running around with the ball and we play cricket too with Daniel.

Pam:

Any wrestling games with the dogs?

Daniel:

Yeah sometimes with me.

Azizis:

Mostly Daniel. I used to do that with Baby but not with Bart.

Pam:

But you have played with Bart.

Azizis:

A bit, yeah.

Pam:

See he's going to remember the games you've played with him, and when you've had enough and you're pushing him away and you say, "Stop it." It's still the game.

Azizis:

Yeah.

Pam:

When you play with him you're giving him adrenaline surges, so you become his adrenaline pusher. So he's not happy to see you, he's happy to see the person who pushes him adrenaline. So when he psyches you up, he's psyching you up to psyche him up, and he's trying to draw you into hunting behaviour, hopefully to make you cry out, scream, get angry, move sharply, all to tell him that he's in the middle of a hunt. So the dog will never stop doing those things until you stop. So if you say, "I'm not playing, I'm not gonna get angry with you, I'm not going to cry out, I'm not going to bark." Then he says there's no point in playing with you. So playing is nothing more than looking for a victim to make them move sharply, stare, give sharp movements, in order to get adrenaline thrills.

Now, little bit of playing, throwing ball, a bit of tumbling, a bit of chasing, is [inaudible 00:31:19]. Then the dogs, they don't get stoned [inaudible 00:31:21] anymore, let's move onto some more hard stuff.

Daniel:

Cocaine.

Pam:

Yeah let's go to cocaine. So now he says, "I'm going to trip you up and I'm going to nip your feet." And then when you cry out he gets his coke. Then eventually he doesn't get stoned on that anymore, so now he starts pulling hair and levering with his teeth, and now he's onto crack. So then he doesn't get stoned on that anymore, so then he starts drawing blood. Now we're onto ice. Then when it's a scalping, it's a chunk out of the face, or it's at the throat and it's the real thing, we're into ecstasy.

You've got to realise when you're playing with your dog, when you are jogging the dog, running it free at the field, giving it lots of exercise, keeping it fit and healthy, teaching it to play ball, all you are actually doing is giving the dog adrenaline surges. As long as they're chasing balls, playing tug of war, you're playing chasing games with them, people are shouting and yelling at them, they're in a hunt and you are prey. When the adrenaline is down you are the best friend, and this is what I'm teaching people, is how to have a dog that is your best friend and not your best enemy.

Does it make sense? Any questions?

Daniel:

Yes it does make sense. No questions at all.

Pam:

I really do welcome your questions. That's what I'm here for, to teach.

Male:

So it's best to not have a dog.

Male:

Almost.

Pam:

I like it. You know, that's a very good question. These days dogs are being bred to bait bulls, to hunt in the fighting ring, to retrieve, to hurt, to work.

Okay put your hands on your face Daniel. Everybody. That's it.

Azizis:

He wants to kiss you.

Pam:

No no you see as you're laughing you're actually inciting. You have to [inaudible 00:33:17]. You can put your hands on your face Azizis, try that, putting your hands on your face.

Male:

What he's doing, is that not affection and love that he's demonstrating?

Pam:

No. Wanting attention.

Daniel:

Then when is it love that he really wants?

Pam:

When the dog isn't trying to distract you from something else. What she's actually doing here, she's scraping him. That's not love. This is hunting behaviour.

Daniel:

What would be love though?

Pam:

It will be love when I've brought your dog's adrenaline down. When the dog's doing it for the right motive. If a friend comes up to you and says, "I love you so much, you're my friend, can I have a bite of your sandwich?" That's not-

Daniel:

That's actually using to be honest.

Pam:

And so is the dog using your ...

Daniel:

You know he's not a friend for the next minute, and he's soon as you reveal a new sandwich and something new, he'll say, "Oh I'm your friend, I'm your friend, please give me a little piece, I wanna try it."

Pam:

Keep quiet, keep quiet. Okay if the dog's hurting let's walk away. Look at that hurting there. That's the start of scalping, do you see that? She's actually using her claw on the scalp. Walk away.

Female:

She always [inaudible 00:34:37]

Pam:

Yeah yeah. Because she hasn't developed such serious patterns. Now we're gonna go back and ...

Female:

She could stay with him.

Pam:

No disappear, disappear, disappear, she's gonna come. It's the female this time. It's a male again. Okay, I might use my ... seeing that growl I'm not so sure I'm happy about using the stick now. There you go he's come. John, John, John, John.

Okay let's go and talk.

The current buzzword in dog circles at the moment is dominate your dog. Now a lot of people study dog behaviour and because they see dogs roll other dogs down, they think that that is the way to win a dog's respect, is to roll him on his back. That is subjugation and intimidation. If a pet leader puts a subordinate dog down that way, the subordinate dog has learnt how to do it, and when he grows up he can do it to the dog that put him down or he can do it to another dog that is subordinate to him.

So when we roll our dogs over we are subjugating them to us, and then they in turn can turn on us when they're older, otherwise they can turn on a child or another pet. And the idea of owning a dog is not to have him subjugated to us and to have him intimidated. The idea of owning a dog is that it trusts and respects us. My techniques teach people how to win a dog's trust and respect. Then the whole need for any kind of subjugation or domination falls away. The dog becomes our friend, and in every society there is mutual respect. A dog mustn't fear us, and we mustn't fear our dog. Our dog must respect us, and we must respect our dog. Where there is mutual respect there is a rewarding relationship.

So while you're shouting leave to him and barking at him, because the dog training, when she was going for other dogs and he shouted at her to leave the other dogs, she thought you were barking at the other dogs. And she could make you bark, she could make you do it, which made her boss, which made her pack leader. Because the subordinates take the cue of the leader.

Female:

But she is, she looks as though she's permanently as high as a kite.

Pam:

Yeah because your commands ... All right now this is what I was looking for. Okay. Hands on face. No, okay.

Pick it up and put it away. Don't push, just pick him up and put him over there. And just sit it down.

So now you can use a good old wooden spoon or stick. And the wonderful thing about hurting the dog is you only need to do it once or twice ever in the whole of the dog's life. You've now set a pain parameter, the dog has found its limits, you've given the dog positive direction, you've told the dog you're strong because you've got the guts to hurt, you're not weak. She can't stop barking because you can't stop barking. When you stop barking she'll stop barking.

Female:

And it is because at four o'clock in the morning if she starts barking I immediately go out and yell, "Tundy, shut up!"

Pam:

Which is exactly what she wants. Because the [inaudible 00:37:56] barks first and the subordinate dog barks second.

Female:

I'm a subordinate dog. I hate it.

Pam:

You were, you're not anymore.

Female:

Your mother, a subordinate dog.

Pam:

You were but you're not anymore.

Female:

But that's true.

Pam:

Yes, because you bark second.

Female:

Because she does, she stands there and barks up there so that I'll come to the balcony.

Pam:

She called you, owner heel.

Female:

We haven't been able to sit on the grass like this since Kim was born. Not once has she left us. I mean the kids used to picnic on the grass before Tundy, life before Tundy and life after Tundy.

Pam:

Your dog's got nothing but contempt for you.

Female:

Why?

Pam:

Because you follow around, you grovel, you go to her. Your power moves are so weak. Your doting is seen as such subordinate grovelling.

Female:

[inaudible 00:38:52]

Pam:

Don't worry. I'm gonna help you through this. It's so important for you to know, because if you didn't know she was going to have such contempt for you that she could have attacked you.

Female:

But you know, when she gets excited and happy and that then I think it's because she loves me, that's why I keep letting her.

Pam:

She's celebrating such an obedient slave.

Female:

That's nice. Press the right button.

Male:

You're supposed to obey me like that.

Female:

I do. Gee whizz.

Pam:

You have to know these things, you've got a Pit Bull, a Pit Bull is a weapon. You're loading your weapon and pointing it the wrong way.

Female:

All right, but if we start ignoring her now and we take her toys away, and she gets down to the level that she's supposed to be, how is she going to know when the time arises that somebody comes in here and wants to hurt us, or if we're not here and somebody wants to come into the yard and possibly break in or ...

Male:

How's she gonna distinguish that or to be like that?

Female:

How is she gonna ... because look, a lot of people say if you've got a German Shepherd or you've got a Staffy or you've got a Bull Terr or you've got a Pit Bull, any dog that's a strong dog, other than a little lap dog like this one, that they won't necessarily enter your premises because the dog is [inaudible 00:40:20]. But because they're so inventive nowadays and they give them poison meat or somehow get them into a corner or shoot the dogs or inject the dogs or whatever, how is she going to know? Is it instinct?

Pam:

Maturity. It's emotional maturity.

Male:

I don't want her to accept anything from anybody else, that's my problem, because that's how they're done.

Pam:

Now what you are saying is so profound. I come in here and you've got your baby darling, you're hugging, your kissing, you're doting, your totally fixated on her. You just want to love her and you've got her ... And now you're saying well that's a weapon. So here you are saying this is my weapon and cuddling it, kissing it, hugging it. Total double expectations.

So she must be my security blanket, my emotional doormat, my emotional release, my emotional prop, but she must also be a weapon.

Female:

So are you saying she's confused? She doesn't know what she should actually do.

Pam:

Yes. She will never-

Male:

But how will she know?

Pam:

With emotional maturity.

Male:

So [inaudible 00:41:33]

Pam:

Yeah. The way you were treating her was keeping her an emotional baby. It's like a mother putting her 25 year old on her lap.

Female:

That is, "I told you so." I can just see it.

Pam:

How you feel, how you anticipate this, whether you're gonna find it difficult, how much do you intend to apply, what have been your reactions, your hopes, your fears with the session?

Michael:

You're gonna find it difficult.

Female:

I'm gonna find it ... I'm gonna go off my rocker. That is the only way I can describe it because it's gonna kill me, because for me not to hold them and tell them and talk to them, it's gonna kill me. I think I'm gonna go ... I'll have to go see the doctor for a tablet. Or I'll go to the bottle.

Pam:

Are you going to do it?

Female:

I have to. I've got to do it. I've got to get it right. And I'm gonna ignore them for two days now, as from when you leave here today I'm gonna ignore them.

Pam:

And how do you feel?

Michael:

It'll be interesting to see how it works. On the dog and the wife.

Pam:

You mustn't put her into therapy now. She needs you. You can't ignore your wife now.

Michael:

I'll buy her some hoops.

Pam:

Look at the passing the buck eh. Go out tonight, enjoy yourselves, go dancing, have a good time. Because basically the dogs aren't going to tie you down and make you feel guilty anymore. The dogs have been making you quarrel. They've been driving a wedge between you.

Female:

Yes.

Pam:

That is gone now. So enjoy each other, enjoy your relationship, enjoy this new liberation. Because the dogs have tied you down and come between you.

Female:

Really badly.

Pam:

So you can really move forward now, into new and exciting things.

Now if she went to try and take the hoof away from the other dog, the other dog would go for her, and you would risk her-

Beverly:

Obviously.

Pam:

No, you would step straight into her trap, until eventually she'd set the big dog up to kill her. At this stage, where it isn't dangerous, stay out of it before she gets rescue syndrome. She's already got rescue syndrome.

Alison:

So you mean every time this big one, if she antagonises these two small ones we go and rescue her, and that they think oh this is wonderful.

Pam:

Yes. The little dogs go and set the big dog up to turn on them. And then you go and rescue the little ones and you're all pawns on their chess board.

Alison:

You see, I've always told you Bonnie was a stirrer.

Pam:

Bonnie is a total stirrer.

Alison:

You can see it, takes after her mother.

Pam:

You're having a lovely time today Alison.

Alison:

Oh I am, I'm getting my own back for a change.

Pam:

You've got a good back up system here.

Alison:

Yeah.

Beverly:

I'm gonna [inaudible 00:44:33]

Alison:

Not any money in the world could buy it.

Pam:

Cost you a fortune.

Alison:

Exactly. No I'm serious Pam, this is how it normally is, because I've just backed that ... I've hit Toffee maybe three or four times, but the last time I actually gave a hiding I got hurt more than she did. Because when I swung my hand around I connected on a pole. So obviously it was damn sore, so I said I'll never hit this dog again, which I haven't.

Pam:

What happens when Bev hits the dog?

Alison:

She comes running between my legs and she shivers.

Pam:

And then what do you do?

Alison:

Love it.

Pam:

You see, the dog is setting itself up to both get entertainment from your anger and come from you, and then do you know what the dog is doing very cleverly is playing one against the other?

Alison:

Well often Bev and I have had an argument over the dog.

Pam:

The dog's set it up and enjoyed, just thought this is all such fun.

Beverly:

It was my understanding that like I said, any book that you get as well, teach your dog commands, teach your dog to sit, teach your dog to heel, and that type of thing. And I think this has been so [inaudible 00:45:39]. I mean ever since you're old enough to understand it people telling you this about the dog and if you go and get a new dog or you see them at the training school, it's all sorts of things. Walk your dog, give it exercise, play with it. And what, you're telling us that all of that is basically the wrong type of thing?

Pam:

The things that you're taught about your dogs are what you do is what gets results, and a hunt is what you do. But what you are not taught is to give your dog peace of mind, to have a placid dog, to have a contented dog, how to live side by side with your dog. You see all the training, all the commanding, all the playing, is how to wrap your life around your dog, turn your dog into a complete issue. Most people don't want their dogs to be an issue, they just want to be able to live side by side with their dogs and know that if they go from the lounge to the kitchen they're not going to have to come back checking on their dog.

So when you send weak signals you bring her up. So when you give her attention it's gonna have to be with much stronger hands. Now what's gonna happen without me is you wrestling and playing with her, bringing her up and making her aggressive by being an aggressive role model with your play and discipline. She will then seek to earn ... the victim would have been you, because your touch is so weak, you're so gentle and caring, she's gonna think you're a fool and finally turn on you.

This is the way, you actually show the dog that you're strong. I'm gonna show him the back of my head. Okay did you see how that's ... I flicked my head. Now do you see how much better she is now with the strong touch?

Not tender, not aggressive. That's it.

Female:

[inaudible 00:47:29] away.

Pam:

When all else fails. He got stuck.

Shall I show you how to do it?

Male:

Yes.

Pam:

Okay.

And I flick my head. Close in and show him the back of your head. Flick your head again. Ssh, ssh, no you must keep quiet. Now you must keep very quiet. Flick your head again. Close in, close in, closer. Flick, flick, flick. In other words use your head. Want to do it some more? Carry on, carry on. He says, "But I'm also beautiful."

Now when you come home and you're living with your dog, why should you have to tell your dog to sit?

Male:

Well I don't need to tell him to sit, but I like to praise him a lot when I come home, I don't like to make him sit.

Pam:

There you go. Can you think of a reason why you should tell a dog to sit?

Male:

I think the main reason why you might tell a dog to sit is to try and get some obedience, some control over the dog in a difficult situation. If your dog is rushing off to attack somebody or yeah let's say to attack somebody, you might want to say to the dog, "Sit!" And somehow immobilise the dog rather than having a difficult situation.

Pam:

Could we go one better and have a dog that doesn't attack people in the first place?

Male:

Certainly, that'd be the best. I imagine that telling a dog to sit and lie down, you're developing a series of control techniques.

Pam:

What about bringing the dog under control? A dog that is under control, you don't have to control.

Male:

Yes, I mean that would be great.

Pam:

Now I'm gonna teach you today how to bring your dog under control. When a dog training school is not under control, the dog trainers tell you to control your dog. Instead of giving you techniques that bring your dog under control, they teach you to use force, dominate and subjugate your dog.

Male:

They tell you when the chain is around the neck, they'll tell you to hold the thing and go like that, and jerk his neck down. And then they tell you that ... then when you say, "Isn't that gonna hurt the dog's neck?" And they say, "Oh the German Shepherd's necks are very strong."

Pam:

But if your dog is your friend, why ...

Male:

Yeah. Why would you jerk it?

Pam:

Yeah. So if you had a dog that is well amended, well adjusted, emotionally mature, has peace of mind, the need for commands will fall away.

Male:

Certainly if I felt that we could take our dog for a walk and he would stay with us and not chase runners or that we had control over him so that he wouldn't get into the road and be run over by a car, I think those are my main concerns.

Male:

There's dogs up there.

Dad!

[inaudible 00:51:08]

Pam:

So now I'm just going to walk down here. I let my second lead out so I'm not chasing him. I let him stand and look, and as he wants to go for the other dog I turn and go. Now if I commanded him, he'd think I'm barking at those dogs. So by walking away, I'm telling him I don't support his hunt. Now if I'm standing like this, where there's other dogs, you did that at training, I'm telling him we're packing. Because I'm not holding him close, he doesn't want to go with these dogs. And I stand away, so I'm not packing. And that dog starts stirring, so I just walk away. You got it.

When you are rewarding dogs at training, you are saying, "I still support your hunt." Okay? Now let's go up to these dogs again. And if he wants to go for them I'm gonna go the other way. There you go.

Now you see being a Bull Terrier it is more difficult, because Bull Terriers perceive other dogs as prey anyway. Bull Terriers are dogs that are born to throw insults at other dogs. So if that dog says, "You damn bastard." I mean what is he going to say? But let's see, if I can get him not to bark back at that bully, I think we've achieved a lot. I'm gonna give it a jolly good bash. Okay. You see how I step away. Okay that's great.

Go down here. You've got to follower. You see? Got a follower. Now go right, up the road again. Up the road where you came from, back again. Stand. Go back again. You've got a follower. Your dog's following you, you no longer follow your dog. Keep going, keep going.

Turn and go back where you came from. Beautiful. Look who's the leader now. Now go right. That's it. Down, much faster. Don't worry about your dog. It's only a piece of string you're dragging. [inaudible 00:53:44]

Put it behind you. Get it behind you but turning. Right. Just turn your back on her when she [inaudible 00:53:56]

Female:

I think I wouldn't mind getting some exercise, maybe there'll be less of me.

Pam:

How does that feel?

Male:

It's incredible.

Pam:

Be casual. Step around him. That's better. Stand still. Let him sniffle. When he's sniffling, let him sniffle. Do you turn over somebody else's pages for them when they're reading?

Azizis:

Sorry?

Pam:

Do you turn over somebody else's pages for them when they're reading?

Azizis:

No.

Pam:

Then don't turn over your dog's pages.

Azizis:

Okay. All right.

Pam:

Let him sniffle. He's at the library. Okay you can let your muzzle handle out if he gets a bit further from you. Super, he's investigating, he's reading, he's got a good encyclopaedia there. Let him finish his story.

First step is to satisfy his hunger. To have a hunger satisfied is a primary need. We must remember that dogs are predators, and in a pack of dogs where the food supply is short, there's a lot of in house pack fighting. Where the food supply is plentiful, the pack is harmonious, they protect one another. And there's love and nurturing and caring amongst the pack. In order to bring out this loving, nurturing, caring side of our dog, he must not be hungry. So while worrying about his physical shape, we are forgetting about his relationship with us.

So rather than feeding for peak physical health where the dog is going to over-perform as a pet and going to have a short fuse and possibly see children as prey, we are going to feed our dog for temperament.

[inaudible 00:56:44] There we go. We've got dogs with nice satisfied hunger, and they're not gonna perceive us a threat to their food, they're not gonna see us as a meal ticket, and they're not gonna perceive us as a meal.

Most of the food bowls on the market, they don't hold enough food for a dog for either 24 hours or for half a day. Get nice big bowls like you see here, even if you have to get cleaning bowls. But most of the food bowls that are sold for dogs are very very small and they don't hold enough food for the dog.