Dogs can develop some embarrassing habits, as trainer Graeme Hall knows only too well.
“I recently met one who’d start humping people whenever he heard the words ‘ready, steady, go!’” he tells me. “That was particularly odd.”
Graeme’s latest series of Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, the hit Channel 5 show that returns next week, also features a pug with a foot fetish and a St Bernard called Dave who’ll help himself to slices of toast, directly from the toaster.
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In episode one, there’s a mutt who, when out for a walk, likes to stop in the middle of the pavement and “splat”. “When I first heard about that one,” chuckles Graeme, “I assumed it was something to do with its digestive tract.
(Image: Paramount/PR Image)
“But it’s actually an expression its owner had invented, to describe how the dog suddenly lies down flat with all four limbs outstretched, refusing to budge.”
Of course, owners are as much Graeme’s field of expertise as the creatures in their care. In each of the examples mentioned, he detects the same root cause – namely attention-seeking. Sometimes he just needs to point this out – and show the owners how to break the habit.
It can take longer, especially if the dog has him sussed. In those cases, the dog acts like an angel while Graeme is around then reverts to type when he leaves.
(Image: Paramount/PR Image)
“Those dogs are exactly like I was as a kid!” recalls Yorkshire-born Graeme. “My parents could never believe my teachers’ reports because apparently I was a little angel at school – well behaved, attentive, all the things I wasn’t at home.
“There are times when the dog reads the room within minutes, realising he won’t get away with misbehaving while I’m around. “But my job isn’t finished until I’ve trained the owners to do what’s required once I’m not there.”
Not that Graeme isn’t forever learning stuff himself. He’s always fascinated by new research into canine behaviour.
“They recently discovered that if you’ve accidentally stood on your dog’s paw, for example, the dog will understand that you’ve done it by mistake, that you were just being a bit clumsy. It’s fascinating stuff.”
(Image: Willows Veterinary Centre / SWNS)
And as for a dog’s feelings towards its human companions, that’s one of the topics covered in Graeme’s new book, out in February, appropriately entitled Does My Dog Love Me?
It’s also typical of the questions he’s asked by owners, including those who attend his live shows, and some of those audience members can be a little sceptical at first.
“At one show in Leeds,” Graeme recalls, “there was a fella sitting there looking nonplussed throughout. I think he’d been dragged there by his missus.
“Afterwards, as I was signing books, he came up and, with a very straight face, said, ‘I thought you were going to be rubbish – but you weren’t’.
“You know you’re in Yorkshire when that’s how a fella compliments you!”
● Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly returns to Channel 5 at 8pm on Tuesday, January 3.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
