Hi folks, your dog listener here with the thought for the week... but to be honest it has been brewing in me for a while (so to speak).

While in Copenhagen teaching one of the Jan Fennell Foundation Courses, one of the students told me of her experiences as a massage therapist for dogs.

She told me that she had treated an awful lot of dogs with muscle strains caused by excessively pulling on the lead. This included many of them with injuries sustained with a body harness or halti put on them.

This reminded me of a dog event I was invited to appear at in Kent last year, where I saw hundreds of dog owners being pulled along by dogs wearing body harnesses and the like.

Now the manufacturers of these gadgets claim that they stop dogs from pulling, but quite evidently from what I saw (and my student has treated) that the only thing that is different from a lead that goes around the neck and one that goes around the body is the area of stress and, in a lot of cases, injury. That is if the owner does not know how to get a hang of the controls...

Dog Listeners have for years made a point of instructing dog owners on how to be happy and in control while walking the dog, and it is clear that the way you approach the walk is far more effective at stopping your dog pulling than the kind of lead or harness your dog is wearing. 

Best wishes, Tony Knight

As the guest of Kent Dog Listeners and Every Chance Rescue I spent this weekend at the Paws in the Park event at Hop Farm. Thousands of dog owners brought their pooches of every size, shape and colour (including purple).

It was a little disheartening to see so many dogs strapped up in harnesses (and still pulling), however we got through to a lot of people. It still amazes me that for the moment dog listening is not the first place owners turn to, but then again these days if somebody has a bit of a bad day they can be prescribed anti-depressants in an instant - a so-called immediate cure - rather than get coaching.

Yet the power of the dog listener process can literally save lives, and rescue dogs that everyone else has given up on, as can be seen in an amazing Youtube film by a young woman who went to South Africa for a holiday and ended up.... well watch the clip and you will see. Its a heartwrenching story.

No drugs, no gadgets, no force, just time and patience.   This is why I do what I do... please make sure all your friends get to see it too.