Graeme Hall on dog owners behaving (very) badly

UK ‘dogfather’ Graeme Hall has recently come in for some criticism from the Pet Professional Guild Australia who raised questions over ‘archaic, quick-fix advice and aversive dog training methods.’

The PPGA questions the title of the show Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia places the blame of the problem behaviour on the dog.

Speaking with podcast TV Reload, Hall explained the problems invariably lay with owners.

“Technically speaking, it’s not really the dogs behaving badly, or at least if they are behaving badly, it’s because the humans made them that way. But actually a show called Dogs Behaving Very Badly Because their Humans Made Them Behave Very Badly Australia, is not going to fit on your programming guide, is it?” he said.

Yorkshire-born Hall, who does not profess to be a vet, was coaxed into behavioural work by a dog trainer who noticed his skill with pets and owners.

“This guy said, ‘Why don’t you take this professionally?’ So I said, ‘Okay, well, that’s an interesting thing. Why do you think I’d be good at it?’ And he surprised me because he said, ‘You’re good with people?'” he recalled.

“Okay, well, that’s nice to hear. But I thought you might say, Dogs,” Hall replied.

“And he said, ‘No, you’re good with dogs. Lots of people are good with dogs. ‘ But this is the key thing -it’s never left me- you can only fix the dogs through their people.

“So you’ve got to get the people side of it. It’s also not good enough for me to just turn out as a sort of dog handler, do some magic stuff, show off a bit and go, ‘There you go.’

“It’s very much about ‘That’s how it works. But you too, can do this. And I’ll let you into the secrets of how I just did that.’ That really is what the show’s about.”

PPGA also encourages dog owners to use force-free techniques that focus on positive reinforcement and claims ‘quick fix’ advice does not address the underlying problem and will fail in the long term.

Hall, whose UK series has enjoyed 6 seasons, told TV Reload his work was merely the start of changing dog behaviour.

“It really is a case of ‘Okay, I think we can change a few things. We’ll make a big transformation here,'” he explained.

“That’s what you see, most of the time. There’s always an undercurrent at the end of the show, which is: keep practicing. You’ve got to keep at it. You’ve got to keep this stuff up. Because if you’ve don’t it will probably slide.”

You can hear more here.

Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia airs 7:30pm Thursday on 10.