Local dog trainer Khalid Al-Qassem works with all different types of dogs and also helps families and children with special needs through specially trained dogs that can support children with autism or down syndrome. — Photo by Yasser Al Zayyat and courtsey Khalid Al-Qassem

A well-trained dog was the reason an Arab expat family opted to stay in Kuwait, after they were about to migrate to Canada. The parents have a five-year-old autistic daughter who was not accepted in a regular school, and as her parents could not afford the high fees of a special school, they thought of leaving the country.

"Due to her condition, the girl did not look into people's eyes when they spoke to her. She was getting treatment at a private medical center, and her doctor contacted me to join her next session with the autistic girl. Her parents told me that they reached an agreement with a school administration that if the girl looks in the eyes of the teacher, they will accept her for the school year," Khalid Al-Qassem, Canine Behavior Consultant and Technician, told Kuwait Times.

His dog Fibi was key to her treatment. "When the girl entered the doctor's room, she looked straight into the eyes of Fibi. I was telling my dog what to do, and she realized that the dog was taking orders from me, so she looked into my eyes - this was the start of her getting better. She was accepted in the school, and her family stayed here," explained Qassem.

He has trained his dog to gaze. "They exchanged gazes. The gaze releases oxytocin in the body. During problems, the body releases three hormones - adrenaline, endorphin and oxytocin. Oxytocin makes a person calm down and relieves stress. When a person touches a pet, their body releases oxytocin," he said.

Qassem has also trained Fibi to break up fights between dogs. "When she intervenes in any dogfight, they immediately stop. I teach people how to deal with dogs. For instance, what kids should do if they see a dog with its owner, if they see a dog on its own and what to do if they see dogs in various positions. As soon as a dog enters any house, it figures out who is the leader, and if he is weak, it wants to become the leader as there are no rules applied on it," he said.

Qassem has participated in fairs and public events, where he distributes booklets free of charge on dog care. These booklets include some important information of lectures that he presented previously, including a roadmap to a balanced and healthy canine companion, mind exercise, challenges, leadership, mind exercise, dominating, energy level of dogs and many others. Moreover, he has written for some publications in this field.

The dog has to have a purpose in your life. "A dog is a man's best friend. If you want a good dog because you don't have kids, this will not work. But if you want your dog to make money, it will work, as you will be dependent on it. The dog has to know that it has a job that helps you in your life and that's why it is with you. So you have to teach it as many rules as you can, so it sees how to live in a human world and get respect. I want dogs to get respect in the human world. But I will never value a dog over a human," said Qassem.

Trainers in Kuwait apply obedience training for the competitive sport of Schutzhund, which is a military competition-style standardized obedience set of rules that the dog has to follow. Qassem got his degree from the United States in Marketing and International Business and worked in human resources for 16 years - the last seven years in the banking sector as a talent management specialist. He was also doing executive coaching, training people how to act like managers, how to speak, body language, how to resolve conflicts and how to think calmly.

To be a good leader

"I always had dogs, and people used to ask me to train their dogs, as my dogs are well-mannered. In corporate banking, I started seeing how the human element is not the number one goal. Then I went to Canada and got a degree in Group Animal Psychology (companion animals in particular). As a leader, you have to maintain the hierarchy in your group, and you have to protect them. To be a good leader, you have to be a good manager," he noted.

Dogs want the same things that employees want. "They want to feel secure and safe. You have to give it something to keep its mind busy and sharp. You have to teach it that this is its place in the organization, and you have to make sure to protect it if it makes a mistake," stressed Qassem. "My best advice is to imitate the best director you have met at your workplace and treat your dog in the same way this director treats employees. My slogan is 'dogdom' - it's actually a word in the dictionary (the world of dogs), as 'dom' includes everything. I make sure that people and dogs have the relationship that they are supposed to be having," he added.

According to him, the dog is the most successful land-based mammal on the planet. "I make people enjoy living with their dogs and I make sure that the community that I live in is better because of dogs, and not burdened by it. If you have a dog, is it improving your life in any positive way? You have to respect people who don't like dogs or religiously think they are bad," Qassem pointed out.

Helping children with special needs

"I have over 50 cases of helping children with autism and Down syndrome with Fibi. Fibi has taught various children with autism to make eye contact. I work with a private medical center - the doctor there decides when the child is ready to start canine therapy with me and Fibi by teaching that child eye contact. Dogs within their genetic code have an element of autism and Down syndrome - that's what the latest scientific researchers say," said Qassem. "But traditionally, I say this works because dogs do not judge, don't feel sorry for each other and don't feel jealous as many people think. I know how the dog thinks, so I became an expert. I can be a dog's leader within two minutes and it will sacrifice its life for me."

Trainers can teach a dog five skills in a month, and they give back to their owners. "They have to create a relationship with the dog, but they can't create this relationship with 60 dogs in a month, so they have to influence them by either making them go hungry to respond to food, or making them uncomfortable, so they do something defensively. Dogs have something called food drive, play drive, prey drive and defensive drive, and these are the only reasons a dog will bite. So dogs biting the sleeve is not out of their defensive drive, but this is the reward they get for the things they did, and this is why they leave this till the end of the competition," Qassem explained.

There are 480 different kinds of dogs. "No other land-based animal on the planet comes close in this much variation with so many subspecies and sizes - it can only happen in fish or insects. Dogs can never be extinct," he declared. "I started this activity seven years ago, after a girl was found in the desert eaten by dogs. I felt shame earlier telling people that I studied the psychology of dogs, but this case encouraged me to get into this work. I develop the behavior of dogs rather than improving their skills. I have treated 17 cases of fear of dogs (cynophobia) in one year. But there is no awareness in our community," he concluded.

By Nawara Fattahova