Making Animals Happy

Hello my two-legged friends. I have been busy at work and neglecting my blog but lots has been happening. Firstly...WE GOT A CAT! I have been nagging for one for years and FINALLY I have my very own pusspuss. She has only been with us for a week and doesn't love me yet, but she will. I am over the moon.

Last Sunday I demonstrated at another training session at the Dog's Home and had a great time as usual. One of the ladies there asked a good question. She had been reading up on animal behaviour and said she'd read the warning 'don't treat your dog like a person' and she wondered why. So mum asked if they gave a good reason for saying this, as she says a lot of advice about how to treat an animal is not founded on any sound research and everyone should use common sense. The lady said that they were talking about being the pack leader. Well, mum reckons that everyone should get their hands on a book called Making Animals Happy, written by a lovely woman called Temple Grandin. She is Autistic and grew up in the 50's on a big farm in America. In those days no-one knew much about Autism, but luckily she lived in an extended household with lots of women who treated her with love and respect. Anyway, she loved hanging out with the cows and noticed (as a child) that when the cows were being lead in for slaughter, they looked like she felt. She discovered that when her Aunts and cousins held her tight, she experienced some long sought-after relaxation, so she had a squeeze box made. She spent 10 or 20 minutes in it and felt great for the rest of the day. So the men in her family made a squeeze box for the cows and saw some amazing results with the way they behaved afterwards. Forward a few decades, and Temple is now an extremely wealthy woman, having revolutionised the slaughterhouse industry in America. They have even made a movie about her life (staring Clare Danes) due for release soon. She has collaborated with some animal behaviourists and written some books on animals, the latest being Making Animals Happy where she talks for a chapter each on Cows, Poultry, Cats and Dogs to name a few. In the dog section, she says how domestic animals are emotionally stunted compared to their Wolf ancestors. She says especially the smaller breeds (looking nothing at all like wolves) probably get stuck at toddler level. Therefore, maybe, when we treat them like children, that's just the sort of emotional attention they seek. She also says that treating your pet like they are a part of a family rather than pack is probably the way to go as in the wild, wolves don't fight for dominance as the kids know who is boss (i.e. Mum and Dad) and stay in line. On the rare occasions they do fight amongst themselves is when they want to mate. My mum learned at college, that most of todays advice on how to treat a dog is based on studies done on captive wolf packs that were made up of random wolves (i.e. not from the same family) so no wonder they faught, and it makes you wonder about the relevence of the whole dominance theory and pack behavior. So if you treat your dog like one of the family, with rules, discipline, love and affection like the rest of the family, and everyone gets along, and your dog has no behavioural issues, you are on the right track so keep going (just remember to take your dog!)