Sir Frank Peters: From anti-corporal crusader to Super Hero “Alpha Man”!

Sir Frank Peters

Near my home there are three adjoining streets. At the beginning and end of each street, packs of stray dogs congregate and unintentionally intimidate passersby.

Dogs, as you know are territorial and highly protective of their area. If another dog were to enter, all hell would break loose, which could have serious consequences for the trespasser.

Sir Frank Peters (Alpha Man!)

One person, however, walks among the dog packs without fear. He talks to them, pats them on the back, scratches them behind their ears and even rubs their tummy if they lie down, roll over, and invite him to do so.

Locals have given him the name “Alpha Man” because of the unique relationship he has with them. They say it is a joy to see him interact so lovingly with his canine friends.

I first heard about “Alpha Man” from one of my pupils (Riyan) who had a deep fear of dogs and avoided them every time, sometimes waiting for them to leave the road before he continued on his journey.

One day he was talking to “Alpha Man” when five dogs raced towards them from around a corner. Riyan’s instincts told him to run, but “Alpha Man” insisted he didn't move.  I later discovered “Alpha Man” to be none other than anti corporal punishment crusader Sir Frank Peters!

He told Riyan to never run from a dog, whether the dog is known to be friendly or not. He said fast movement brings to the forefront of the dog’s mind his natural instincts to chase whatever moves.

Riyan told me all the dogs surrounded them and were all over Sir Frank, licking him and positioning themselves to be closest to him as if preparing for a selfie! They couldn’t have been friendlier.

He told me Sir Frank encouraged him to pat the dogs on the head and back and to allow the dogs to smell his hand while at the same time speaking in a soft tone to them. He said you can wash your hands later.

Riyan was scared, but did as Sir Frank requested. Both then fed the dogs with biscuits from the palms of their hands!  Riyan said he couldn’t believe he had done that, his first time ever.

A couple of days passed and I was walking through the same area and to my pleasant surprise Sir Frank was there. Six or seven stray dogs had sounded the alarm of his presence and followed.

It was funny! They ran towards him wagging their tails, as if they had two and were noisily barking in chorus. Actually, you couldn’t really call it barking, it was more like a choir singing.

They marched beside him as a little boy or girl might, when their daddy returned home after being away for sometime. The street came to a standstill to watch the joyful commotion the dogs had created.

To avoid blocking road traffic, Sir Frank turned into a side street accompanied by his canine admirers – similar to a scene one would expect to find in the Pied Piper Hamlyn book. I was fascinated. Bubbling over with curiosity, I couldn’t resist and duly followed!

Sir Frank braced his back against the wall, opened a packet of biscuits, and hand-fed each and every one of them individually.

I was astonished to see how well behaved the dogs were. Not one tried to grab another dog’s biscuit. They simply waited in line for their turn, like little gentlemen (so to speak!). One young puppy did try to grab the biscuit before it was his turn, but Sir Frank disciplined it by giving it a tiny slap and said a loud chastising ‘NO!' The puppy didn’t try again. That’s Alpha power!

When all the biscuits had been distributed and one of the dogs had licked the crumbs from the empty packet, Sir Frank patted and massaged each one behind their ears and moved off… they in hot pursuit!

He refused to speak with me while he was feeding the dogs, but when I caught up with him, he explained.

“None of the dogs would bite, but you have to be particularly careful about the little puppies. Puppies have needle-sharp teeth and there’s always the possibility one would jump up, grab the biscuit, and accidentally scratch you with one of their razor-sharp teeth. They're only children". He laughed

“It happened to me earlier this year and, just to be on the safe side, I ended up visiting the Infectious Diseases Hospital for a course of three anti rabies injections!”

Sir Frank told me, when you feed a dog anything you should do it from below their head position so the dog can see and smell it. If you attempt to feed it above its head (as many children erroneously do) the dog has to stretch or  leap up to get it and may accidentally grab a finger or scratch you in their attempt.”

He had told Riyan to allow the dogs to smell his hand and to speak to them, and that intrigued me.

“Science tells us  – not that we can rely upon that too much after the horrific Corona Virus debacle – that dogs have smelling power something like 30-times greater than ours,” he said. 

“So if someone they know to be kind and dog-friendly enters their territory in pitch darkness, they will recognise the person as a friend just from their smell. Similarly, if you speak with them dogs remember the sound of your voice. So you announce yourself as you enter.

“A dog does not understand a word you say to them. Be it Bangla, English or whatever, but they do understand the tone in which it is said.”

Finally, I asked him what should one do if a dog ran towards them with evil intent in mind. He said: “I’m no dog expert, but I do know the worst a person could do is to run. That triggers the natural hound and hare imbedded in their born instincts and the dog would instinctively give chase.

“Personally, I would stand still, stretch out my arms to give the impression I was much bigger than I actually am and make absolute no eye contact with the dog whatsoever. The chances are the dog would encircle me once or twice, checking me out and conclude I’m no threat, and just go. 

“Making eye contact with an aggressive dog rushing towards you is a total no-no… a red flag. It subliminally tells the dog in aggressive language Joe Pesci style, ‘do you want a bit of me?  Do you want a bit of me? Let’ see how tough you are!’ Dogfights are triggered by eye contact. In the canine world that’s the equivalent of ‘gun slingers going for their guns at the O. K. Corral!”

I came to know Sir Frank Peters, as most of us schoolteachers did, through his heart-felt, compassionate anti corporal punishment to children and I applauded his efforts and admired him ever since. I find it equally admirable that he’s setting a good example by showing compassion and humanity for our homeless canine friends. I wish him and his loved ones Eid Mubarak!

- Ferdusa Marium