If your pooch is a pain or your mutt’s in a muddle, let Victoria Stilwell loose. Fiona Adams talks to the dog trainer and TV presenter...
Did you know that if your dog wags his tail more to the left, he may be feeling cautious, whereas if he wags it more to the right he may be feeling confident? Or that your four-legged friend has around 250 million scent receptors in her nose, as compared with our measly five million?
These and many other fascinating insights into the canine world are revealed in an engaging new volume, The Secret Language of Dogs: Unlocking the Canine Mind for a Happier Pet, written by dog behaviour and training expert Victoria Stilwell.
The book explores the secret meanings of canine body and vocal language, looking at socialisation, fear, aggression and strange behaviour, as well as pain and ageing. It decodes barking patterns and investigates how dogs, in turn, interpret human behaviour. With a lively, mischievous and stubborn West Highland Terrier a fairly recent addition to the Adams household, I found its 13 chapters fascinating and consumed it in one go. As I tell Victoria, famed as the presenter of canine behavioural TV show It’s Me or the Dog, I have been watching our Bertie like a hawk ever since.
“I’m really glad you said that!” laughs the star trainer, originally from Wimbledon, but now based in Atlanta, Georgia in America’s Deep South. “That’s exactly what I wanted people to do: read the book and begin to notice things in their dogs that they haven’t seen before.
“Ever since I first became a trainer, many years ago, I have wanted to educate people about their animals; to encourage them to understand dogs and, equally, for the dogs themselves to gain a better understanding of people.”
Remembering my own childhood on the family farm with our three collies, I tell Victoria that no one much bothered about canine behaviour. My father never clocked which way the tails wagged, and when one of our collies took a healthy chunk out of a visiting child’s nose – fear not, the missing bit was found and reattached – there was no analysis of the incident or retraining.
Times have changed, however, and Victoria agrees that there has been a seismic shift in how we interact with our pets.
“It is much needed,” she says, appalled by my story, “because more and more dogs are sharing our homes. If we are going to have essentially extra family members living with us, we need to understand them. We want them to have a good life for our own lives to be as easy as possible with them.
“Dogs and humans are both hard-wired to survive. Success depends on our ability to negotiate our environment, and that’s basically what behaviour is all about. The relationship between dogs and humans fascinates me.
“My company is called Positively. Everything I’ve done is part of a mission to change dogs’ lives positively, as well as those of the people who live with them. These animals are vulnerable and rely on us 100%, so we have to give them our best.”
Victoria and her sister spent their childhood in Wimbledon. Their mother still lives there and volunteers at the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park. Their father, sadly long since passed away, was an enthusiastic tennis player.
“We lived virtually next door to Centre Court!” laughs Victoria. “My parents weren’t really big animal people. I pleaded with my dad for a dog, but it never happened. The person who influenced me the most was my grandmother. She lived near Henley and was a hobby breeder of beagles. She was an avid dog lover and I got my own love for them from her.
“The dogs were everything to her – it was beagles before people. For me and my sister visiting her was really exciting, and I still think of her during so much of what I do now. She never saw me when I was full-out dog training, but I hope she’s proud.”
Victoria went to university and, with thespian aspirations in mind, started a dog walking business to raise funds for drama school.
“I absolutely loved it and my business grew so fast! I started to meet people – trainers, behaviourists and so on – and began studying everything I could about dog behaviour.
“I did end up going to drama school [at Webber Douglas] and actually got some amazing jobs, but all through it I still had my dog business. Whenever I wasn’t acting, I was out there walking, learning and training.”
One of Victoria’s ‘amazing’ jobs was in Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story in the West End. She played Maria Elena, wife of the legendary singer, and it was here that she met her husband Van Zeiler, who sang the title role.
“We got married on stage each night!” she says. “Van had come from New York to play the role. Then, after 15 months on tour with the show, we moved to the States. We lived in Midtown Manhattan and, while I did a few voiceovers and some acting jobs, it was my dog business that really exploded.
“That was a baptism of fire. In Manhattan, you’re working in very limited spaces, in very noisy environments. I was dealing with everything from puppies to pit bulls; complex cases of aggression and anxiety and a lot of unhappy dogs. What’s more, as I discovered pretty quickly, it meant coping with human problems too.”
Are the Americans as potty about their dogs as us Brits?
“Oh yes, absolutely, but animal welfare in the States is not as advanced as in the UK. Training is quite punitive too. Dogs in the UK enjoy more freedom because in urban areas in America unless there is a specific dog park, there are very few places where you can have your pet off the lead. So, in the UK dogs can act more naturally and there’s less frustration and lead reactivity.”
In 2004, having set up the hugely successful Dog Trainers of New York and Dog Trainers of New Jersey, Victoria – by then a new mother to daughter Alex (15 last month) – watched an episode of Supernanny. It struck her that the concept – a professional nanny helping parents struggling with their children’s behaviour – would transfer successfully to dogs. She was right: the production company loved it.
“It was the right idea, the right place, the right time. I pitched it as ‘Supertrainer’, and that’s how It’s Me or the Dog started.”
The show has proved hugely successful on both sides of the Atlantic and, with the support and hard work of her husband, Victoria’s empire has gone from strength to strength. In addition to running Positively and the Victoria Stilwell Academy, she has appeared as a judge on Greatest American Dog, worked with Oxford Scientific Film on Dogs Might Fly and the upcoming Dogs with Extraordinary Jobs, written several books and thrown her weight behind Lucy’s Law: a government plan to ban pet shops and dealers in England from selling puppies and kittens. She frequently speaks out against puppy farms, dog fighting and animal abuse.
In Atlanta, where her husband’s family is based, Victoria continues in her mission to improve the lives of dogs through positive rather than punitive enforcement. Not everyone likes her methods – she is often criticised for being ‘weak’ or ‘soft’ and has also come under fire for her former career, her appearance and her clothes. She is unapologetic, however, determined to spread the Positively message.
“More and more people are now training in a positive way. I know that I’m right, not only because science backs me up, but also because I see it every day with my clients. I stand firm against causing pain and using techniques that intimidate and provoke fear.
“It hasn’t been easy – it’s taken a lot of work and passion. But I am able to help make the lives of animals and people better. I feel blessed to be able to do that.”
The Secret Language of Dogs by Victoria Stilwell is published by Octopus Books, £12.99. To become a dog trainer visit: vsdogtrainingacademy.com or to find a licensed trainer visit positively.com. Dogs With Extraordinary Jobs will air in May, on Love Nature HD, Virgin Media, channel 293.
