There is a lot of controversy going on right now with the utilization of aversive training methods and a very specific trainer. The person who calls himself a “trainer” is Dog Daddy, and he is at the root of the controversy. But unfortunately he is just a more flamboyant version of many similar aversive trainers. I have been watching and very interested as it all unfolds. But as it unravels I have spent a great deal of time pondering the whole thing. How do we educate the general public that this is not okay? It is not my controversy personally but it surely involves me. I try very hard to spread the word of positive reinforcement; kindness, patience, humane and compassion treatment to dogs.
I have had to step away from watching it all unfold daily. But I have been thinking about it all, all the time. One side is the positive trainers who rely on science based training against the harsh and physically aversive method of training. Aversive training has been around for far too long; it has not changed and is fueled by the idea of making our dogs do what we want through physical manipulation. Some aversive trainers like the one in the middle of it all have brought it to a higher level of abuse.
Having been a positive trainer for so long and seeing it work on every dog that I’ve worked with has given me the drive to educate whoever I can about the method. Positive training done correctly is ethical, humane, kind, compassionate and IT WORKS! Positive reinforcement training has been growing quickly and saving thousands of dogs from being abused by aversive training. But there is work to do.
There is no need to be cruel, use physical punishment or be the alpha with your dog. These ideas are so outdated and incorrect. There is no reason to use brutal force, yell, yank or abuse dogs. I get it, the general public doesn’t know that you don’t have to do this; which is what these type of trainers thrive on. Abusing a dog that is in a state of fight or flight will shut them down. Either that or cause them to pass out from being strangled.
I also get that it is hard to watch these people when you know it’s wrong. There is only so much of it that I can watch before I start shutting down myself, it’s tough. Watching someone who knows so little about dogs and their behavior literally helicopter them around on a slip collar or poke and prod them while strangling them triggers a protective and proactive state in me.
I also get that when you are at the end of your rope and someone swoops in to seemingly save the day, it can be a huge relief. But it comes at a cost, a huge cost; and what I am about to do is lift the cloak of deceit to hopefully explain to you what is actually going on.
Example:
A nice couple has a dog with some fear aggression. Let’s say a young 12 month old male labrador; who came to them as a 6 mont old pup with no socializing. So to this dog, let’s call him Thor, the world is a scary place. The couple have tried everything that they know, including over socializing and are at the end of their rope. Then they see this “celebrity trainer” on the internet; literally whipping dogs into shape in a matter of moments. There is the hook, line and sinker and they are reeled in.
They attend one of his “shows” and willingly hand over their young dog to be transformed; knowing nothing of the fate that he has now been dealt. As they hand the dog over, the dog pulls back, he is afraid. The “trainer,” ignores all of his body language and signals that the dog is displaying and drags him closer to him. The dog starts to struggle, he starts to growl but is still trying to get away. Everything in the dog is trying to escape, not aggress. Then the guy on the end of the leash reaches over the dogs head (a huge mistake) and taps the dogs on the head. He reaches around the side and pokes and prods the dog.
At this point the dog is struggling to get away and is literally being strangled. What happens next is shutdown; the dog suddenly stops, and to people who don’t understand, it looks great but this is very bad. The trainer says “look, he’s fixed,” and although the dog has stopped struggling, he has now been filled with even more fear. When a dog shuts down, everything is done, no learning, no feeling, they are just completely shutdown.
At this point the dog is exhausted and may take days to recover. The poor dog with a few fear issues has been handed over by the people that he trusted, so trust is broken. He was put in the hands of someone who has no knowledge of dogs who abused and traumatized to the point of shutdown. All this for the benefit of the socalled trainers insane ego. Just imagine what will happen the next time a stranger approaches the dog?
flooding - a form of psychotherapy in which the patient receives abrupt and intense, rather than gradual, exposure to a fear-producing situation.
Taking a dog and flooding them with fear triggers is inhumane, cruel and abusive, bottom line. So this dog’s guardians failed him, the trainer not only failed him but added trauma which will now be a larger problem and society failed him. It is not okay to allow this to continue.
A trainer who is experienced in positive reinforcement training would never try to bring out aggression in a dog. They would never purposely trigger a dog into aggression. The idea is barbaric and from the past when we didn’t know any better. Now we do know better, shouldn’t we do better?
I think as a society we need to look at how we treat our dogs. Aside from scientific proof that positive reinforcement works; we need to look at ourselves and agree that we can do better. It is not okay to hurt our dogs. We need to educate ourselves so that we can make an educated choice of trainers.
There are so many trainers out there; it can be mind boggling to figure out who to trust. I think if we take a stand and make the decision not to hurt or intimidate our dogs physically or mentally, that’s a start. If we stand up for our dogs and say “NO!, YOU CANNOT DO THAT TO MY DOG.” We owe it to our dogs; and this step alone will weed out alot of the worst trainers. The ones who just simply brutalilze and get paid. They don’t love dogs and that is a fact.
Sadly Ceasar Milan appeared on the dog training scene via his own National Geographic show which categorically set dog training back decades. Although he single handedly turned back time; the effects of his training on such a wide reaching platform has been immense and not in a good way.
I am witnessing many young and newer trainers following suit because of his celebrity and making it look so simple. Slip lead on, yank around and presto. The whole idea of being the “alpha” has had a huge and horrible impact on the dogs we live with. He took the term alpha and turned it into a struggle with our dogs in training.
Positive reinforcement is truly amazing when you see it in action. A fearful dog learns to trust through kindness, patience, understanding and compassion. Do you really think that a dog forced to be aggressive because of fear learns to trust and not be fearful by being attacked by humans? This is insanity.
Good training is done in baby steps. Watching the behavior and working with it to build trust and knowledge. If a trainer you go to tells you to do something that doesn’t feel right, do not do it. This is your dog, you are their guardian; brought together to form a simbiotic relationship built from trust.
Let’s not fail them.