I popped into my local Jolleys pet store today and overheard two mebers of staff reccommending one of these sprays as the answer to all unwanted behaviours displayed by dogs.

Basically a man had a staffy type,not pure staff,with him and was asking for advice on how to stop his dog pulling on the lead.Straight away he was shown one of these sprays and told this was the answer. Two of the staff  demonstrated its use by sraying it directly at the poor dog who up to this point had been stood quite calmly next to his owners,a middle aged man and his teenage son.

The poor dog was startled and cowered .The owner then said the dog barks a lot and trys to jump on the furniture. He was told that this would stop all that so the man bought several of these sprays and told his son it was up to him to start using it when he was at work.

I was gobsmacked and threw a look to the sales assistant but as there were two of them endorsing this product as a quick fix to all  I wasn't brave enough to speak up.

I really feel for that poor dog and can't believe the advice given by jolleys staff. I also feel sorry for the owner as he was aking for advice and in all probability thinks he was given good advice. He was told that in a few weeks he wouldn't need to buy any more sprays as just showing the canister to the dog would have the desired effect!

Wondered what your thoughts are on this

My thoughts.....Jolleys is not the place to go for dog training advice!!  The staff are qualified retail assistants, not dog trainers or behaviourists.

I'd have cornered the owner but I am a gobby moo these days and I don't care. I'd have explained what the likely repercussions were for using this method, and what the alternatives were and recommended some good books.

I would have also written to the head office of Jolleys and had a proper go at them!

Both of those!  I'd have gone over and spoken to all of them together, so the owner understands why it's not a good idea (and give tips on what is) and so the assistants understand that they are giving out awful advice.  And yes, write to head office to complain as well.

Aren't those pet correctors actually sold with advice on packaging to NOT spray it straight onto the dog anyway? In which case there's even more wrongdoings.

> I would have also written to the head office of Jolleys and had a proper go at them!

Me too!  I would have informed them that contributing to fear aggression wasn't what they should be about!  I guess the dog will be put down when they find it's uncontrollable!  Grrr!  :-(

I must admit that I did want to go over and say something but because there were two sales assistants with the man and another close by I felt I would have been outnumbered.I hung around outside hoping to speak to the man but he was in no hurry to leave the store.

Like you I am concerned that the dog will probably end up with fear aggression and become another statistic.I feel really bad for not speaking up and if ever I come across a situation like this again will try to speak up!

It´s not always easy to but in on someone else´s conversation and tell me they are wrong, especially when you are outnumbered.  We all know what you should have done but it´s far easier said than done.  I´d feel inclined to write to the store Head Office and copy the branch into it (or maybe vice versa) as it appears their staff lack appropriate training.

Sorry, that´s tell THEM they are wrong, not me.  LOL

japmum, if I were you, I'd write a letter to the manager of the branch - and if that doesn't work, to the national HQ.  Explain why this won't stop this sort of behaviour is going to cause fear and distress to the dog and ask them to stop stocking aversive products.

The only use for a pet corrector is to break up a dog fight.  Which is so rare that you're unlikely to have one on your when you need one.  Therefore there isn't really a need for them at all.

> The only use for a pet corrector is to break up a dog fight.  Which is so rare that you're unlikely to have one on your when you need one.  Therefore there isn't really a need for them at all.

Exactly.

It might be worth posting about this on FB, maybe on a well known behaviourist's wall - say Victoria Stillwell, Grisha Stewart, Sarah Fisher - ask them if they could write a short bit of info as to why it's such a bad idea, and put that in the letter.  Of course any decent behaviourist can do it, but with a big name it would carry more weight :-)