Observer-Tribune, September 7, 2000
Animal Behaviorist Works Wonders
Chester Man Makes Meanest Pets Warm
by Ryan Groeger
Chester Twp. - Jeffrey J. Loy knows that each new client of his will probably try to bite him.
However, in the name of research and compassion, Loy works largely with dogs with severe fighting and biting problems and turns them into friendly, loyal companions.
Loy, whose office and home is on School House Lane, has been studying animal behavior for the past 25 years at his Center for Animal Behavioral Research.
While traveling through the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, he has studied various wild animals, such as bears, wolves and coyotes. He uses the knowledge of wild animal behavior to create methods to help socialize domesticated birds, cats and dogs.
Loy pointed at one of his cars, a Volvo that has more than 500,000 miles on it, and said he drives about 1,000 miles each week to counsel unruly pets.
Most of his time is devoted to dogs. Unlike cats, dogs can put people and other animals at risk if not trained properly. Last year, 26 people died from dog bites nationwide, said Loy, a scientific researcher in animal behavior.
Loy, who earned degrees in math and physics from Rutgers University in 1971 and did post-graduate work in advanced sciences at Columbia University, has no formal degree in animal behavior or training. His knowledge comes from studying the behavior of wild animals and applying it to his work with domesticated animals.
One satisfied customer is Diane Gallets, the township manager for Washington Township. Gallets brought her two Jack Russell terriers to Loy and the animal behaviorist has practically worked wonders, Gallets said.
Before their counseling, Chaps, 6, would run wild outside, never responding to Gallets' calls. Daisy, about 18-months-old, won't be housetrained and is overly aggressive to any visitors or passersby.
After the first, five-hour session, Daisy was "100 percent better," Gallets said. She has stopped barking incessantly and was not longer nasty to visitors.
"It's working," Gallets said.
Loy has now seen the animals four times, including the first lengthy visit and three subsequent sessions of about two to three hours each. The housetraining is improving for Chaps and both pets are well on their way to being well-behaved, she said.
She wouldn't say how much she pays Loy but said the money was well spent.
"It's well worth it to have well-behaved dogs," Gallets said.
Loy said much of his studies have involved observing the behavior of wild animals.
"You cannot learn about dogs by studying other dogs," Loy said. "The best way to study dogs is to study wild animals, because dogs are simply subsets of all wild animals."
Studying captive animals is not the way to find answers, he said, because in captivity or other unnatural environments, animals evoke false senses of behavior. Loy does all of his training in the home or clinic where the dogs are biting or fighting.
Through the years, he has researched and evaluated more than 1,500 training techniques. Applying the principles he learned while observing wild animals, he has made 144 refinements to popular procedures.
Loy's techniques are certainly novel, if not dangerous. Unlike professionals working in clinics and universities, Loy physically works with the dogs. He uses no drugs or electronic equipment in his training. His goal is to duplicate the behavior that Seeing Eye dogs demonstrate.
Essentially, he physically handles animals and shows them that he and not the animal is in control. His technique of closely working with the dogs has not come without a price. From the dogs alone, he has suffered more than 2,000 bites down to the bone. From the attacks, he has lost sensation in one hand but despite the injuries, he has visited a hospital only a few times.
"I would not ask a co-worker to do what I do," Loy said.
In addition, he has discovered 30 distinct ways that dogs bite.
"I only learn these things by getting bit," he said. "What I have learned flies in the faces of the professionals."
Of the more than 5,000 books written on dog training and behavior, Loy said most are provincial and incorrect.
Loy likes to keep his practice rather private. He never advertises for business. Most of the time, people find him through word of mouth, he said.
He asks clients to take their animals to at least three clinics before coming to him. He gets only the worst cases and has worked with more than 6,000 dog bite cases, almost all graduates of other clinics.
"Incomplete and non-permanent solutions keep me in business," Loy said.
He said that as a result of his work, all dogs should be off-leash reliable within a few days.
"I want to see the animal change radically in the first visit," Loy said. "I insist the dogs act properly for life after I work with them."
If not trained properly, all dogs can be dangerous. Loy said the breed that he has found to bite the most is golden retrievers, dogs generally perceived to be very personable. In total, he treats a few hundred dogs each year, from retrievers to pit bulls.
About 20 million dogs are destroyed each year in the United States and two out of five are put down because of behavioral problems, Loy said.
"Kids coming out of college with degrees in animal behavior do not know anything," Loy said. "They would not last a day with me. Science will make enemies of belief systems."
