15/06/2025
Appeal to Authority Fallacy:
Dog training edition
If you didn’t know much about remote electronic collars, then saw articles like this, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think these tools are harmful, that positive reinforcement training is more effective in all contexts and better for dogs welfare.
Why? Because the article was written by someone with lots of letters after their name and have refs to ‘support’ their opinion.
Pretty convincing right? Not necessarily.
Dog training is not a science (in-spite of what many may claim), but it does ‘use’ science to inform its practice.
It’s not possible to understand dog training by reading research articles. You can certainly learn about elements, like schedules of reinforcement, classical conditioning, instinctual motor patterns, what motivates behavior etc etc. But when it comes to actual training methods the research is in its infancy ‘at best’.
A PhD does not make someone an expert in training methods. A dog training practitioner in particular methods is.
Obviously there are trainers with limited education, who misuse tools or methods. But I’m not talking about them.
Believe it or not there are trainers with PhD’s in relevant fields who use tools like e-collars, who are ALSO practitioners.
Refs cited in articles like this are cherry picked and don’t go into alternative explanations for findings, which are usually provided in the studies themselves.
These opinion articles also conveniently omit research that contradicts their stance, as do position statements from ideological organisations against certain tools and methods.
Furthermore, if a trainer argues against the above points with: “well, I used to use these methods and now I’m against them because they cause harm”. All they are doing is admitting a lack of skill and now blame the tool/method for their incompetence.
If a PhD can’t break down a typical training program an experienced trainer would implement for a given context, with an understanding of the nuance certain variables may bring. Then they are not an expert on the topic. And to suggest they are is what’s known as an appeal to authority.
The end.
