01/02/2025
I'd add that a lot of forceful ("bAlAnCeD") trainers use a lot of tactics ripped straight from The Alt-Right Playbook by Innuendo Studios*.
*A play list of videos on YouTube that I cannot recommend enough, it helps you to see through the BS that we're constantly drowning in just now.
In yesterday’s post, we examined the connection between balanced dog training and male violence. And, of course, the pearl-clutchers came running when I posed a simple question in the comments of that post:
Are those who advocate for force-based training more likely to have a history of domestic violence?
I stand by it.
Many of us can see right through these so-called “trainers” who proudly promote choke chains, prong collars, and shock collars under the guise of “discipline.”
We know the type. And while not all, a disturbingly common number are controlling, aggressive, and dismissive toward women and those they perceive as weaker.
Many “balanced” trainers on social media are best known for being dismissive or degrading toward women, a behavior that aligns with broader patterns of authoritarian control and dominance often linked to aggression and coercion.
And while I get that this makes people uncomfortable, let’s talk about what the evidence actually says.
Animal cruelty is recognized as one of the strongest predictors of future violent crime, including domestic abuse.
No matter how you frame it, shocking a dog’s neck, choking them with a prong, or using fear-based methods falls undeniably within the spectrum of violence, both in intent and effect. It’s just a socially accepted form of it.
Studies show a high overlap between homes where domestic abuse occurs and cases of animal cruelty.
Many survivors of domestic violence report that their abuser also harmed or threatened their pets as a form of coercion and control.
Research indicates that people with authoritarian mindsets, those who value power, dominance, and control, are significantly more likely to justify this kind of violence.
This same mindset fuels both coercive dog training and domestic abuse. It’s about power and submission, not education or ethics. We’ve all seen how quickly they dismiss decades of behavioral science, mocking evidence-based methods while clinging to outdated techniques, because for them, it was never about learning, only about control.
Police K9 training is still largely based on dominance-driven methods, which have been shown to cause stress, reactivity, and aggression in dogs.
The same police departments that endorse these methods also have higher rates of domestic violence among officers, exceeding that of the general population.
This isn’t a coincidence. This is a pattern.
So when people get defensive about this discussion, they should ask themselves why.
If force-based training wasn’t rooted in control, domination, and outdated power dynamics, why does it so often attract the same kind of people?
One only needs to scroll through the comments on posts like this to see the vitriol, name-calling, and chest-thumping.
What you won’t find is data-driven perspectives or credible counter-evidence, because they don’t have it.
The broader macro environment matters. We can’t pretend that a culture obsessed with ‘dominance’ in dogs has nothing to do with how those same people treat the vulnerable humans in their lives.
Here are a few sources to get you started - I always encourage you to find your own as well:
https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/the-link-between-animal-cruelty-and-human-violence
https://aldf.org/article/the-link-between-cruelty-to-animals-and-violence-toward-humans-2/
https://www.americanhumane.org/public-education/understanding-the-link-between-animal-abuse-and-family-violence/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9024712/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0225023
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/1862/
