The rules on capital punishment

At last, I've managed to get my paws on the computer to write my next blog. I'd first like to thank all my human bean friends for your kind comments on my last piece. Your words of wisdom are so helpful to a little toutou trying to understand the ways of humans.

One thing occurred to me from your comments, not only here on my blog but in places like Twitter, too. I've been told that the dog in that Cesar Millan video who appeared to be learning not to attack cats by wearing a shock collar and getting zapped every time it went near the cat would otherwise be put to sleep as a cat killer and my question is simply - why?

Why do human beans have the death penalty for dogs who follow what is after all a pretty basic instinct to chase and eat cats?

Ma maitresse has a cat, a very precious Siamesey type thing that thinks it's royalty and well above mere dogs like me. I don't understand about cats. I'd love to eat it. But ma maitresse says, until we get used to one another, we'll just have to live in different parts of the house. Now perhaps the dog owner in the video didn't have enough room to keep her cat and dog separate. In which case I wonder why she was trying to keep such a big and lively dog at all?

It can't be said that she was afraid her dog would kill other people's cats. She obviously doesn't have the dog under control, if she can't stop it attacking her own cat, so she shouldn't be letting the dog off the lead anywhere it could get at other people's cats - should she? That seems to be the law in most countries I've heard of.

I know I'm lucky because there's plenty of room here for both me and the cat. But if there wasn't and we really couldn't get along, I'd like to think ma maitresse would find a new home for one or other of us (and I hope it would be the cat!) rather than having me killed.

Ma maitresse certainly doesn't give me electric shocks or try to strangle me with a choke chain for going for the cat. She understands it's just that I don't know any better - yet. But I am getting better. I can look at the cat through the glass door and sometimes I can even do it without barking at her now.

Ma maitresse once went to see a man called Roger Mugford, about another dog, not me, and one of his people showed her a clever trick. In fact, it's so clever I didn't realise it was her doing a trick until she explained it to me, for this blog. I'd discovered that if I lunged at the door to try and get the cat, a nasty noise happened which I didn't like so I'd jump back nearer to ma maitresse who then made a big fuss of me and gave me a treat. So I learned the polite way to greet the cat was to go quietly up to the door and wag my tail. I thought the scary noise was coming from the cat if I wasn't polite enough - respect! Turns out all along that ma maitresse has an old Cola can full of pebbles and she shakes it to make the noise. And I never even realised. It's much less harmful to me than the shock collar would be, but it has made me understand the polite way to approach a cat.

Other people have also said that two trainers had tried and failed with that cat-killing dog before Mr Millan came along, so he was its last chance. I'd like to know who those trainers were and what their methods were that weren't successful. Because, as you human beans like to say, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And more than one way to train a dog not to.

The way ma maitresse is using is succeeding with me, but slowly, and it takes a lot of time and patience. So perhaps it wouldn't make very good television.

A shocking way to train a dog

I'm so pleased to see that Wales is to be the first part of the UK to ban the use of electric shock collars for “training” dogs. http://ow.ly/1bmSn Wales hasn't always had a very good track record for canine welfare, since it houses more puppy farms than anywhere else in the UK.

This has happened because a lot of animal welfare groups have been working with the Welsh Assembly to ban what the RSPCA calls “a cruel, outdated and unsuitable method of training dogs.” They say “electric shock collars train dogs through pain and through fear”. Just ask any dog that's ever been subjected to them.

So that makes me wonder, again, about Monsieur César Millan and his methods. I have never seen one of his programmes, but I have seen parts of them on YouTube. In one, he seems to be using a shock collar on a dog which does not like cats, although he doesn't say he's using one.

I was puzzled about that, so I asked Monsieur Millan a question about it, a month ago, via Twitter.

@cesarmillan Did you really use an electric shock collar on this dog monsieur? http://ow.ly/ZNi6 If so can you explain why, s'il vous plait?

I didn't get a reply. I know he's very busy and I'm only a little dog, but I would still like to know the answer to my question. I'm pleased to see that if you put “Cesar Millan electric shock collar” into Google, my question comes up on page one, so it's there for all to see.

And I'd like to ask again. If Wales thinks these shock collars are so bad they have to be completely banned, why does Mr Millan think they are a good thing to use? If he uses them, why doesn't he say so, at the time he's using them. And why doesn't he warn people that their use will shortly be against the law in one part of the UK.

Most importantly, why doesn't he tell people that while it might, just might, be ok for very experienced dog handlers and trainers to use them in exceptional circumstances, with great care, they should definitely not be used by inexperienced dog owners unsupervised at home.

For those of you new to my blog, ma maitresse rescued me from a rehoming centre where I was very frightened, so now I can get a bit aggressive if I feel threatened or I don't understand something. I'm gradually training ma maitresse in the best way to explain things to me, so mostly we get along fine and I now have her trained to give me treats when I do the right thing.

Luckily, she's not keen on Mr Millan and his methods. She doesn't believe in his dominance theories. Nor do I. If ma maitresse wants to be pack leader, that's fine by me. I'm only a little toutou, and a scared one at that. I don't want to be top dog. If I growl a bit sometimes it's because I get worried when I don't understand things. Luckily, she usually gets down to my level and explains things a bit more clearly and gently. If she grabbed me by the throat and threw me onto my back – I think M. Millan calls it an alpha roll – I would be so frightened I would definitely bite her.

I try to read everything I can about new ideas to help us dogs train our human beans, and I read this very interesting article on M. Millan and the principle of parsi...parsley .. keeping it simple. http://networkedblogs.com/Crlt (Please excuse me, my heenglish is not very good). I like this article, it makes a lot of sense to me.

When I growl, I'm trying to tell you something, usually that I'm afraid because I don't understand what you just asked me to do. Because even though human beans are supposed to be intelligent, they sometimes don't realise we simply don't speak heenglish, or French, or any other human language. We speak dog, and body language. Very well. Much better than they do. So sometimes when they bend over trying to be friendly, they're really saying something scary and threatening in dog body language.

Most of us dogs know when we're onto a good thing. We don't want to become “pack leaders” in the human bean world. All that stress- who needs it? Going to work, paying bills, doing the shopping. Merci, mais non.

We're perfectly happy to be your faithful companions, ready with a lick and a wag to cheer you up when you need it, desperately keen to get the rules right in your complicated society. Sometimes we get them wrong. When we do, please just ask yourselves – could I have explained that a little better, and give us a second chance.

Please don't ever, ever, subject us to electric shocks, prong collars and choke chains, because they are never the answer.

It was Christmas Day in the kennels ...

It's nearly that time of year you human beans call Christmas. Those of you with children, hands up how many have asked for a puppy? And hands up how many of you are going to get them one?

Before you do, there are some facts you need to be aware of. Perhaps you've seen those nice clean, fluffy bundles of fun on nice clean wood shavings or paper in big, brightly lit pet shops. What can possibly be wrong with buying one of those?

But can you honestly say you know where those puppies started out their lives? Honestly? This is a brilliant film made by caring human beans in America, all about puppy mills, or puppy farms as they're called in the UK. http://bit.ly/6l9qTM

And in case you think this is something that only happens in America, watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlJ5kYIl82Q and be prepared to weep. If you want to spend your money supporting this type of industry, then feel free to buy that pet shop puppy.

But instead, why not spare a thought for all my canine cousins who are behind bars in rescue centres everywhere. Take poor lovely Keanu http://bit.ly/78W5xh. He's been with the Dogs Trust for SIX YEARS. Now I'm a rescue dog, as those of you who've read my blog before will know. I spent less than 6 weeks in kennels and it was the worst time of my life. It totally shattered my faith in human beans, until ma maitresse came along and I persuaded her to adopt me. It's the reason I'm still very suspicious of strangers, even aggressive to them if I feel threatened.

Poor Keanu is wonderfully looked after by the nice people at Dogs Trust. But it's not home. We dogs love to have our own place, our own family, our own toys, a garden to play in. Now Keanu wouldn't be at all suitable for a home with children, he's much too nervous. But there are lots of dogs out there who would.

There are plenty of rescue places overflowing with dogs dying to be part of a loving family. If you have a particular breed in mind, you can even find a rescue society for that breed who can help you find one that's perfect for you. And don't forget older dogs – they make wonderful, loving companions and are a lot less trouble than a boisterous puppy.

If your children are old enough to ask for and take on the responsibility of dog ownership, they are old enough to watch the videos I've given you links to. Please show them to them. And then ask if they still want that puppy from a pet shop.