TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010 WWW.SCNEWS.COM STANWOOD/CAMANO NEWS C1

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Pet & EquestrianBy DIANNA YOUNG Special to the NEWS

If I were to visit Italy or

Greece, I would be lost be-cause I don’t have the skills for adequate verbal commu-nication there. But if I sent my dog to Italy or Greece, my dog would be able to communicate just fine with every dog that lives there. That’s because dogs don’t depend on verbal communi-cation.

Lately I’ve been working in several of my classes with clients who put too much emphasis on verbal commu-nication with their dog.

That’s a mistake. I’ve been to many coun-

tries around the globe and I, just like my dog, have been able to communicate with dogs around the world just fine.

Dogs innately understand energy, body language and power of intention. And it

doesn’t matter where the ani-mals come from.

My husband, Jason, re-cently had an experience in the Middle East, which re-inforces that. Jason was in a major city working as an ad-visor, and he and several men he worked with came upon a pack of nearly 20 stray dogs.

The dogs approached Jason and the other men to see if they could obtain food and, because of his dog-training background, Jason could clearly see the rank structure within the pack. He was closely watching the be-havior of the animals, and he could see which dog was in charge of the others. Another pack member that stood out from the rest was an old gee-zer dog, which, because of his age, didn’t have the strength or the stamina of most of the younger ones. As a result, the one in command bullied the old dog quite a bit.

Jason took a liking to the geezer dog, but as the pack approached, the pack leader did not allow the geezer to enter Jason’s 6-foot domi-nation zone. This offended Jason a bit, so he corrected the pack leader — not with words, but with energy and body language. Jason prohib-ited the leader from coming within his 6-foot zone, but

befriended the old dog by allowing it within his inner circle.

Jason’s companions were amazed as they watched this play out. All of it was done without a word. The dogs were more interested in Ja-son than they were in his companions, some of whom carried corn chips, because he offered meaningful inter-

action that they could under-stand.

The fact is Jason uses the same communication tech-niques the dogs would use within the pack. None of it involved verbal language.

Dogs can associate dif-ferent actions with differ-ent sound, and we do want to teach them to respond to verbal commands. But as humans, we tend to place too much emphasis on it.

I have imported several dogs from Europe, and of course the dogs that get off a plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport have been raised in the environ-ment of a different human language than the one they encounter here.

That’s highly irrelevant to them, however, when I clip my lead to their collar.

They understand my in-tentions through the power of that line.

You can make this aspect

of a dog’s nature work for you.

Through training, we can teach you how to be a strong and confident leader and how to project those quali-ties and other communica-tions through body language. A dog appreciates that.

Think about it the next time you attach your lead to your dog’s collar. The best way to communicate with him is to transmit your wish-es right through the lead.

And believe me, after a dog has been on a 12-hour flight from Europe — or at any other time — a strong and confident leader is what he wants to find on the other end of his line.

Dianna Young is a certi-fied, professional dog train-er and canine behaviorist from Camano Island, where she operates Camano Island Kennels Dog Boarding and Training Facility.

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Want to go for a ride?Those six little words

are often music to a dog’s ears.

Whether you’re bring-ing them to the local dog park, on vacation, or to visit friends and family, most dogs enjoy a road trip.

You probably make sure that you and your hu-man family are buckled up before you go, but are you also keeping your pet safe when they are riding in the car with you?

TRIPSwithPETS.com, the leading authority on pet travel and pet friendly hotels, conducted a poll to find out how many pet owners are securing their furry companions while on the road. Of the 765 respondents 53 percent re-ported taking proper safety precautions, which is up from just 44 percent only two years ago.

Many states now have pending legislation regard-ing the use of pet restraints in a vehicle, so if you cur-rently have your dog or cat “loose” in your car, it’s time to consider using one of the following methods:

A barrier is the most popular pet travel restraint in the survey, used by 41 percent of pet owner re-spondents. These barriers are used in the cargo area of the vehicle, keeping your pet safely away from you and your passengers, and more importantly, away from the windshield in the event of an acci-dent.

A travel crate was used by 32 percent of pet own-ers in the poll. When us-ing a crate, make sure it’s well ventilated and large enough for your pet to stand, sit, lie down and

turn around. If your pet hasn’t been familiarized with a crate environment, it will be important to do so prior to heading out.

Buckle ‘em up like 9 percent of the people in the survey. Dog seat belts are made to easily slip onto your existing vehicle seat belt and acts as a harness to keep your pet safely in the seat in case there is a sudden stop or impact. It also keeps pets from dis-tracting drivers.

For smaller pets, pet travel car seats are the per-fect answer when you’re on the go. Reminiscent of a booster seat, they were used by 8 percent of the survey respondents. Your pet is able to look out and see what is going on while safely secured in the car seat.

While many travel-ing with their four-legged family members are try-ing to keep them safe, 47 percent of the people who took the survey still do not currently secure their pets.

Letting your pet have free reign in a vehicle or sit in your lap while driv-ing can have serious con-sequences. Aside from the obvious danger in a crash, a unsecured scared pet could wander into harm’s way or even hamper the

efforts of rescue workers. Although dogs love to

stick their heads out the window, doing so can ac-tually damage their eyes and ears, not to mention the risk of falling out. The same also applies to truck beds.

An unrestrained pet can multiply its weight by hun-dreds or even thousands of pounds during an automo-bile accident. Some vehicle accident statistics report loose objects, including pets, to be one of the top five reasons for injuries. Don’t put your beloved pet in harm’s way when you take them for a ride.

For more informa-tion about pet travel, visit TRIPSwithPETS.com.

Verbal and nonverbal communication with pets

RomeoPets need safety belts, too

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