CATHY AND THE UNDERDOGS

by Michelle Ransom-Hughes, featuring Cathy Grant

(Alongside Radio, 2019)

Cathy

I always just go for the underdog, it's just something in me. Even with people, I will always go for the underside.

I don’t, I don't like judgement on people. You know what right have we got to judge people?

A lot of dogs get branded, and they're just misunderstood. You know I’ve got quite a few dogs that have been misunderstood.

Michelle

Where do I start with Cathy Grant?

Well, Cathy’s an incredible dog trainer and behaviourist.

Her life is pretty much all about dogs and dog people. And she’s calm and humble and practical.

Her main thing is to bring broken dogs back from the brink.

It’s Cathy who takes on the shelter dogs and rescue dogs who are on death row.

You know the ones: the angry dogs, the aggressive dogs, the untouchable dogs that no one else will go near..

Cathy can give these dogs one last chance for a good life.

She also teaches obedience classes on weekends.

And she’s got a big, airy boarding kennel out at her property in the Lockyer Valley. It’s mostly used for ‘dog rehab’.

You’ll see, Cathy has many dogs in her life, who all need her in some way.

And despite being a dog lover forever, she’s still learning new things about them... dog by dog.
I’m Michelle Ransom-Hughes, this is Oh My Dog and this is the story of Cathy and the Underdogs.

MUSIC: Come to Me (Oh My Dog Theme)

Cathy first worked with dogs more than 30 years ago.

As a sixteen year old, I, I approached the kennels at Bald Hills. They were looking for a dog trainer.

At that stage I had no idea what I was doing, nothing.

But she was a natural, and pretty soon, was training dogs every day.

Then one day, Cathy noticed a new dog in the kennels. It had the look of a German shepherd Kelpie cross.

It wasn’t too big, but she was told it was vicious. Her bosses warned her...

Ah... “You're not to go in there, anywhere near that dog.

Ah, hands off. Don't touch that dog”.

So I didn't listen, as you do, as a cocky 16, 17 year old.

Cathy couldn’t leave that dog alone

And I used to sit outside the dog’s pen, every lunch break.

And then I started giving it food. And then I started putting my fingers through and patting it.

And then I opened the gate up and I went in. And then I took the dog out and I trained the dog up.

What was it that made you persist with that animal?

I felt sorry for the dog, for being in that state.

That dog will stay with me forever. To gain that dog’s trust was… um... something so important to me.

Now, when I look back I had no idea what I was doing.

And at the end there the owners were just amazed. They wanted to meet me, and thank me.

That encounter happened a long time ago and it certainly wasn’t a straight road from there to where Cathy is now.

But it’s a great example of how some people just have a true vocation,

and we can see the seeds of it in their younger self.

Um, I used to, um, bring any strays home.

How did that go?

Not good. (laugh) Always asked to take them back.

Where would you take them back to?

Back to where I found ‘em. Generally schools, around the school.

But yeah… I mean I just had this softness for, for animals in general.

Cathy’s still collecting strays... she’s just not taking them back.

She and her partner Andrea, currently have 13 dogs living with them.

And that’s not an unreasonable number for Cathy because they’re incredibly well behaved.

And they’re almost all rescue dogs.

Some of them, like Border Collie, Scooby, were on the kill list before Cathy found them.

But Scooby’s now got this loving home, a huge pack, and he’s got a job.

Because when dogs come to Cathy’s for rehab - her own dogs demonstrate what the new dogs need to learn.

But how does a dog end up on a kill list?

In Scooby’s case, he was dumped, as a puppy.

Well they have bins outside where the pounds are, and if no one wants to hand them in to the people, they actually just put ‘em in the overnight bin.

Now the pound has this sweet little Border Collie pup--

So why not put him up for adoption?

They were going to put him to sleep because he had a lot of anxiety.

That anxiety was specific - and he was injured.

He’d busted two chains to get to, get out… when he heard a horse.

Cathy put Scooby’s physical condition together with his terror of horses,

to work out what was going on with him.

Ah, he came to us, we worked on him.

We realised pretty quickly that he had one leg shorter than the other.

Um we believe that he was kicked by either a cow or a horse, as his leg was shattered.

He was put on a chain we believe and it self-healed. So he wasn't even taken to a vet when it first happened.

Scooby was probably bred to be a working dog.

Then one day he’s playing under a cow’s feet, or nipping at a horse’s heels, when that big animal smashes the pup’s leg.

Puppy’s chained up - not given a splint - his leg heals terribly.

Now he’s fearful, and such, he’s useless to his owners.

And thus this puppy, always cowering, and with a bad limp, is dumped.

We took him to the vet. We got a few advices, like different vets’ opinions on him.

Um was it amputation, or was he actually in pain?

They all assured us that he wasn't in pain. So we get him treatment once every two months with bodyworks.

We take him to the chiro when we need to take him to the chiro.

So far so good. He’s doing really, really good. He’s our best rehab dog.

Are you getting the picture?

Cathy gets dogs, she hates to give up on them, and she can read their pain.

But although she started out with dogs at 16, it’s only in the last decade that she’s turned this affinity with dogs, into her work.

I think I went through life thinking something was missing in my life and I thought what is it?

We ended up buying a pet food business and we had that for four years.

Then we sold and I felt lost, thinking that I still want to do dogs, I still want to hang with dogs.

The answer was right in front of her.

Cathy had noticed that fights were breaking out amongst her dogs, every afternoon. And they were her fault.

It was this realisation that led her to change everything and become a dog trainer

So I'd get home from our work with doing the dog food, and I would be seeing my dogs and I’d be all excited about seeing my dogs,

as you do, you know you don’t worry about seeing anyone else when you get home,

And I created fights so…

Because I was over the top I was excited. I was their buddy, not their leader.

So I was on par with them, they had no leader.

So then it was you know who's gonna get to me first

and then I didn't like that, so I’m gonna attack you over that.

So, um, it was a real wake up call.

How did the penny drop though that that’s what was happening with the pack?

Um…. it was actually my partner saying, “Look at it, look at yourself”.

Hard truth and I thought, that's exactly right.

And bang and then I just thought well, that’s it, gotta change and off I went.

Did you do a course?

I did do a course

I'm pretty impatient person so I didn't wait for the Brisbane one, I flew to Sydney

I was a person that had no patience. I want it now and that’s it, no matter what it was in life.

Where dogs have taught me that, you know, it takes time to achieve what you really need to achieve.

Dogs are not going to give you respect easily.

They will trust you, they will love you, but they won't respect you in a lotta lotta cases. Um so we really have to earn that respect from the dogs.

What does that look like to you?

I won't lay on you. (laughs) So I don't want you to lay on me, unless I invite you up.

And I do, you know, I love my dogs and I do want hugs from my dogs, but if I really think about it, it’s me that needs that hug.

We have healthy boundaries within our lives, so why are we not able to have healthy boundaries within our lives with our dogs?

And that creates the respect as well.

Sure you know your dog loves you - but does your dog respect you?

Every week Cathy meets dogs whose behaviour is completely out of control.

She says this is the natural outcome of people being too indulgent, failing to set rules. She calls this ‘over-loving’.

And as I said, I love my dogs too

But I don't use my own emotions on my dogs and really, really over love ’em I don’t.

Dogs need a leader. Dogs need to be shown that they can and can't.

So otherwise they do get anxiety or behaviour issues.

If I just got a dog in and he was a bit naughty, and I didn't have healthy boundaries,

and let my dog do whatever it wanted to do, then that alone will create issues for that dog. The dog then feels that he has to take charge.

So when the dog has to take charge, because nobody else is taking charge, the dog then starts to get anxiety and starts making bad choices, like:

oh I am gonna pull you on lead; I am gonna bark at the dog next door.

I am gonna start getting bigger and bigger within myself, because I’ve got to make these choices.

So pretty soon you've got a dog that’s getting out of control.

But is the dog’s behaviour a problem to them, or just a problem to us?

No, it becomes a problem to the dog itself, because they no longer can healthily sit in their own body.

So... there's a connection between being full of ease, and a happy dog? A healthy dog, is relaxed.

Yep, one dog, or a dog that can lay around for instance and not having to be on the run all the time,

on the go, my mind is so going over the top all the time, I’m looking to see what I can do, I’m looking to see who's around, I’m looking to see what noise that was… I can't settle.

It's one of the first things that we teach and I suppose when I put a dog on a mat, and I sit beside that dog,

I’m able to watch the eyes of the dog, the state of mind with the dog…

As in, you know, is he actually sitting down for a start? Or is he just gonna stand there for an hour?

To get the measure of a dog she’s meeting for the first time, she has them sit alone on a mat

So if I put a dog on there and he sits within a few minutes you know that he’s not too bad.

And the worst dog would be one hour that he stood there, and just drooled, and then he sat, about an hour into it.

No lay down. Not a good frame of mind.

How do you bring the dog from that state into a settled state?

I suppose in a way he’s gotta deal with it himself.

By the calming, by just being on a mat.

They become more confident I suppose with other works that we do.

We put em over agility, and um, teach em to walk better.

We teach them the treadmill.

What’s the point of putting a dog on a treadmill?

It’s exercise but it’s also confidence building… (laughing) And I’m not gonna walk 14 dogs.

And so these physical tasks have an effect on...?

The dog’s mind state of mind. So it's about changing that state of mind calming that dog down, getting the dog to be okay with itself.

Cathy’s training is mostly positive, rewards-based training. Yeah, that means it involves a lot of food.

Treat after treat is given to reinforce good behaviour. And when a dog masters the behaviour, the treats are eased off.

Dogs are also trained on lead, and Cathy says the only discipline is the slight pressure that comes from the collar she recommends, it’s called a martingale.

I ask her to explain a bit more about the thinking behind her training.

Um, I believe that we change their mindset,

We don't allow them to make a bad choice, but we teach them to make a better choice.

So if I was to walk out the gate and my dog was gonna pull me out the gate, then I just turn around and I walk back.

And then I go again and it's the same repeat.

So each time the dog goes to pull out that gate I turn around…

So, which is the pressure then, on the dog as I turn.

And then, pretty soon the dog is thinking - Well, I assume that they're thinking - What are you doing?

And they stop. And when they stop, then I walk out. And I invite ‘em out.

And they want to go for that walk?

Absolutely they want to go. But I've communicated that I’m not gonna do it

It'll be on your terms?

Absolutely on my terms. So it's not about rough handling. Rough handling on the dogs is way old school.

It’s about teaching them to make better choices. Or that there's gonna be a consequence to their action.

So that consequence was me not walking out.

It’s such a huge mental task to train a dog, your own dog, in this consistent way. Do you think people are up for that?

A lot of people are. But you do get the odd people that find it too hard.

It is hard work, it's very hard work. And it is, consistency is the key.

I mean the majority of rescue dogs don't even know how to sit or drop. And this is why they become delinquent dogs is because nobody’s spent that time.

They're cute and cuddly... we’ll have you inside while you’re cute and cuddly. But then you start chewing on something, then you go outside.

Or kids come along, babies come along, you’re outside. You’re no longer part of the family. It's a fact of life unfortunately. And that’s the sad bit.

My job is just to educate people. Love is not enough.

Love is not enough.

Our inability as a society to look after our dogs, is why so many are relinquished, dumped and killed before their time.

Every now and then Cathy takes a call from a rescue group or a shelter: they’ve got a dog on death row, can she help?

Winning over these difficult cases, can mean saving their life. Because if she wins their trust, she can train them.

I got asked to take on a Bull Arab. She would have been about 45 kilos, name was Gemma.

This rescue in particular pleaded with me, it was Christmas Eve, to take this dog on.

The dog was supposed to be good with people, good with other dogs, this was what was told to the rescue.

Within the first 24 hours it bit, um the husband, it bit the dad, and it attacked their dog, and they pleaded with me to take this dog.

When she gets to the house the dog, Gemma, is chained up in the yard

She seemed okay and I went out there, no muzzle, but it had a tiny little u bolt attached to the collar.

So as I’m undoing this u bolt, I saw the body stiffen...

And I... saved myself.

Cathy got a nip to the shoulder. So she backed away, she bided her time.

And kept trying until she could bring Gemma along with her.

She was a broken dog.

We worked with her: we used food only and just positive reinforcements.

We had her on a muzzle for about four days, five days,

um, removed the muzzle.

By the end of six weeks I put my head and her head together, and we just... great mates.

Wow.

So, but she was a broken dog - she had nothing left to give.

I want to understand how Cathy Is brave enough to go and collect that dog, to put it in her truck, and take it home?

Um I think I just want to help the dogs. I mean some dogs you cant help and we need to be a realist about that.

Um, she probably shouldn't have made it. Her eyes were very dark and black and broken, to her eyes lighting up, with love.

I always just go for the underdog, it's just something in me.

A lot of dogs get branded, and they're just misunderstood.

When Cathy says ‘misunderstood’ dogs, one thing she’s talking about is dogs who carry injuries.

Cathy’s convinced a lot of aggressive dogs, and frightened dogs

are that way because they're nursing some kind of physical pain.

Well, I've had dogs that have been quite aggressive, wanting to go really nuts at me, only to find out that they're full of soreness.

I’m not saying it's the only reason for that aggression, because it’s not. But it certainly doesn't help the dog.

What sort of state do you need to be in to work with them?

As calm as. Calm as you can be. Just go out and just deal with it.

You know, I can't afford to be scared. I just go at it and deal with that dog as I see it.

I one hundred and ten percent respect the dog.

If the dog has lunged at me, I will think, well okay, I respect you.

But, I have to work a way around to getting to you.

And again it takes me back to that, you know, taking my time, as that young teen, to understand the dog and win that dog’s confidence in me.

So, it's about that dog learning to trust me.

I wonder how she started to understand the pain of animals.

Probably from Scooby.

Um, being aware of what they can and can't cope with.

And then as we work through the dogs, I mean we’ve had dogs here with patella injuries and they don't show pain, they just go on three legs and just keep on keeping on.

Um so I've learnt a lot just on the stance of the dog, they way that they need to walk, their distance of their paws being apart, ah, their gait as they run.

She says variation can sometimes be the confirmation of that dog,

But what she’s looking for is anything impeding a dog’s freedom of movement, in the legs, the hips, the neck.

And for symmetry in the dog’s legs when they’re walking, running and sitting.

Um, looking at their eyes as well.

What are you looking at in their eyes?

Just how dark they are. And whether they’re happy eyes or not.

What are happy eyes?

Just bright. Nice and bright.

But Also above their eyes - is there any indentation?

It can be pressure…

So if I feel that inclination that they’re not tilting their head right

Or that they have got a little indentation they shouldn't have in that eye

It can mean they've got muscle locked up in that area, giving them a headache, basically.

You can tell if a dog’s got a headache?

Well, is it a headache, or is it just pain?

So they're not able to tell us. So all I can do is refer em on and just make sure that the dog is okay.

I feel like you kind of understand the dogs’ need for the physical satisfaction to have that mental zen.

Yeah, I mean I was a long distance runner there for a lot of years. And that taught me mental fitness.

It taught me a lot, it taught me how to how to go within myself, a lot of lonely roads out there.

Have you ever had a dog who’d run with you?

I used to have, well both my border collies did. But I also had a doberman that used to run. So she was with me right from the start.

What was her name?

Meeka.

So she started the journey with me. You know I couldn't even run 400 metres.

The biggest I've run was 355 kms in 5 days. Did It twice.

And I’m stopping that right there because then we go on to my failure to understand why anyone would want to run that far.

But what you need to know, is that Cathy can’t run at all now.

She injured herself running - to a degree that even walking isn’t completely pain free.

Not that you’d realise that if you met her.

And I do love that Cathy is a long distance runner at heart, because it fits with so much about her.

The last thing I want you to know about Cathy is how she spends her spare time…

I woke up with this idea one night, to go and help the homeless.

My idea was to go out there and just hand out food to the dogs, or to the people that can't afford dog food every week.

And it is an expense but, in my way of thinking they do need that dog in their life, ‘cause it helps them in so many ways.

It helps keep them together. It's the last thing that a lot of people have in their life.

To me, if I can get out there and help em, that’s a bonus.

Um I go down to Beenleigh once a fortnight now. I load my car up with dog food, which is donated goods and then I go down there and people meet me down there and I hand it out.

I think it’s my way of giving back to society.

So, how’s it working out, this life that’s almost 100% about dogs?

I feel a much better person.

I feel like for once in my life I’m in control of myself. I've learned to chill more, within myself.

I love the fact that I’m helping not just the dogs but the people

I'm keeping dogs and families together, um... I’m stopping dogs from being put into pounds.

Um giving dogs that second chance. It’s, you know, it’s what I’m meant to do.

Sure I wish I had of started many, many years ago, but you know what, may not be the same person either.

Thank you Cathy for sharing your story and thanks Andrea too.

Links to Cathy’s charity and her business are up on our website.

Oh My Dog is created, written and produced by me Michelle Ransom-Hughes, for Alongside Radio.

Seja Vogel is our sound designer, and mixer, and if you hold on for a few more moments,

you’ll hear another of Seja’s original songs - it was written just for this episode.

Thank you so much for listening/ reading.

SONG: The Fields (written and performed by Seja Vogel)