Today, in the dog world, dog training has developed enormously and many working methods now exist.
It is therefore difficult to define what is tolerable when training your dog.
THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF DOG TRAINING
Many professionals are trained today because there are so many dog trainers on the market.
These trainings have their own educational methods in order to train the future professionals according to the image that we have of the dog.
Traditional”, “positive”, “coercive”, “benevolent” methods, etc.
Each professional is given a nice label to explain and justify their work.
This is to help future clients to make their choice on the method of rehabilitation of their dog.
Everyone is of course free to make their own choices. I will not blame anyone for wanting to use a choke chain or for believing in the dominance theory.
Simply because I believed in it. And yes, I learned about it 10 years ago while studying in the animal husbandry field in canine and feline breeding and I believed in it like crazy for a while.
But my vision of the dog has changed today. But I understand those who believe in it and who say to themselves that it is normal to educate their dog by putting him on a leash for a walk or to punish him so that he stops jumping.
You can also dislike using treats and there is nothing wrong with that. The dog may also like the toy or other rewards during training sessions.
ABUSE IS COMMONPLACE IN THE DOG WORLD
But the real problem today is to support visible abuse that has become commonplace and therefore invisible.
Here are some examples that we still see too often:
– Seeing a dog howling in fear and pain while tied to the ground with no escape.
– Seeing a dog cowering in fear of what will happen.
– Seeing a dog become robotic without any emotion, but listening perfectly well.
– Seeing a dog resign itself because no other solution is possible.
And this is something that is considered normal today.
Dogs don’t fight each other by being tied up and pouncing on the immobilized individual to teach them to be “well-behaved.”
That’s not what dog communication is all about.
There is no such thing as a “regulating” dog, contrary to what you might think.
These famous “regulating” dogs are nothing more than dogs that are irritated by constantly seeing other individuals who do not know how to communicate properly with each other. The consequence of this repeated and too frequent exposure will be a dog that will be less tolerant in the way it interacts with its fellow dogs.
Please, if you love your dog, even if you don’t want to train him to eat, don’t leave him in such distress in front of professionals who will only destroy him.
The visible abuse that has become invisible must stop.
Out of respect for our dogs.
THE ABUSE TRIVIALIZED IN THE CANINE ENVIRONMENT
THE DISADVANTAGES OF USING THESE METHODS WITH YOUR DOG
As we have already talked about it some time ago, it is undeniable that these working methods work in the education of the dog.
But what is the psychological impact on the dog?
The dog will actually work and perform the exercises and the work required.
The dog will listen to its owner or will not aggress against other dogs, but the work process performed will not have had a positive impact on the dog’s mind.
Example: A dog that is aggressive towards other dogs due to bad experiences goes to a dog trainer who works by confronting the dogs with other dogs.
It is important to know that an aggressive dog is not aggressive because it wants to attack other dogs, but because it is a behavioral response to previous bad experiences. Some dogs will react aggressively, others will not react at all, depending on the individual.
ABUSE IS COMMONPLACE IN THE DOG WORLD
Let’s resume our work by organizing a forced meeting with a fellow dog who will “reeducate” our aggressive dog.
Our “student” dog will only understand in a brutal way that his behavior generates aggression and a little “muscular” reframing.
Will he have learned to speak properly? No, not necessarily, there is a balance between never seeing another dog and only having him meet other dogs who overreact.
There is a balance between never seeing a dog again and only having him meet people who overreact, because this can really mark a dog and impact his future life.
We still see too much mistreatment during training, dogs lifted from the ground by the collar, dogs expressing their discomfort by signals that are not listened to, etc. It is not because a method has always worked that it is good for the animal, so let’s question ourselves so that our dogs are respected and listened to as living beings endowed with sensitivity.
