💡 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 - in the context of Australian dog related legislation - is not an incredibly well defined context.
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🍎 At it's core Effective Control is about the inherent responsiblity of a dog's handler/owner to maintain control to a degree that the dog is unable to adversely affect the community around it.
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✅ Effective Control is a requirement that exists whether your dog is on or off leash, and regardless of whether your dog is in an on or off leash area.
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𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴:
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👉 Allowing their dog to rush towards or worry an on leash dog and/or handler that is in an off leash area
👉 Allowing their on leash dog to rush towards or worry a person and/or dog walking past with their on leash dog
👉 Allowing their dog to run up to a person and their dog whilst they are training in an off leash area
👉 Allowing their dog to interrupt a family enjoying a picnic together at a beach
👉 Not ensuring that their dog is within their line of sight at all times
👉 Not being able to recall their dog 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 in an off leash area
👉 Failing to continually observe their dog whilst it is in an off leash area eg: staring at their phone
👉 Allowing their dog to compete with another dog involved in a game of fetch without the other owners permission
👉 Allowing their dog/s to stalk/circle somebody else's dog/s in an off leash area
👉 Allowing their dog to turn a blind corner on an extendable leash
👉 Allowing their dog to rush at or worry a passerby on a skateboard or bike
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🔎 It is often the case that Councils and Municipalities do not provide any level of formalised training for their staff in relation to this legal concept, including a number of relevant legal precedents. It is also often the case that such organisations are reluctant to prosecute cases relating to a failure to maintain Effective Control.
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BOTTOM LINE: You are responsible for your dog's behaviour, so develop and train your dog accordingly.
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*𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵. ...

⚠️ 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.
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🐕 Take myself as an example - the dogs that I am most interested in owning and developing are specifically bred for their robust temperaments and their genetic predispositions towards certain behavioural traits and innate motivations.
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✅ From there I take 𝟭𝟬𝟬% responsibility for developing that dog towards the potential that it's genetics are capable of achieving - because based on my experience and research I clearly understand that in the context of behaviour genetic potential is in no way guaranteed to express itself.
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⚡ 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 - 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴.
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🧬 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺'𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀.
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🌏 The environment is not just the external world the dog lives in though - it also applies to the dog's internal environment.
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💡 The internal environment changes in response to the external environment, and this begins even before conception of the organism occurs.
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🧠 The life the parents have lived has an effect on the genetics that they transfer to their progeny, and the expression of that genetic soup will continue to be affected in utero, in response to the internal environment of the mother...which will be affected by the way that the dam experiences and responds to the world around it.
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🎓 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦.
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💥 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴:
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✅ Pick the breeder of your dog carefully - ensure the stock is appropriately tested, and that your breeder has an appropriately detailed understanding of their responsibility in delivering you a sound pup.
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🏋️‍♀️ Once you're committed to that pup, you do the work - don't leave that dog's development to chance, don't rely on the dogs genetics to create the dog that you hope to own, and assume that any sticking points you encounter are your responsibility to work through.
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⛔ 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. ...

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💡𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱/𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲.
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👁Whilst it takes a village to achieve this aim, ultimately the degree of oversight, coordination and responsibility involved is an amazing tool to develop your own skill sets and levels of understanding.
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⚠️I’ve got a new pup inbound soon, and I’m looking forward to all of the above.
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🧠 It keeps my head in the game, forces me to continue to learn and improve, and never fails to teach me lessons in many ways - about dogs, about that individual dog, about training, about behaviour…and about myself.
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🔎In fact, for all the times I’ve recommended it to junior or aspiring dog trainers very, very few have taken on that challenge - and fewer still have publicly shared their journey.
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𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧: This said, it’s not for every dog trainer or enthusiast, and this can be for any number of reasons - some real, but many imagined.
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😃 Scaling that challenge back slightly, a more accessible vehicle for development is for trainers to take on developing their own dog towards a similar outcome that would force them to extend both their craft and their dog beyond that which they’re currently capable of.
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♥️ It’s so darn pleasing to have seen some folks I work with really embrace this and improve immeasurably in a personal and professional sense as a result.
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💪 Meeting performance benchmarks external to your own criteria is always likely to be a confronting idea, but often times the path which scares us most is the path most worth taking.
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💭 As you grow in your craft, keep this idea in mind.
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🤷‍♂️ Oh, and remember that if you’re waiting for the perfect time to take on this challenge…𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯.
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#dogtrainer #dogtraining #dogslife #dogsofinsta #dogsofinstagram #dogsofmelbourne #realworlddogtraining #hopeisnotaplanofaction #workingdog #malinois #herder
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