Seriously P*ss*d Agility Dogs (England)

The Sponsors of National Be Kind to Your Dogs Day

SPADE, a national society that has recently been formed by dogs and for dogs in protest of the unfair treatment of dogs at Agility Shows.  At present, it is a small society but membership is growing steadily as dogs unite in their response to ill treatment by their handlers.  The membership realised that the society title could cause offence to some humans and neutered female members, but they felt that it summed up their feelings totally, and it was decided that they should not be afraid of calling a SPADE a SPADE.

Members have documented many instances of ill treatment at agility shows. These include handlers who have:-

screamed at their dog,

pulled its fur

slammed it into the down

pinched its ear on the start line

shouted at the poor creature all the way round the course.

Worst of all were those that came off the course in a screaming temper, yanked their dog up on its slip lead and choked it all the way back to the caravan, where they gave it a good beating to teach it a lesson.

The militant splinter group of SPADE has recently taken advice from the Consortium - Animals Thinking Selfishly (CATS). CATS suggested that abused dogs should go on to the course and deliberately get faults, the more the better, and while some dogs have taken this advice, the majority feel that educating their handlers - rather than punishing them -  is the way forward.

National Be Kind To Your Dogs Day is part of this policy, as most dogs feel that their handlers treat them badly out of ignorance, rather than unkindness.  So today, they are asking all handlers to go onto the course and treat their dogs with compassion, kindness, and the knowledge that any mistakes made are probably the handlers fault any way.

Handlers who feel that it is only through punishment that their dog will learn, so they have formed the Beat All Stupid, Thick Agility Dogs Society (BASTADS). They can be easily recognised as they will physically and mentally abuse their dog all the way along the queue, and all round the course. Even when the dog tries his hardest they are not satisfied and will never give him a word of praise. They feel justified in what they are doing, and do not see anything wrong with this practice at all.  In fact, they are proud to be called BASTADS, so do not disappoint them, if you see any BASTADS running their dog on a course - chant this name as loudly as you can as they go round.  Go up to them after their run, shake them warmly by their neck, (their secret recognition signal,) and call them BASTADS to their face.*

About the author...
Aileen Clarke is a University Lecturer in Canine Behavioural Studies. She also runs her own dog training business, Fellandale Dog Training, and gives lectures and workshops to clubs and groups around the country. She has five dogs - two Border Collies and three German Spitz - and competes in Breed, Agility and Flyball competitions.

She devised SPADE last year when she was appalled at some of the things she saw people do to their dogs. She wanted a user friendly way of letting people know that when she was judging that she wasn't going to accept any harsh handling of any kind in and about my ring. She put SPADE up on her calling board, and mentioned it in my briefing, It went down really well, and she had none of the problems that she had previously seen. It made people laugh, while it also got the message through at the same time.

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