December 20 2008
Behioural Report from our assessment
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Letter from Kim Hamilton, Blue Cross CEO (2 pages)
Behavioral report (6 pages)
We have identified some comments in this report to be false or misleading and we have sent these to Kim Hamilton for her response. We will of course post her response as soon as we get one.
Below are the comments we find incorrect:
1) In the cover letter, it is mentioned that although training classes are good, that training had to happen at all times. We are concerned that there is an incorrect perception of us. We had planned to take Nala to formal training classes in order to help us train Nala, not to do the job for us. We both fully understand that training needs to take place at all times. As with the minor teething problems we mentioned to the Blue Cross (which resulted in them taking Nala from us and putting her in a kennel where she clearly developed a lot more problems than she ever had while in our care), it is a case of knowing. A minor problem is easy to overcome when you have support from training classes where they can suggest ways to overcome training problems that will work. The Blue Cross gave us some great suggestions that overcame the problems we were having at the time, but they had already arranged Nala’s transfer before we even arrived at the training session.
2) With regards to the recall comments made, we had never let her off the lead in the past and we had done recall training in our own garden which was successful, however we were unable to work on it properly outside of the home as the expendable lead that we had was not very long and we were waiting for a training line. When we were in the field there were many distractions for nala and that affected her recall to us as not only had the recall training not progressed due to lack of training materials but there had also been a few weeks between the time nala was in our care and the time of the assessment.
The Blue cross had prepared a 7 day assessment of Nala as soon as she arrived at the kennel. In this 7 day report they told us that since arriving at the kennel they had found that she was not good at all with people she didn’t know or other dogs. When they assessed us we were able to recall Nala a few times, but the times we couldnt were because she was too interested in the 5 people in the pen and all the people stood outside the pen watching. Plus, in the pen next to us there were 2 more people and a dog that was constantly jumping up at the fence and barking at Nala. We had assumed that they would have taken all this into consideration as they had just told us that this was the exact situation that she would be worst in. Yet they did not take this into consideration or even mention it in the report.
3) There is a comment made about Heather dropping treats for nala and that it showed nervousness. The trainers comments didnt reflect this as she mentions that she never asked her for a reason as to why she did that. Had she asked she would have been told that the treats dropped from her hand accidentally and nala, being the food hoover that she is, got to the treat before heather could pick it up again.
4) It was mentioned that we did not manage Nala well, but we were expecting some guidance or instructions so that they could assess how we managed each instruction. However, we were given no guidance on what we were required to do. The behavioralist mentioned that Nala seemed more interested in her than she did in us. This was because she had been the one holding the dog toy and she was stood with her hands closed, making it look like she was hiding a toy or treat. When Nala went to see what was in her hands, the behavioralist moved her hands up and away from Nala, exactly the same action that she told us not to do.
5) There are also connotations made about us walking nala, that studies show that when walking a dog is not a good experience then people are less likely to walk them. We can agree with this statement in theory but we are the exception to the statement. Nala was never much of a problem for us to walk and we enjoyed our walks. If she proved not to walk well, we would have spent more time and effort in trying to train out any bad behaviour by walking her more, or spending more time getting her used to her lead in the back garden, walking to heel, so she would walk better when we took her out. We most certainly wouldn’t just avoid those situations and we are a little insulted that this is how we were perceived.
We will provide updates as and when we get them.
We received this response from Kim Hamilton with regards to our issues above:
Dear Heather and David
Happy New Year to you both and thank you for your email.
I’m sorry to hear that you have concerns about the behavioural report and feel insulted by the outcomes of the assessment of Nala that took place in November. I would like to reassure you that this certainly was not our intention and I am sorry for any offence we may have caused you. In terms of negative impressions that you feel may have been obtained, again, I can assure you that is not the case; in fact and as we discussed, we feel that you both could offer a loving home to another less boisterous dog that is more suited to you.
We hoped that by involving an experienced and independent behaviouralist you would feel reassured that the assessment at the Bromsgrove centre was a fair and balanced one. We believe that it was. We also hoped that you would accept that the decision would be the best for Nala’s future happiness. Whilst I know that not having Nala placed with you is difficult for you to accept and I really do sympathise, we have to make sure that Nala is matched to the most suitable home for her.
I’m sure you’ll be interested to know that Nala has settled at Bromsgrove and is coming along really well with her training.
Kind regards,
Kim
We still do not know who the behaviourist was, or what her qualifications are and we have not received an answer to our questions. We have replied and will update as soon as we have any further news.