How Much is That Doggie in the Window: Lessons from Berger Blanc

Recent allegations of unimaginable animal cruelty and abuse at the Berger Blanc have moved animal lovers into action in full protest against the inhumanity. Unfortunately, the environment exposed at the Berger Blanc is symptomatic of a much more profound problem with adoption, breeding and selling of dogs in the province of Quebec.

The sad and disturbing fact is that Quebec is known as The Puppy Mill Capital of North America. Animal rights and abuse prevention in Quebec is nonexistent thanks to lax provincial animal protection laws. Animal cruelty investigations are derailed by the overwhelming demand met with a lack of resources and funding. The reality is that the safety and health of our animals is not a priority in Quebec because we have not demanded that it be. For those of us who respect, love, and cherish our relationships with animals, the provincial animal rights situation is shocking and embarrassing.

I implore everyone who has felt compelled to stand-up and act in reaction to the Berger Blanc expose not to stop there! To elicit real, profound change, we need to look deep into our canine culture and examine the ignorance that has allowed Puppy Mills, Pet Stores, pounds, backyard breeders, and shelters to abuse our animals.

The truth is...

When you buy a dog from a pet store:
- You ARE buying a dog born in a Puppy Mill.
- You ARE filling the order for the next dog to be produced in a Puppy Mill.
- You ARE buying a dog produced strictly for profit.
- You ARE buying a dog with unknown genetic, health, breed and temperament history.
- You are NOT buying a registered purebred dog, no matter what papers are provided.

When you shop at a Pet Store that sells live animals:
- You ARE supporting a business that supports Puppy Mills.
- You ARE supporting Puppy Mills.
- You ARE supporting animal cruelty and abuse.

When you buy a dog from a Backyard Breeder:
- You are NOT buying a purebred dog.
- You are NOT buying a dog that has been thoughtfully bred to ensure sound temperament, structure or health.
- You ARE buying a dog with unknown genetic, health, breed and temperament history.

The common denominator when you buy from a Pet Store or Backyard breeder: You’re supporting and contributing to the culture of animal abuse in Quebec.

On the surface, pet stores and certain breeders may look squeaky clean.
Unfortunately, behind the curtain of cuteness, there is a culture of cruelty just like what was exposed at the Berger Blanc. Squalor, overbreeding, abuse, neglect, unsanitary conditions and countless other unimaginable violations of basic animal decency are the norm for Puppy Mills and other irresponsible breeders of dogs. The victims: The dogs and the future owner.

Change is up to us. To stand against the abuse of animals in this province, we need to be mindful of where our dogs come from and which dog adoption practices we are supporting. The next time you or your family are getting a dog, reflect on the graphic images of the Berger Blanc and consider that behind the veil of that cute doggie in the window, there is a culture of profit that puts the almighty dollar ahead of basic animal rights. There are only two places to buy a dog: a reputable breeder or a responsible rescue group. The rest are wolves in sheep clothing.

To help future dog owners find reputable breeders and rescue groups, Pup launched www.pupmatch.net, a website dedicated to helping individuals and families find the right dog from the right source.

For more information about the Berger Blanc cruelty allegations and what you can do to make it stop, visit: www.bergerblanccruelty.com

Throwing the Puppy Out with the Bath Water

The other day I was asked to help find homes for a litter of puppies being privately fostered. The puppies’ foster mum asked me if I could send a message to my networks. My response: “Absolutely!” Then I read her criteria for potential adoptive families....”prospective families must be non-crating.”Why would anybody be adamantly opposed to puppy crating?

I live in a positive training bubble and assumed that all dog people understand the value of crate-training puppies. Crates are an amazing method for teaching puppies self-control, housetraining, and self-soothing behaviours. Crates offer owners a safe place for their puppies when the house is busy, while they are out, and overnight. Crates are instinctively safe and comforting spaces for dogs. When introduced positively and used appropriately, crates are an invaluable positive training tool.

I was aware that some people consider crates “a cage”, but I honestly thought that more people were in the know about their positive use. Don’t misunderstand me; I believe that all individuals have the right to choose what is right for them and their dogs. It’s important, though, that dog owners be informed about the actual application of a positive training technique rather then get caught up in their personal misconceptions.

When I asked this foster-mum why she was so passionately against the use of crates, she told me that she had seen them used abusively. She had witnessed dogs spending their entire lives in cages (puppy mills) and had rescued dogs that had been crated 20 hours a day. Obviously, these are awful situations where a crate was being misused to the detriment of the dog. No positive trainer will advocate crating for long periods of time. Crates are a temporary den, home, or sleeping area for a dog – not a prison cell.

As with all issues, making assumptions and generalizations based on particular incidents is dangerous business. Societies have placed bans on entire breeds because of how humans have misused, mishandled and irresponsibly bred them. No breed is inherently bad. Similarly, following the ‘Whistler Sleddog’ slaughter, animal rights groups were up-in-arms calling for an end to ALL dog-sledding teams and races. Sled pulling and races can have incredibly positive benefits for specific working breeds. Malamutes and Huskies, for example, are highly motivated to work in this way and derive great satisfaction from pulling and running.

There’s no debate that awful things are done to innocent and beautiful dogs at the hands of humans. The question is: how should we respond? We need to be mindful of separating the method from the madness and evaluating human behaviour towards dogs as it relates to ensuring the optimal welfare for both. Cars kill people, but no one is calling for a ban on driving. We just encourage people to be more conscientious and careful when driving a car and put mechanisms in place to ensure that people do so lawfully. The same is true for dog training and dog related activities - a little common sense, understanding, and reasonable legislation would go a long way in making sure our canines are safe, happy and healthy.

Canine Einstein: Is your dog a genius?

People tell me all the time “how intelligent” their dog is or that their dog’s breed “is one of the most intelligent breeds” or that their dog “is not as quick as others.” Others ask me if their dog is “smart” or “a bit slow.” What do these labels mean when it comes to dogs? How do you rank the natural range of intelligences that allow dogs to herd, retrieve, guard, hunt, dig, and to act as eyes, ears, strength, and guardian for people in need? Is it smarter when a dog can work with people or when they can work independent of people? It’s all very “apples and oranges” to me. Which amazing skill should we rank as the best?
Which is most intelligent? Instead of ranking and competing, I vote that we try to understand and appreciate the differences.

Boiled down, there are four kinds of dog intelligence: working, problem solving, instinctive and learning.

1) Working, or trainability, is how a dog works cooperatively with humans. A working smart dog learns cues from their handler with few repetitions. Ever seen a Border Collie herding? The Shepherd (the human kind) needs only a hand gesture or whistle to alter the movement of the dog. It is an amazing partnership to watch!

2) Problem solving requires dogs to work out a solution to a problem or obstacle. My Hakuin is a tremendous problem solver. To get in her crate, she opens the door with her nose. If it’s closed, she will grasp the latch with her teeth and pull. If it’s locked, she will grasp the latch, pull up, and then pull out to open it! I’ve seen it many times in 9 years (cupboards, fridge, Tupperware, doors, etc) but it still amazes me to this day to watch her in action!

3) Instinctive smarts are hardwired into how the dog relates to the word. Shepherds herd. Labradors retrieve. Westies dig. Bassets sniff. Dobermans guard. Greyhounds run. Huskies pull. Pointers point. Nobody needs to teach these things, the dogs are literally born to do them.

4) Learning intelligence is the ability to learn by watching other dogs. Young puppies learn how to play with toys by watching their Dam and littermates. Dogs who live, work and train with other dogs, will continue to develop their observational learning smarts. Beagle puppies run in hunting packs with the older dogs leading the way.

But what does this all mean? In our haste to define dog intelligence, we have over-simplified what dogs are capable of. In fact, dog intelligence cannot be neatly wrapped into a singular word or definition. Dogs have a range of strengths and weaknesses that make them each uniquely talented at specific tasks. Understanding the individual blends of intelligences in our dogs will help us appreciate and work with them better.

Looking for the right dog for you and your family? Visit our dog matching site at www.pupmatch.net.

Doggie Dominatrix

Dominance...once the buzzword of popular dog training; it was both the cause and the solution for all canine behaviour problems. The theory was born from 1940’s wolf pack research* and a general lack of understanding dog behaviour. The basic concept was that if a dog misbehaved, regardless of the reason, the owner was not the leader of the pack. The popularity of “Dominance Theory” stemmed from fear propaganda- without proper control, dogs would eventually organize a mutiny against their owners-like Animal Farm run amok. To control these scheming, wild beasts (a.k.a. Pet Dogs) aggressive and forceful physical corrections to "establish dominance" over the dog were recommended. An owner using an “Alpha Roll” on their dog is an example of this type of forceful training.

The bad news for dominance theory started when researchers studying wolves and wolf-dogs (also called wolf hybrids) quickly learned that wolves get seriously irked when handled aggressively by humans. Aggressive physical corrections forced dogs to choose between survival and surrender. Survival dogs fought back and their aggression escalated as they “fought for their lives.” On the other end of the spectrum, surrender dogs gave up quickly, and to cope with the fear, they disconnected from the handler and their experience. Translation: you can’t whip your dog into shape without destroying the essence of who the dog is, and could have been, in the process.

The truth is that a misbehaving dog is not a dominant dog, it’s an untrained dog. There is no shortage of humane ways to teach dogs how to respect clear rules and limitations. Healthy human relationships do not involve force or intimidation tactics. The same holds true for our lives with dogs. The majority of dogs will not look for ways to control a situation if they are raised with consistent and fair boundaries.

The moral of the story: If you want to be a dominatrix, keep it in the bedroom and out of the dog house.

*The original 1940’s wolf studies were flawed. They were captive wolves from different wolf packs, creating an unnatural and unstable social dynamic. These manmade circumstances provided the researchers with skewed and grossly inaccurate views of normal wolf pack behaviour.