A visiting English dog expert says the owners of aggressive dogs should look no further than the mirror when deciding who is to blame.
Jan Fennell is speaking in New Plymouth tonight about her life as a "dog listener".
"Certain breeds attack certain people and certain people should not be dog owners," she says. "When dogs are treated badly, they will react in one of three ways - compliance, fear or the clever ones will retaliate."
"Some people want their dogs to be aggressive because they think that's clever but it isn't - it's stupid."
She says putting a dog down after it bites someone is the worst solution and most dogs can be rehabilitated.
"The human makes all the mistakes and the dog dies - that's not fair."
She speaks of a Jack Russell that had been mistreated and was aggressive but was turned around and became one of the best pets she has had.
Miss Fennell says to understand a dog you need to watch what it does when there are no humans around.
"They are thinking about the exact same things we would be thinking about: food, where to get that food and danger," she says. "As a dog owner, I really believed that my dogs thought of me as their leader but that's a trap that many owners fall into.
"When dogs bark at someone at the door, many owners yell at them but I started saying `thank you' and they just calmed down," she says.
"It was fantastic."
Miss Fennell has written five books on dog ownership that have been translated into 20 languages. She also tours the world speaking about dogs.
There are registered dog listeners from New Zealand to Iceland and many countries in between.
"People like the idea of dog listening because it is about no fear and no pain," she says.
Miss Fennell is speaking at the New Plymouth District Council chambers tonight at 7pm. A donation made from ticket sales will go to Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.
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