Bark's Code

At the end of the 1980’s here in Britain, the problem of dog attacks had become so extensive that the Government banned 4 breeds of dog they believed to be the main culprits for the attacks, and introduced the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.

So successful has this hastily introduced Act been that a full generation later in 2016, an average of 600 people were bitten or attacked by dogs every single day, which is almost twice as bad as it was originally back in 1991.
To me the most obvious flaw within the Dangerous Dogs Act itself has to be that when they put it together, the Government forgot the fact that most dogs cannot read, and as they are the ones with the teeth, some might suggest that this was a considerable and very naïve oversight.

Many of the health benefits for humans, both mental and physical associated with dog ownership are well documented. Statistics will show that amongst other things as a dog owner you are 3 times less likely to have a heart attack than someone who doesn’t own a dog, but I suggest that this isn’t simply just because the dog gets walked and so in return keeps the owner fitter than his counterpart.

For the last few years I have lived with and worked alongside a canine behaviourist, a man who is obviously both confident and happy in what he does, and although he says Britain already has enough dogs, he believes that 600 bites per year is too many let alone 600 per day, but he also wholeheartedly believes that every child deserves the right to be taught canine psychology and protocol as soon as they are able to understand it, and further, if this were to happen globally, world peace would soon follow.

Something I noticed whilst working as a canine behaviourists assistant, was that it seemed no matter what type or breed of dog that we were called out to, or whatever issue that particular dog had, the remedy or guide lines he gave to his client for the successful rehabilitation of that dog’s behavioural issues, often sounded almost identical to what he had just said to the previous client, the client before that and the one before that too, day after day I kept hearing echoes from the day before.

So, over the past year rather than just listening to what I’ve heard him say now many times before, I wrote it all down, and have called it Bark’s Code.

The difference between having a canine behaviourist or a mechanic fix a problem for you, is a mechanic will identify the problem with your car and then fix it for you, whereas a behaviourist is more likely to identify the problem with your dog, and then show you how to fix it yourself, and that is why I knew this book had to be written.

The transformations to be seen in a person who has gone from being somebody who has no control over their dog, to somebody who is no longer at odds with nature, although a beautiful thing, is not the only story here, I believe the real story is not so much what happens during the rehabilitation process, but how that person then sees themselves and how they then go on to live their life, afterwards.

Bark’s Code is based on real events and real people, the turnaround in little Alfie’s life is just one example of what can happen when humans are brave enough to put their fears and the modern world down for long enough to allow their rightful reconnection with nature.

We are all nature, each and every one of us, man’s attempt to forget or deny this is why we, your best friend, are currently reminding you 600 times every day that you have indeed lost your way, and no, I am not a behaviourists right hand man, I am of course, his dog.