I find it very hard to believe that a production as big and corporate as BGT do not have animal welfare officers on site from auditions right through to approving routines for the live shows. With the lengthy waiting lines, the amount of animal acts auditioning and the potential for fame hungry wannabes expecting fortune from their furry/feathery 'friends' I am sure there are not only welfare officers but legal and insurance reps all on SyCo's payroll to make sure that no animal (or child for that matter) is performing under duress or in doing anything dangerous or 'cruel'
If anything I was more concerned with the fact that a disabled dog was used to coax the public into voting. But for people defending Jules and arguing that an animal won't perform unless it wants to, I don't think it's fair to say Matisse was willing. Trained animals can definitely perform tricks they don't want to (and they have for centuries) they can perform via disipline or out of respect for it's owner, it doesn't mean it chooses to be there.
Also I doubt it would make a difference if Jules was underneath him attempting to catch him if he were to fall. Imagine a struggling dog falling mid-air, I doubt it would be a clean fall. Mattise would likely struggle, and could probably easily just bounce from her grip. I'm not saying that this would likely happen, but I don't think that Jules being underneath Matisse would safely eliminate a possible danger and reassure us. I think it was a dangerous risk.
Without the three-legged dog, and the tightrope walking, this act would've been great, but these two things just made me lose any respect I had for the act in general.
Border collies are the most intelligent breed of dog and thrive on the sort of thing Matisse does. Your dog, as lovely as I'm sure it is, it quite far down in the pecking order of intelligence in dogs so would pronbably be more happy as a lap dog. It is definitely not cruel what Jules is doing, the dogs love it.
My god common sense on a dog act! You are spot on.
Calamity:
You can't force a dog to walk a tightrope.
You can't frighten a dog into walking a tightrope.
If it's nervous, it won't be able to do it because it's nerves will make the rope wobble to much.
If it was unhappy it would jump off, refuse to move or move with its head down and tail tucked right up under its stomach.
A dog needs to have complete trust in its owner to do something as complex as walking a tightrope, you do not gain that sort of trust mistreating a dog. Time, kindness, patience and perseverance is the only way to get anywhere with one.
Collies are bred for gathering sheep from places completely inaccessible to people, such as cliff edges/ faces or narrow ravines, infinitely more dangerous and treacherous than walking a rope a few feet up and nobody there to catch them if they slip.
To Matisse, it's all a big game and a job to him, which he enjoys immensely. He's a collie, their bred to work, they need to work, they live to work. It is their one true purpose in life, and their never happier than when their doing so. Any collie would be in its element to be as physically and mentally active as Matisse is.
If you think what Matisse is trained to do is cruel you really don't properly understand dogs, especially collies.
I think it is an utter disgrace all animals should be banned from the show the stress is not fair on them.
I agree. Matisse would have been mentally very stressed because she went last and knew the choir had sung beautifully and that Jamie Raven had pulled off a stunning trick with a lemon. £250,000 is a lot of money to a dog and she was facing the threat of losing it if she put one paw wrong. I know I could not have done it, although to be fair I only have 2 legs and am hopeless at sniffing out raw sausages.
I generally dislike performing/working animals and there are so many problems in those industries, things we as viewers could never really give informed opinions on either way.
I think you're coming across as over the top though. Whether the dog looked nervous isn't so much the issue with performing animals as you can't always tell how the animal is feeling. What's more important is how they are treat, worked and how performing affects their health and quality of life.
I agree. Matisse would have been mentally very stressed because she went last and knew the choir had sung beautifully and that Jamie Raven had pulled off a stunning trick with a lemon. £250,000 is a lot of money to a dog and she was facing the threat of losing it if she put one paw wrong. I know I could not have done it, although to be fair I only have 2 legs and am hopeless at sniffing out raw sausages.
At the end of the act when Ant and Dec were on stage she was holding the 3 legged dog. She turned around and the dog jumped back out of fear.
It didn't jump back at anyone or anything else other than her. She carried on smiling and laughing which was distracting form what happened but the dog did seem scared.
My great great uncle used to train horses and he always used to say that you can train an animal to basically do what you need it to do. Sometimes its just out of love but very sadly mainly they do it because they feel they have to and its control. He loved his horses and never hurt them. He didn't have children and thought of them like his children. He used to say that many trainers used to take things to the extreme though. Its really sad.
In my humble opinion I don't think that getting a dog to walk across a tight rope is the act of someone that loves her dog. It must be very painful on her pads. How can that be good for the dog.
What about her hips.
My god common sense on a dog act! You are spot on.
Calamity:
You can't force a dog to walk a tightrope.
You can't frighten a dog into walking a tightrope.
If it's nervous, it won't be able to do it because it's nerves will make the rope wobble to much.
If it was unhappy it would jump off, refuse to move or move with its head down and tail tucked right up under its stomach.
A dog needs to have complete trust in its owner to do something as complex as walking a tightrope, you do not gain that sort of trust mistreating a dog. Time, kindness, patience and perseverance is the only way to get anywhere with one.
Collies are bred for gathering sheep from places completely inaccessible to people, such as cliff edges/ faces or narrow ravines, infinitely more dangerous and treacherous than walking a rope a few feet up and nobody there to catch them if they slip.
To Matisse, it's all a big game and a job to him, which he enjoys immensely. He's a collie, their bred to work, they need to work, they live to work. It is their one true purpose in life, and their never happier than when their doing so. Any collie would be in its element to be as physically and mentally active as Matisse is.
If you think what Matisse is trained to do is cruel you really don't properly understand dogs, especially collies.
Repeated for emphasis!
As the owner of a cross border collie/black labrador but which had an almost total collie nature I can back this up! Busy, busy, busy are these dogs or they get quite distressed. TBH we were hoping that she had more of the lab nature when we first got her (only about 9 weeks old) but it soon became apparent that she she didn't only look more like a collie (body shape, fur distribution but with only a small white patch on her 'chest' instead of quite a bit of white) but she WAS a collie, my girl took after her daddy and she liked being busy! I have no hesitation in believing that if I'd wanted her to talk across ropes she'd have done it, relished it and seen it as all in a day's work and there'd have been no ill effects whatsoever.
Ok she may have been under the dog go catch it, but I am sure it did not get that, it was doing it best to get across looking nervous to me and the rope would have been hard on it 's paws, I wonder what practice and falls (into her arms) was done before the dog got this right. As for 'the dog wanted to do it' most dogs want to please the owner so it would always try to do any trick. I was not happy watching this part of the act.
Don't think that was actually Matisse on the rope, was the second dog from the semi-final, Matisse went behind the set between the police station and the other building.
Anyway no I dont think that was cruel. The dog's probably love it, they are super intelligent and love being stimulated and being given new things to do, plus being praised when they get it right.
At the end of the act when Ant and Dec were on stage she was holding the 3 legged dog. She turned around and the dog jumped back out of fear.
It didn't jump back at anyone or anything else other than her. She carried on smiling and laughing which was distracting form what happened but the dog did seem scared.
My great great uncle used to train horses and he always used to say that you can train an animal to basically do what you need it to do. Sometimes its just out of love but very sadly mainly they do it because they feel they have to and its control. He loved his horses and never hurt them. He didn't have children and thought of them like his children. He used to say that many trainers used to take things to the extreme though. Its really sad.
In my humble opinion I don't think that getting a dog to walk across a tight rope is the act of someone that loves her dog. It must be very painful on her pads. How can that be good for the dog.
What about her hips.
Not good.
It jumped back because Ant called the dog over to give the dog a fuss.
To me this woman wants Hollywood stardom with her dogs.... and we all know about the animal cruelty issues with training animals there.. opps silly me, have to edit ma post..... shes already been to Hollywood.
Then, in her late 20s, Jules was offered a job in Belgium with a company that supplied and trained dogs for movies and TV.
For the next few years she travelled the world, handling not just dogs but chimpanzees, alligators, tigers and spiders, too. She even worked with Sigourney Weaver on a horror film.
At the end of the act when Ant and Dec were on stage she was holding the 3 legged dog. She turned around and the dog jumped back out of fear.
It didn't jump back at anyone or anything else other than her. She carried on smiling and laughing which was distracting form what happened but the dog did seem scared.
Thank you for that wonderful work of fiction. How about writing a book next?
You do realise we can all rewatch that moment and see you're wrong, right?
I think some people are being a bit sensitive. Matisse didn't look nervous when crossing the tightrope and it wasn't cruel. Believe me, I've seen dogs when they are nervous or distressed, they start whimpering and whining and are hesitant - Matisse didn't do any of these things before going on the tightrope, so the peeps who're saying otherwise, just relax.
It wasnt matisse on the ropes it was her other dog , theyve just been on the lorainne show and she said matisse didnt like the rooes so the other dog done that bit , she she hasnt been cruel at all the other dog was confident she has 3 dogs
I've just watched Jules being interviewed by Lorraine Kelly on the Lorraine Show and she revealed the dog walking on the tightrope was not Matisse, but the other dog Mace, identical to him that appeared in the semis.
Matisse was actually already in the box and only came out when Mace entered, to make it look as if it was Matisse that walked on the tightrope.
Jules said Matisse is afraid of heights, and Mace is not.
It wasnt matisse on the ropes it was her other dog , theyve just been on the lorainne show and she said matisse didnt like the rooes so the other dog done that bit , she she hasnt been cruel at all the other dog was confident she has 3 dogs
Sorry, we must have started our post at the same time. It's true, Jules wasn't being cruel.
Yep, apparently so! Matisse cheated in his act...:D but if he was afraid of heights, fair enough, Jules absolutely did the right thing in using the double who is more of a dare-devil and was happy walking on the rope.
Comments
Ashleigh & Pudsey are probably laughing at you if they're somehow a forum member on this site.
Also I doubt it would make a difference if Jules was underneath him attempting to catch him if he were to fall. Imagine a struggling dog falling mid-air, I doubt it would be a clean fall. Mattise would likely struggle, and could probably easily just bounce from her grip. I'm not saying that this would likely happen, but I don't think that Jules being underneath Matisse would safely eliminate a possible danger and reassure us. I think it was a dangerous risk.
Without the three-legged dog, and the tightrope walking, this act would've been great, but these two things just made me lose any respect I had for the act in general.
My god common sense on a dog act! You are spot on.
Calamity:
You can't force a dog to walk a tightrope.
You can't frighten a dog into walking a tightrope.
If it's nervous, it won't be able to do it because it's nerves will make the rope wobble to much.
If it was unhappy it would jump off, refuse to move or move with its head down and tail tucked right up under its stomach.
A dog needs to have complete trust in its owner to do something as complex as walking a tightrope, you do not gain that sort of trust mistreating a dog. Time, kindness, patience and perseverance is the only way to get anywhere with one.
Collies are bred for gathering sheep from places completely inaccessible to people, such as cliff edges/ faces or narrow ravines, infinitely more dangerous and treacherous than walking a rope a few feet up and nobody there to catch them if they slip.
To Matisse, it's all a big game and a job to him, which he enjoys immensely. He's a collie, their bred to work, they need to work, they live to work. It is their one true purpose in life, and their never happier than when their doing so. Any collie would be in its element to be as physically and mentally active as Matisse is.
If you think what Matisse is trained to do is cruel you really don't properly understand dogs, especially collies.
I agree. Matisse would have been mentally very stressed because she went last and knew the choir had sung beautifully and that Jamie Raven had pulled off a stunning trick with a lemon. £250,000 is a lot of money to a dog and she was facing the threat of losing it if she put one paw wrong. I know I could not have done it, although to be fair I only have 2 legs and am hopeless at sniffing out raw sausages.
I think you're coming across as over the top though. Whether the dog looked nervous isn't so much the issue with performing animals as you can't always tell how the animal is feeling. What's more important is how they are treat, worked and how performing affects their health and quality of life.
Yes but she's originally from Blackpool, so she's British.
Lol.
It didn't jump back at anyone or anything else other than her. She carried on smiling and laughing which was distracting form what happened but the dog did seem scared.
My great great uncle used to train horses and he always used to say that you can train an animal to basically do what you need it to do. Sometimes its just out of love but very sadly mainly they do it because they feel they have to and its control. He loved his horses and never hurt them. He didn't have children and thought of them like his children. He used to say that many trainers used to take things to the extreme though. Its really sad.
In my humble opinion I don't think that getting a dog to walk across a tight rope is the act of someone that loves her dog. It must be very painful on her pads. How can that be good for the dog.
What about her hips.
Not good.
Repeated for emphasis!
As the owner of a cross border collie/black labrador but which had an almost total collie nature I can back this up! Busy, busy, busy are these dogs or they get quite distressed. TBH we were hoping that she had more of the lab nature when we first got her (only about 9 weeks old) but it soon became apparent that she she didn't only look more like a collie (body shape, fur distribution but with only a small white patch on her 'chest' instead of quite a bit of white) but she WAS a collie, my girl took after her daddy and she liked being busy! I have no hesitation in believing that if I'd wanted her to talk across ropes she'd have done it, relished it and seen it as all in a day's work and there'd have been no ill effects whatsoever.
Anyway no I dont think that was cruel. The dog's probably love it, they are super intelligent and love being stimulated and being given new things to do, plus being praised when they get it right.
Then, in her late 20s, Jules was offered a job in Belgium with a company that supplied and trained dogs for movies and TV.
For the next few years she travelled the world, handling not just dogs but chimpanzees, alligators, tigers and spiders, too. She even worked with Sigourney Weaver on a horror film.
You do realise we can all rewatch that moment and see you're wrong, right?
I've just watched Jules being interviewed by Lorraine Kelly on the Lorraine Show and she revealed the dog walking on the tightrope was not Matisse, but the other dog Mace, identical to him that appeared in the semis.
Matisse was actually already in the box and only came out when Mace entered, to make it look as if it was Matisse that walked on the tightrope.
Jules said Matisse is afraid of heights, and Mace is not.
Sorry, we must have started our post at the same time. It's true, Jules wasn't being cruel.
SO mattisse has a stunt double already! !!
Yep, apparently so! Matisse cheated in his act...:D but if he was afraid of heights, fair enough, Jules absolutely did the right thing in using the double who is more of a dare-devil and was happy walking on the rope.
I wonder how many times Matisse has been cloned to create Mace, and how many of these clones have died from falling from The Tightrope ?