THE PACK LEADER
October 2000 Newsletter

Among the 11 Australian deaths reported over this period, 36% were children less than five years, 36% were aged 70 years and over and the remaining cases were aged between 35 and 69 years. Newspaper reports suggest there were a further two cases occurred in Australia between 1986 and 1996, but were not recorded as dog bite in the official death figures.

The review reported other risk factors by deaths that had been identified in the US. These included: more than one dog involved (64%), owner’s property (70%), certain dog breeds, history of aggression, sleeping infant, child gaining unauthorised access to fenced yard, child wandering into yard with leashed dogs, and dog escaping enclosure or restraint.

Of the 199 US cases of dog bite fatality for which breed is known, pure breed pit bull and pit bull cross-breeds were most frequently involved, followed by Rottweiler and Rottweiler cross-breeds and German shepherd cross-breeds. Other identified purebreds included husky, Alaskan malamute, Doberman, chow chow, great Dane, St. Bernard and Akita. Unfortunately, dog breed information is not reliably available in Australia.

Based on Australian hospitalisation admissions from dog bite, the report found the highest risk group to injury is in the 1-4 year-old age group, followed by 5-9 year-olds. Rate trends for hospitalised dog bites by age group for the financial years 1987 – 88 to 1996-97 are available for Victoria only. The report found that, at least in Victoria, there has been no overall reduction in the rate of serious bite injury, requiring hospitalisation, in the past 10 years, except perhaps in children less than five years old.

Commenting on the results of a 1998 ABS household safety survey, Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith, chair of injury prevention at Monash University Accident Research Centre, said that the reduction in serious dog bite appears to be associated with a decrease in the rate of dog ownership in households with young children.

In 1996, the Victorian injury Surveillance System found that 32% of dog attacks in children under 15 years of age occurred in the child’s home, while 34% occurred in someone else’s home. Only 12% occurred on public roads or footpaths, and only 1% each occurred at public playgrounds and ovals.

The review concluded that dog bite and attacks are a substantial public health problem in Australia and that it is apparent that current methods of prevention are inadequate. The Accident Research Centre has called for more research to address the unacceptably high health and societal cost of dog bite injuries in Australia. In particular, Professor Ozanne-Smith recommended that a portion of the funding from dog registrations be directed to developing an evidence base to better define the circumstances of dog attacks, whether certain breeds are over-represented in Australian attacks and to evaluate which interventions are effective in preventing serious injuries.

Copy of my letter to John Foley of K9 Collars.
In reply to your recent email.

Please use anything from me to advantage your cause. I am outraged at the deceit, untruths and misrepresentation of the facts used by the policy makers of the RSPCA in respect to the electronic collars. If I can assist your good self and Innotek in this moral battle in any way please use my material, my name or refer me to any interview with the media.

The domestic dog is in point of fact, more dangerous to the Australian public than poisonous snakes, spiders, crocodiles or sharks. There are dozens of incidents annually of people, particularly children who are facially disfigured for life and people suffering permanent disabilities from dog bites, (including myself) not to mention the deaths. Dogs in Australia between 1979 and 1996 killed eleven people. All because people fail to respect that at the end of the day the dog is a canine born to follow the inherent instincts of its ancestor - the wolf. The dog is a unique and wonderful animal providing it is taught to respect and is given the necessary affection, discipline and adequate exercise the individual breed requires.

It is simply a fact of life that some dogs are too strong physically and/or mentally for many owners, and the electronic collars give owners quick and effective control. Furthermore, I've yet to see a dog that wasn't happy about the new arrangement. Most dogs enjoy life far more when they have a pack leader.

I have personally worked with the rehabilitation of literally thousands of dogs over a period of 30 years. I have been bitten so many times I lost count years ago. My hands have little strength and are painful in cold weather due to the numerous serious dog bites suffered in efforts to correct behaviour, and allow them to lead happy meaningful lives after they were stuffed up by humans. All caused by owners and their stupid ignorant views on how dogs should be treated.

RSPCA power players are carrying out mass genocide of dogs - 484,000 or an average of 660 destroyed each week over the last 10 years in Victoria alone. Of course there will always be a percentage of dogs killed in refuges, but when the policy is against rehabilitation of good healthy dogs - who is the dog lover - the Dr. Hugh Wirth's of this world or pragmatic owners.

Whilst the RSPCA is playing the media for all its worth beating up a distortion about so called "shock" collars, I noticed they were very quiet when Innotek obtained a successful injunction against the RSPCA from making their claims, when it was found by the court that the RSPCA was not able to substantiate its calms of cruelty - that the RSPCA in fact, lied about the so called horror effects of a relatively harmless device.

I am offended by the pious and arrogant views of people who appear to still think pixies are real and playing in the garden. And I am offended by the ignorance to scientific data and the views of very experienced people at the dog problem coal face such as professional trainers and Council Dog Control Officers, that clearly shows the electronic equipment available is not only harmless to the health and well being of the dog, but also necessary in the rehabilitation of "hard nuts".

When will these people be happy? When there are no dogs left in the country?

Regards

Ross Allan

Xmas closing dates
Training ceases over the Christmas period, last class will be Sunday December 17th. We start classes again Saturday January 13th.

"Natural Pet Care" by Pat Coleby. 
Teeth. 
The way we keep our pets does much to cause problems with their teeth. Wild cats and dogs maintain their teeth in good order by chewing skin, sinews and bones. Nowadays, it is normal for both cats and dogs to need expert veterinary attention for their teeth in order to have the tartar removed!. They often lose their teeth when quite young, mainly because they never have the chance to eat any foods that would strengthen and clean them. I was quite amazed the first time someone told me they took their dog regularly to the vet to have its teeth scraped. My sixteen year-old Chihuahua x Fox Terrier bitch has teeth as white as the day she grew them and they still seem to be remarkably well attached.

Quote.
Tony Collins reminded me of an old quote that is very relevant to the training of dogs. "Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect". It is so common to observe people training their dogs faithfully day in and day out boring their dogs with the same tired old routine, not correcting for sloppy work, not praising for good work, not enough repetition or too much repetition, not changing training locations regularly or seeking to add new distractions in order to make the dog focus better, no regular games or fun for the dog. The owner simply does everything that suits them, not the dog. And as we commonly see, often owners insist on training their dogs the way they want to train them, not the way the dog needs to be trained

.............. ... ................. ................ ................ ................ ................. .................. ................. ............ ............ ...... .....    .................. ............. .............. ...........