Shocking suggestion

Hi there,

I wonder if you can help me.

I have recently adopted a young female Saluki-Lurcher who is typical of her breed and likes to chase everything that moves and doesn't listen much to recall commands. I have tried the long lead and chicken treats but even her favourite food doesn't cut the mustard when it comes to distracting her from live preys or even an interesting scent.

I met a couple of owners of dogs with similar high prey drive (one was a Podenco - or Ibizan hound - and the other a Bedlington terrier/whippet lurcher) and they both recommended the use of training collars that deliver high pitch noises and mild electric shocks. They both said that they only needed to use the shock 2 or 3 times at the beginning before getting near perfect recall and that they don't need to use it any more. But I am unsure about using even mild and safe electric shocks on my dog. What do professional trainers think of these systems?

I know that there are also training collars with sprays but do they work as well? I would be grateful for some feedback on this and indeed any training tips to improve my dog's recall as I would dearly love to give her more freedom than she is enjoying at the moment.

With kind regards,

Isabelle, by email

How do I get my deaf dog's attention?

I have a Springer Spaniel called Molly who is coming up to 12 years old. I've had her for nearly five years. Over the last few months I have noticed that she can no longer hear the doorbell or people entering the house. Due to other health issues, which she takes medication for, she is on a special diet to control her weight.

Because of this weight issue, I have been told by the nurse at the vet's to keep her active, which I have been able to do for the last five years. But unfortunately it is now getting harder to let her off to play with her ball and run around due to her losing her hearing. The vet agrees that her hearing has nearly gone, if not completely gone.

I am teaching her hand signals and she now knows how to come back, but the problem is getting her attention when she is looking away from me. I'm considering a vibrating collar to get her attention, so that I can give her a hand signal to come back when she turns to look at me. Because of the lack of proper exercise due to her deafness, she is slowly putting the weight back on. This worries me as she has hip and leg problems, so she can't afford to pile the pounds back on.

What also concerns me is that every collar I've seen with a remote vibration setting also has a shock setting. I am completely anti shock-collar and I need one with just the vibration. The only one I ve seen is totally out of my price range - does anyone else have other recommendations?

Molly hasn't had a very good seven years prior to me having her, and it's great that she has a new lease of life. But this deafness is now affecting her life.

Please, please can you help with some advice, as I also worry about Molly's safety.

Tracey Topham and Molly Moo, by email

I wonder whether the collars with both remote vibration setting and shock setting can be used on vibration only. Then you would not have to use the shock setting.

It is so sad when a dog goes deaf. When my dear Border Collie Nan began to lose her hearing, I found it really upsetting that she might think I was no longer talking to her. There are of course other ways of showing how we care for our canine friends, and for the dog it must simply seem that the world is going quieter until it is a silent place. They do not, I hope, appreciate that the noisy world is ongoing as a human going deaf would.

For any dog going deaf, their safety is of paramount importance. We all know how deaf a dog with normal hearing can be when in pursuit of a rabbit, for example, and may have no regard for a danger which is fast approaching. With Nan, she did train up to hand signals when I realised that her hearing was failing but, as you say, they only work when the dog happens to be looking in your direction. Eventually, I did have to resort to an extending lead – I really dislike these leads with their clonky handles, but they are invaluable in those instances where you cannot let your dog off the lead for whatever reason but they still need exercise.

Molly’s weight problem is my major concern. To my repertoire of questions for owners of overweight dogs, I have recently added “… and is that hour’s exercise on or off the lead?” This is because an owner proudly told me last week that his overweight dog went for two hour-long walks every day. I could not understand why the weight reduction diet was not working (unless the owner was not admitting to titbits and other food sources) until the owner let slip that all the exercise was on the lead. There is a world of difference in energy output between an hour’s exercise off the lead (which for an overweight dog is realistically no more than a trot) and a plod at your owner’s walking pace, if not lagging behind. I am also an advocate of short frequent walks during the day for older dogs rather than a single long walk.

This is where an extending lead could really help you because Molly can feel as if she has freedom to explore but she would have the security of being on a lead still, and you would know that she was safe.

Depending on Molly’s other health problems and the medication she needs for them, it should be possible to keep her at a healthy weight but it will need constant vigilance on your part. Use your vet practice’s weight clinic – the nurse is running it to help you keep Molly at her ideal body condition, by taking into account the limitations on exercise because of her deafness and orthopaedic problems. As you quite rightly say, with her hip and leg problems she does not need to be carrying more weight than necessary.

Alison Logan, vet

Fear factor

Milly, my one-year-old crossbreed, ran back from the back garden crying in fear and would not return out there. I don't know what was the cause but I suspect the neighbours may have put some device to repel dogs (electronic or ultrasound perhaps) because they don't like it when she occasionally barks at them over the fence. Would this be legal?
Alternatively, could she have met a toad which sprayed her? (She was also licking herself as if she felt sore.)
I would be grateful for your advice.
V.Cesareo, London