\n
The dog training world is quite divided in some respects, and never more so than right now. The constant debate, or hatred of each other seems to be increasing. I don\u2019t think the divide, between aversive style trainers (particularly shock and prong collar users) and force-free trainers, will ever be settled on social media.\u00a0 Many force-free trainers (I\u2019m just using FF as a general term to refer to people who don\u2019t intentionally use aversive methods of training and are opposed to them) view shock and prong collars as abusive. This is also my position. I believe the use of a shocker on a dog is abuse. The problem is, many users of these devices, believe, just as passionately, that I\u2019m completely wrong and that it is, in fact, force-free trainers who are damaging dogs.<\/p>\n
I had an interesting discussion on Facebook recently with a shock collar user. He\u2019d come to my page to tell me I\u2019d been misinformed and that shock collars are the most efficient and effective way of training. I mention that I wasn\u2019t merely informed but had 3 degrees in animal behaviour and had spent the past 8 years critically evaluating the science. His reply was to say \u2018save me the sermon, I\u2019ve heard it all before\u2019 (and remember, this is him coming to my FB page to tell me I\u2019m misinformed). So he says I\u2019m misinformed, but he has no interest in where my information came from. The next comment was from another random visitor (not a friend) to my page, saying this, \u201cstudied what? It\u2019s just a money-making scam, charging ridiculous amounts of money to be told rubbish \u2013 I suppose you don\u2019t even believe dogs have an alpha\u201d. I subsequently received 7 messages of hatred from different people who are supposedly grown adults running dog training businesses. Clearly, somebody who disagreed with me rallied some support from their friends. One of the messages said I\u2019d been indoctrinated with false science. They clearly never spent any time having to critically evaluate scientific studies, because that\u2019s the exact opposite of indoctrination. But the point is, you just have to look at these comments to see, they have zero interest in the science, they just see it as false.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to repeat the arguments against shock collars \u2013 most of you have heard them a thousand times before.<\/p>\n
On the other side of it, aversive trainers get a lot of criticism and insults from some force-free trainers. Would we contemplate using their methods? Absolutely not. So we have a large division across the industry in what we see as reasonable, or sensible, or even kind. And then there are all those in the center ground (many of them posting at the moment) who say we should all work together and respect different opinions. The problem with this idea is that the divisions are too wide. If you don\u2019t agree with men hitting women (and I think we can all agree that it\u2019s absolute abuse) you wouldn\u2019t ever say \u2018its just a difference of opinion! I\u2019m not suggesting it\u2019s the same as using a shock collar on a dog. I\u2019m pointing out that if you passionately believe something is abuse, you do not accept that you and the abuser merely have a difference of opinion.<\/p>\n
Obviously, nobody appreciates being thought of as an abuser, so I don\u2019t see things changing any time soon. But, even if you believe shock collar use is abusive (which I do), there is still a very big difference between that form of abuse and that of domestic violence. Not just because domestic violence is something done to humans, but because anyone committing domestic violence does not believe they are doing the right thing \u2013 they know they\u2019re doing wrong, they know very well that it\u2019s abuse and cruel, but they do it anyway, for a multitude of reasons. I do not put dog trainers who use shock collars into the same category, not even nearly. Why? Because it\u2019s been normalised in many communities \u2013 it\u2019s just what you do, it\u2019s what the people around you do. It\u2019s not something you do to be cruel, it\u2019s something you do because it\u2019s what you genuinely believe in. Not all of them, some are just enjoying being macho egotists, but I hope the majority are decent people doing what they believe to be right. But my role as a person with a little (and I do mean, little) influence, is not to add to the normalisation by accepting it as just a difference of opinion; my role is to promote force-free and do what I can to reverse the normalisation of canine abuse. However, as we have seen, there is no gain to be had in social media debates, it is just insult after insult with each party trying to convince the other they are crazy, and they\u2019re certainly not interested in anybody\u2019s evidence, no matter where it\u2019s from unless it agrees with their chosen position.\u00a0 The only people I can influence are those looking for that influence \u2013 I will not be wasting, whatever time I have left on this planet, arguing with people about what I promote. You can bring science to the people, but you cannot make them interested. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The dog training world is quite divided in some respects, and never more so than right now. The constant debate, or hatred of each other seems to be increasing. I don\u2019t think the divide, between aversive style trainers (particularly shock and prong collar users) and force-free trainers, will ever be settled on social media.\u00a0 Many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7067247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111412],"tags":[94311,4773,3788,6443,10999,7005,30863,10974,324],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7067246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-debating","tag-ill","tag-kelly","tag-longer","tag-media","tag-methods","tag-shay","tag-social","tag-training"],"yoast_head":"\n
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