How do you know?

I've seen it on the telly, of course.

And there's probably a few articles in The Mail


No, really because I seen far more good press about him than bad.

__________________
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

He is very popular in Spain isn't he.

From a purely personal point of view, he comes across as a very nice man.
(But of course I could be wrong)

The problem is who writes the stories in the Press? I am always cautious (especially when they are advertorials) because I have been guilty of press manipulation myself. I used to write press releases from the Chamber of Commerce which were sometimes picked up by the National Dailies and BBC. But what they didn't know was they were written to carry the message we (I) wanted to convey. It was never for the worse only for the better but good news, as you are aware, never carries as much weight as bad news so, often, the stories emphasised the bad as a means of accentuating the good.

So many of you lovely people have taken in unwanted, abandoned dogs and cats.....That is so heart-warming.

About training: even when Our Little Azor was a pup he was strong, too strong for us to hold him.
Sandra didn't want to use a choke, she thought it cruel. But we had to use one for his sake. Not one of those spikey things, though.
Apparently chokes of all kinds are banned in the UK but we now use the CannyCollar. That gives total control.
This is going to sound daft but Our Little Azor responds to being talked to, being explained as to why he should do something. We look him in the eye and tell him what we want him to do...and he does it.

__________________
'The Owl of Minerva spreads her wings only at the onset of dusk'.

I was joking about the telly and the Mail.

Really, I've seen very little bad press about him, and he does seem to be genuine to me. Of course he's got his critics, but who hasn't?

__________________
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

There is never a need to use a choke. Our wee Flossie was abused and abandoned by her 1st owner, we rescued her, fed her properly and coaxed her from being a yard dog to an inside dog (house trained all done without anger but given rewards,when done right) Neither me or my wife have ever had to be harsh with her(she growls when picked up, but never bites.....only person she ever bit was me... understandable as I was trying to take a large thorn out of her and she was in pain)



responds???? we tell flossie " it's sleepy time" and after three times she is asleep... give her two minutes and she snores so loud.... WE can't sleep

__________________
there IS intelligent life on Earth, but I'm not staying

It must have been very recently that choke chains have been banned in the UK - I bought one there in January.

What would anyone suggest that I do about either of my dogs ability to get out of any other kind of collar with great ease - and Solwriter seems to have the same problem.

Incidentally Barbara Woodhouse always advised a choke chain - but then she was completely bonkers I suppose.

I don't find them to be in the slightest bit cruel - they never actually hurt the dog - only don't allow them to wriggle out and get killed under a car.

ETA I suppose a harness would do the job but we tried one once and it rubbed poor Fraggle raw.

There is nothing wrong with a choke chain... if used correctly.
As I said, if put on so that it slips loose when the dog isn't pulling, its no problem at all.
Perhaps people are looking at different versions. The ones we use are just a simple chain which fits to the lead - no nasties attached to it.

And I saw them on sale in a large pet shop in the UK less than two months ago.

We had the same problem with harnesses. They hardly ever fit the dog correctly and our dogs hated them.

You get what is best for the individual dog, in terms of both comfort and protection.

When you are an 54 kilo female trying to train and control a 50 kilo Rhodesian Ridgeback a choke is essential...but yes, used properly.

But if we'd known about CannyCollars we would have preferred to use them.

__________________
'The Owl of Minerva spreads her wings only at the onset of dusk'.