Pet projects

September 1, 2005

BY WILLINE VALENTIN Staff Reporter

The National Geographic Channel has Cesar Millan, and Chicago has Ami Moore, a Lake Forest resident who lists her profession as a dog whisperer. That's right, a dog whisperer!

Moore defines a dog whisperer as "a person who has special abilities to communicate with a dog in its own language in a way that it can understand." She says she is so skilled in communicating with dogs she can make a pooch do anything she wants within 15 minutes.

That's a theory we couldn't resist testing.

Using Laney, a 2-year-old Australian shepherd-chow mix as our guinea pig, er, dog, we challenged Moore to work her magic. Laney, owned by Sun-Times designer Stephanie Gladney, had a few mild behavior problems. Gladney said they included pulling on the leash, being hyper and not listening to Gladney when other dogs were near.

Moore, who has been a dog whisperer for 30 years, says her expertise in the field has come from experience with her own dogs and by studying with other dog trainers. "It's not about obedience, it's about soul-to-soul communication," she says.

Moore took control of Laney's leash, ran with it, and then demonstrated a procedure of hip bumps to the dog while she said "wheesh."

Within 15 minutes Gladney was walking her dog on a leash without the stress of any pulls or tugs from Laney while Moore instructed her on how to institute positive, yet firm, tactics to get her dog to behave, such as the hip bumping and walking Laney on the left side and closer to the heart (which Moore says is the center of our energy). She told Gladney it was important it was for her to take a leadership role with Laney.

"Wow, she never does this," Gladney said as Laney walked beside her.

The final test came when Moore had Laney wait outside the gate of the Wiggly Field dog park as Gladney and everyone else went in. Finally, Laney was told she could come into the park to play.

Notes Moore, "Every dog has a distinct personality ... you have to read a dog's personality in order to handle him correctly."

Once Moore trains the dog, she shows the dog's owner how to make the dog behave in the same way.

Despite Moore's success, many veterinarians and trainers remain skeptical of dog whisperers.

"There's no good way to determine how much experience they have with those problems. In terms of a certified animal behaviorist, they've actually gone through a training system, they've studied, they've been tested. When you have a dog whisperer, there's really no way for us to determine what their experience is," said Kathleen Heneghan of the Chicago veterinary medical association and doctor of veterinary medicine. "It's like a buyer beware situation."

Moore's services range from $250 to $5,000; she has clients in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.

As for Laney, she's a changed dog and still bow-wowing her owner.