Friends and I watched a dog trainer show last night and were appalled at what was being taught. This dog/human trainer proclaimed that he used "energy" to communicate with dogs to get them to exhibit the behavior he wanted. He used a gesture to simulate his "energy" as something unseen, yet felt and understood by the dogs.
Yet in one session he used a prong choke collar and several times yanked harshly on the dogs neck, pulling the dog back from entering an open door, until the dog cowered in submission. If he was using his "energy" to communicate then why the physical abrupt jerking of the neck collar which raised the dogs feet from the ground more than once? In another scene he hit this same dog sharply in the chest with the tips of his four tightly positioned straight locked fingers to get the dog to become submissive. The energy we witnessed was fear, not love.
This dog trainer (?) claims that this treatment is loving and all his dogs love him and 'know he is the leader of the pack'. Is this really love, or is it fear and intimidation? This appears similar to child abuse; and the child knowing no other form of love, mistakes abuse for love.
This dog had begun to exhibit aggression towards an older dog in the house. Many animal behaviorists report this change from previous friendly behavior could be the result of many different factors, which if the underlying cause is treated, the effect will change. Instead this animal trainer attacked only the current behavior, now addressing what might have caused this dog to change.
In a recent yearlong study by University of Pennsylvania researchers shows a study of dog owners who use punishment, force, and confrontational or aversive methods to train aggressive pets, veterinary researchers have found that these methods elicited an aggressive response from at least a quarter of the dogs on which they were attempted - back towards their familiar people - the ones delivering the confrontational techniques.
I do agree that some larger and stronger dogs may seem to need a strong hand to train them, however, more and more positive and reward based training programs are showing excellent results with more humane and loving methods with all types of behaviors, sizes and breeds of dogs.
The second dog he worked with, appeared to hate the male person in the home. His solution again was forceful in gaining control over the dog, complete with thick leather work gloves. The objective was to pick up the dog, and hold it with the gloves until the dog gave up and became submissive. In comparison, another animal training show we watched where the small dog appeared to dislike the males in the household, the trainer saw the dog was scared and uncomfortable around the men which was then exhibited as aggression. Seeing the cause of the aggression and not just the aggressive behavior, this trainer used a positive reinforced training. After a little time of consistent training, the result was that the little dog actually learned the men were "safe" and good things happened when they were in the room. The husband was proud to show how the dog happily greeted all members of the family. Granted, no two dogs or situations are the same however, it appears that the positive approach was more loving and gave a larger positive result.
When a TV show has to display a disclaimer several times throughout the show "do not attempt the techniques you see without consulting a professional", it causes the question of why show the techniques if there is a potential hazard? This type of disclaimer is routinely seen with stunt programs and potentially irresponsible and dangerous actions. It appears to be their legal out if someone uses the same techniques and doesn't consult this professional (?) first.
This trainer seems to have a large following, however, that doesn't make it right. It brings to mind the story of the Emperor and His New Clothes. The 'Emperors followers were first afraid to tell the him that he his clothes were an illusion; then they began to question themselves if their eyes were deceiving them because the Emperor couldn't possibly be naked (wrong). Until one small child had the clarity of truth and spoke up. Then the veil of deceit was broken and the naked Emperor was seen as he was.
We are a society that has become numb to abuse towards our animals. Every day I witness dogs being yanked by their necks, slapped, held down to force submission and constantly being yelled "no" in their face. Many people use harsh treatment on their animals because it gets a quick fix. Some people don't know there is another way. This has paved the intention of the Stress Out for Cats, dogs and their People book.
Only when enough people challenge questionable treatments will there be safer and more loving treatments become the more popular and then (hopefully) the norm.
Taily wags and purrrrs......
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