July 26, 2013Dear Sir,I have just watched the video in the online edition of The Royal Gazette featuring Arras the police dog who is retiring from service. I was appalled to see his handler jerking the choke chain repeatedly. Arras deserves better treatment than that — for his long service to the police.I also witnessed, quite recently, a Belgian Malinois working in the arrivals hall at the airport wearing both a pinch collar and an electric shock collar. His handler seemed completely unaware of the message he is sending to the members of the public, ie our service dogs are so badly trained that we cannot control them unless we use both a pinch and a shock collar at the same time. Welcome to Bermuda!There are far more scientific, reliable and humane ways of training a dog and this has been proven over and over again. Sophisticated trainers have taught a variety of animals, including dogs, to do complex tasks using only reward-based training methods, eg, dolphins have been taught to dive to the ocean floor and attach detonators to unexploded bombs.It is about time that all dog handlers in Bermuda review their training methods — in particular police and service dog handlers. Their dogs deserve better.Jane Taylor, CPDT-KA