Bored and under-stimulated dogs can have their brains and bodies stretched by a former Essex Police officer.
Richard Newman, 44, runs regular training classes through his organisation K9S Pet Services. But he began his canine career in an unusual way, by working as a “dog runner”.
This aspect of his work consists of taking a harnessed dog on a six-mile run. He currently does five such runs a week.
“I’ve lost some weight,” Richard says. “I used to be something of a muscular bulk when I left the police force, but I’m now much leaner.”
The core of his work, however, consists of the training and agility classes which he runs at Southend Rugby Club’s grounds.
Many of the dogs he handles belong to working breeds, such as collies, labradors, German shepherds and spaniels, who can find life as suburban pets a bit confining.
“The idea is to stimulate the dogs’ brains,” he says.
“If you own, say, a collie, a dog that is bred for working, and you just take it to the park regularly and throw it a ball, that is not going to provide it enough stimulation. The dog needs to use its brain, to figure out what it has to do. They really enjoy the process.”
Richard’s methods are based on the idea of “positive reinforcement”, which avoids a dominant approach by the trainer and instead concentrates on providing incentive.
“Some people adopt a dominant approach in training, and are prepared to give the dog a smack about the chops to help establish that dominance,” he says.
Richard’s method emphasises reward, which may be a morsel of food, or may be a hug.
Such is Richard’s own ability to connect with the dogs that he can make them respond to hand signals from a distance.
Many of the animals that come to his classes are rescue dogs, which may demonstrate anxiety issues or even aggression.
“But training has the ability to resolve these problems and create a real bond with the new owner,” he says.
Richard, who has three dogs of his own – a German shepherd, a Labrador and a cocker spaniel puppy – developed his method while still working with the police force in Southend.
“I did voluntary work for a long time with a rescue kennels in Rayleigh,” he says.
“Many of the dogs had backgrounds that made them very mistrustful.”
“Confidence is at the heart of it,” he says. “And nine out of ten times it is about teaching the
owners as well as the dogs.”
He cites one instance of a woman who owned a chihuahua. “She couldn’t walk it, because it just froze at the sight of another dog.
“I showed her how to hold the lead and how to walk confidently with the dog. Within five minutes, her chihuahua was standing quite happily next to a bull mastiff.”