Robin Glover and Caroline Spencer are the founder members of the Association of Pure Dog Listeners. Both have a wealth of experience not only of owning pet dogs but also of training and working dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds.
Robin’s introduction to working with dogs professionally came in 1977 with a posting to the Hampshire Police Dog Section where he remained until his retirement from the Police Service in 2002. He was shown how to train a dog to search, track, bite, do agility and of course the vitally important obedience. How we humans love telling our dogs what to do. Heel! Sit! Stay! Down! Come! Breathe in and out! All in a ‘make him do it’ tone of voice. Where was the incentive for the dog? There was no cruelty used and indeed a lot of play was involved but the system was disjointed.
When Robin started questioning whether there might be a better way to communicate with their dogs the response was generally “We’ve always done it that way”. If that was the basis to live our lives then we’d still be living in caves. Robin’s boss was a very open minded man who allowed him the freedom to explore better ways to produce the ideal Police Dog.
A huge amount of research was involved reading anything about any canine, be it wolf, dingo wild dogs, domestic dog or any other anywhere in the world. then there were documentaries to watch. Theoretical knowledge is fine but making it work in practice is the acid test. It is remarkable how many people with a host of letters after their names who make their living as ‘behaviourists’ that had no experience of dogs before starting ther studies and precious little afterwards. There is one such person who has never ever owned a dog yet they feel qualified to write books, travel the world, appear on tv and radio and dispense advice that is often contradictory. Who suffers? As always it’s the dog who gets it wrong because he’s been let down by humans who, as top of the food chain, feel they have the right to kill the dog.
The progress made was so noticeable that in 1988 Robin was given official recognition for his work. With retirement approaching Robin heard of the work of Jan Fennell the author of ‘The Dog Listener’. Jan wrote the book after meeting Monty Roberts ‘The Horse Whisperer’ in 1989 and devising a method she called Amichien Bonding. Robin saw the similarities to what he was doing and as a result trained with her and was awarded the Advanced Certificate of Canine Communication.
Robin worked as an associate of Jan for some years successfully dealing with hundreds of dogs. He is now, together with Caroline forming a new, smaller company. This PURE Dog Listeners Association will only contain members who keep the method PURE, and are known to have and maintain, high standards. People who understand that the focus is on dog and owner to the exclusion of all else.
Take a look at Robin’s website www.robinglover.com
Have a good look at the site and visit the blog should you want a no obligation chat then call on 01252 650323 or mobile 07808 307245.
