Getting inside the mind of a dog (From The Northern Echo)

Getting inside the mind of a dog

8:23am Monday 3rd November 2008

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A BUSINESS is helping resolve dog psychological problems as a means to improve their behaviour – and even to lower insurance policies.

The Dog’s Mind analyses the problems canines, their owners, and the public experience – often caused by poor understanding and communications.

Heather Stevens, owner of the North Yorkshire business, believes that improving dog behaviour can help avoid owners believing they have to have their pets muzzled or destroyed.

Ms Stevens, a dog trainer for more than 30 years, set up The Dog’s Mind, in Brough, near Catterick, earlier this year, to analyse all aspects of a pets’ life and then come up with an action plan for the animals and their owners.

“Sometimes it can be the simplest things – communications, diet, mental stimulation,”

said Ms Stevens, who has four dogs – Benny, Max, Bertie and Joshua.

“Many owners treat their dogs like humans. They assume they have human feelings and thoughts when they can only think of the here and now. If you do that they will treat you like another dog.

“A bored dog will invent his own hobbies and that is when problems occur.

“Even if your dog is old with chronic arthritis you can develop mental exercises and these use just as much energy and tire the dog as much as the physical side.”

She said an increasing number of insurance companies recognise the value of behaviour counselling and include it in the terms of their pet policies.

“It is worth checking your pet insurance to see if it covers behaviour as this can give owners great peace of mind,” she said.

Ms Stevens, a member of the Canine and Feline Behaviour Association, said the best advice she could give to dog owners was that they need to understand how their pets learn and that the first six months of a puppy’s life are crucial.

She advised that they meet three new people, three new dogs and do three new activities every day.

“And bite inhibition is the most important lesson they will ever learn,” she added.

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