10/24/2023
🙏🙏🙏
YOU USE *WHAT* KIND OF COLLAR??!
Have you noticed that the "instant experts" have decided that every kind of dog collar is the wrong one?
A flat collar, after all, does not stop the dog from pulling, while a slip collar can choke!
Surely no one would greenlight either one!
A pinch collar pinches, while an e-collar shocks.
Surely no one would greenlight either one!
What about a constriction harness or a head halter?
Good lord NO!
The former squeezes the dogs insides and does nothing to stop the dog from pulling, while the later can scrape against the eye and cause corneal damage and neck injury.
After hearing this, if you are terrified that you might "do it wrong," with your new dog, then the message has worked.
You see, so much of this nonsense comes from "click and treat" dog trainers who are intent on selling their services, their books, and their CD-roms.
Their main message is that you are probably incapable of training your own dog without their input.
If you go it alone with a book from the library, you might injure your dog!
Never mind that hundreds of millions of dogs have been trained for thousands of years on six continents without the advice of click-and-treat dog trainers.
The click-and-treat folks want you to know they are here to Save the Day ... provided, of course, you have a credit card.
Part of their pitch is fear.
You aren't an ABUSIVE owner are you? Because they want you to know they do not believe in ABUSIVE dog training.
You don't believe in OUTDATED training methods do you? Because they want you to know they believe in only the LATEST, MODERN methods.
Surely you want to be modern and non abusive?
All right then -- sign up with any of the trainers to be found in the directory!
Now there is nothing wrong with going to a dog trainer (all for it), and there is nothing wrong with click and treat dog training (all for it).
But do me a favor eh? Don't p**s on my leg and tell me it's raining!
Example one is the simple slip collar. It's been used for a thousand years and it works.
I am past 60 years old and I have never seen a dog injured by one, and I bet you haven't either.
I have seen dogs injured by cars, fences, broken glass, hot tar, and nails, but never by a slip collar.
In 2,000 years of dog training, no one seems to have seen widespread neck injuries in dogs from proper use of a slip collar.
William Koehler did not see it, nor Barbara Woodhouse. You and I have not seen it. And neither has your veterinarian, I will bet. Have you noticed that your vet puts a plastic slip lead on all the dogs before leading them to the waiting room?
Now to be clear, I am not saying click and treat doesn’t work. Of course it works. You can train a dog to do any number of useful tricks with click and treat.
And if the dog has low drive, and if the owner will tolerate low standards, the dog *might* even be OK off lead.
Might. Maybe. “Most of the time.”
All we know for sure is that Karen Pryor, the guru of click and treat, could not take her own Border Terrier off lead in the forest, and used an electric Invisible Fence to keep it in the yard.
Do you find that shocking? I bet!
So, to reiterate, I am all for click and treat. It’s core dog training and works for a lot of things. I have two well-worn treat bags and you can usually fine a bit of kibble in my pocket. I’m all for rewards-based training and the use of clickers.
But you will pardon me if I hold on to my wallet with one hand and my slip collars and leashes with the other.
You see, I am pretty sure about one thing ....
If someone comes along and tells you that everything that everyone else has been doing for 2,000 years in the world of dogs is entirely wrong, you should RUN (not walk!) in the opposite direction.
Nothing good starts with a lie.
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