Now Two Bill Bruce Calgary Modelfree Seminars Melbourne. Dogs On Trial

[sumosmum]

Dogs On Trial, DOT Victoria

BILL BRUCE SEMINAR.....YOU ARE ALL INVITED

2PM, 24 OCTOBER 2015 PLEASE SHARE

With thanks to RSPCA Victoria who have kindly supplied their facilities, a seminar has been organised with Bill Bruce speaking.

Bill is the retired Director of Animal Services and Bylaws in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and implemented what is now referred to as the Calgary Model. This model of management has been and continues to be an astounding success and does not involve Breed Specific Legislation.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters at Dogs On Trial, the auctions run by Bobbie-Lee and the sale of our merchandise. Without our supporters, we would not have been able to bring Bill Bruce to Melbourne to speak with the Victorian Parliamentary Committee at the Inquiry into the Legislative and Regulatory Framework Relating to Restricted Breed Dogs. Look forward to seeing you on the 24th.

SEATING IS LIMITED SO RSVP QUICKLY IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND

My link

Edited October 16, 2015 by sumosmum

[sumosmum]

We now have another free Bill Bruce seminar which is mid week.

The seminar is being hosted by City of Moonee Valley with a lot of support from the Mayor.

Thursday, 22 October, 1pm.

Clocktower Centre, 750 Mt Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds, Vic., 3039.

See flyer below link for flyer with rsvp details. This is a free event.

Edited October 16, 2015 by sumosmum

[sandgrubber]

While the VIC dog laws are absurd, the "Calgary Model" is not universally applauded in Calgary.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/relationship-between-breed-specific-laws-and-dog-bites-unclear-studies

I'd encourage anyone attending to ask the hard questions.

[melzawelza]

Bites are going up in Calgary ever since Bill Bruce retired in 2012 and the program is not getting the same sort of funding and priority as it once was. Like anything, if you don't continue to resource an effective program it will start to fail.

[ricey]

Bites are going up in Calgary ever since Bill Bruce retired in 2012 and the program is not getting the same sort of funding and priority as it once was. Like anything, if you don't continue to resource an effective program it will start to fail.

Yes, this is so sad. Bill Bruce put an immeasurable amount of effort into making his vision work, and I thought that it was inevitable that it would stumble when he retired. Having said that, it does not mean that his model will fail. All it needs is to be driven by a person or people that have his clarity of thought and his drive. I am sure that there are DOLers that are up to the task.

ricey

[ricey]

While the VIC dog laws are absurd, the "Calgary Model" is not universally applauded in Calgary.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/relationship-between-breed-specific-laws-and-dog-bites-unclear-studies

I'd encourage anyone attending to ask the hard questions.

As for that article, the findings are open to interpretation.

Winnipeg instituted a breed ban on pit bulls in 1990. That city’s council banned the breed in light of a “series of really bad pit bull attacks,” according to Leland Gordon of Winnipeg’s Animal Service Agency.

“In Winnipeg, has the pit bull ban worked? Absolutely, because they’re not here,” he told the Herald.

A 2012 study by researchers at the University of Manitoba found a decrease in the number of hospitalizations caused by dog bites for the 16 regions within the province that had enacted breed-specific legislation.

“What we found is where the legislation was enacted, then the number of bites was reduced relative to places where the legislation wasn’t enacted,” said Dan Chateau, one of the authors of the study and a research scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. “How strongly we can claim that one caused the other, that is a little bit still up for debate but the relationship is definitely there.”

A linked article in the article quoted by sandgrubber said this:

The man who crafted Calgary’s bylaw for responsible pet ownership is weighing in on a public debate about whether the city needs new restrictions to curb dog biting, particularly among pit bulls.

Bill Bruce, former long-time director of Calgary animal and bylaw services, said a breed ban on pit bulls would be counterproductive. He said it’s up to dog owners to make sure their pet is well-trained in order to prevent bites.

“Your dog cannot think. Your dog actually makes very poor decisions on its own,” Bruce said.

“It needs leadership and that comes from responsible pet ownership. You want to be so careful in your legislation that you’re not negatively impacting responsible people.”

Bruce served in the position from 2000-2012, during which the city created its Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw. Bruce said the bylaw is based on the principles of owners spaying and neutering pets, providing the proper training, socialization, exercise and medical care, and ensuring pets are not a threat or nuisance in the city.

Earlier this week, Calgary saw five dog attacks in five days, many involving pit bulls, prompting Calgary animal and bylaw services to call for higher licensing fees and greater fines for owners of certain dogs that bite. There has been some debate about whether Calgary should institute a breed ban on pit bulls, following cities such as Winnipeg and Denver, as well as the province of Ontario.

But Bruce said breed bands are ineffective.

“If you look at the Ontario numbers, you look at the Winnipeg numbers, they haven’t gone down in bite numbers,” he said. “Yes, they’ve got less bites by pit bulls, but their bite numbers are generally up.”

Bruce said a ban would lead owners to replace their pit bulls with other aggressive dogs.

“All dogs can and will bite,” he said. “All that happens is your bites shift to another breed.”

Beth O’Connor, a certified dog trainer and behaviourist with Cultured Canines in Calgary, said pit bulls are no more difficult to train and socialize than other dogs, nor are they more inherently dangerous.

“They’re a very excited breed,” she said. “They have a lot of energy, and energy and aggression are very closely tied.”

O’Connor said many pit bull owners don’t understand the importance of socializing their dog. She said controlled training classes teach dogs how to interact with each other, which can prevent future aggressive behaviour.

She said breed isn’t a factor in a dog’s likelihood to bite, rather, people are more likely to report being bitten by a more powerful dog like a pit bull.

Alice Nightengale, the director of Denver animal protection, said Denver’s pit bull ban comes down to a matter of “severity” of the bite. A study conducted from 2007-2012 on dog bites in Colorado by the Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs found that pit bulls were the second-leading breed that bit behind Labrador retrievers.

On Thursday, Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca told the Herald he planned on “putting in a motion” for “next council meeting” which would make muzzles mandatory for dogs in public, regardless of breed, until they are trained, followed by wearing a coloured bandana corresponding to how dangerous they are. After a receiving a backlash of complaints, he backed away from the comments Friday.

“You can never enforce a bandana and I would never put the City of Calgary in jeopardy like that if anything was to happen,” he said.

Magliocca also said muzzling a dog should be an owner’s choice if they have a larger dog.

O’Connor said muzzling a dog until it is trained would have a detrimental impact. She said dogs communicate through body language, often involving their mouths. It’s at that training stage when they learn the difference between a bite and a soft nip.

“That will cause aggression because the dogs are not learning how to socialize properly,” she said.

“The muzzle will just piss them off and they won’t interact with each other. When they do go to interact with each other, they won’t know how to do it and that’s when fights will start.”

Did anyone notice this quote?

Alice Nightengale, the director of Denver animal protection, said Denver’s pit bull ban comes down to a matter of “severity” of the bite. A study conducted from 2007-2012 on dog bites in Colorado by the Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs found that pit bulls were the second-leading breed that bit behind Labrador retrievers.

Anyone here on DOL calling for the banning of Labradors?

ricey

[ricey]

I'd encourage anyone attending to ask the hard questions.

Would you care to share with us just what you think are the hard questions the attendees should be asking Bill Bruce?

ricey

Edited October 31, 2015 by ricey

[moosmum]

Seems to me the real problem is people aren't taking responsibility for their dogs, or for making sure they have some understanding OF dogs before they choose to interact with, or own them. Regardless of breed.

Why is that? Less familiarity? No longer a visible , actively talked about part of our culture?

Certainly becoming less so, and easy to see how that will lead to fewer people having any understanding of their responsibilities, or familiarity with the species before choosing to become involved with it.

I think Bill Bruces ideas work when the community is involved AS a community WITH dogs.

Instead of a community, whos dogs mustn't be a relevant part of it.

Edited November 1, 2015 by moosmum

[ricey]

Seems to me the real problem is people aren't taking responsibility for their dogs, or for making sure they have some understanding OF dogs before they choose to interact with, or own them. Regardless of breed.

Why is that? Less familiarity? No longer a visible , actively talked about part of our culture?

Certainly becoming less so, and easy to see how that will lead to fewer people having any understanding of their responsibilities, or familiarity with the species before choosing to become involved with it.

I think Bill Bruces ideas work when the community is involved AS a community WITH dogs.

Instead of a community, whos dogs mustn't be a relevant part of it.

Yes moosmum, very much so.

Bill Bruce put a lot of time and effort into including the community in his vision. And it worked well while BB was in charge. All it takes is a visionary LOL!

Can't see too many Aussie head rangers stepping up to the plate though; poor bastards have more than enough to do dealing with the aussie dog owners who can't contain their dogs , pick up their poo, or train them successfully in any way at all.

The older I get, the more misanthropic I get (but the more canophilic).

ricey

[sandgrubber]

Alice Nightengale, the director of Denver animal protection, said Denver’s pit bull ban comes down to a matter of “severity” of the bite. A study conducted from 2007-2012 on dog bites in Colorado by the Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs found that pit bulls were the second-leading breed that bit behind Labrador retrievers.

Anyone here on DOL calling for the banning of Labradors?

ricey

Some Labradors do bite. Most Labrador puppies bite a lot! But the severity of Lab bites is, on average, less than that of many other breeds. Look at the dog fatality statistics or hospital admission statistics, rotten as their quality is: you will see that Labs are not heavily represented, despite being the most common dog breed in the US.

Pit bull numbers aren't that high in Colorado in part due to BSL. If they weren't banned in Denver, they might well have come in first. And if you look at the percent of the total dog breed population that has inflicted serious injury, who knows what breed will come out as #1. Could be some relatively rare guardian breed.

I am not for banning pitties. They are the most common dog breed where I now live. I don't see pits as any more dangerous than Staffies. Biggest problem is the huge number of pits that end up in shelters and get put to sleep.

The hardest of the hard questions is how do you make everyone (98% isn't good enough) be responsible in caring for their dogs. The 'Calgary Model' is hard to sustain, much less export.