03/09/2025
Dear public, if you reach out to a dog trainer and they proudly call themselves “balanced,” run the other way.
Why? These methods rely heavily on choking, shocking, and intimidating your dog into compliance.
“Balanced training” isn’t genuine balance, it’s harm masked in appealing language, fundamentally incompatible with modern behavioral science and humane ethical standards.
Unlike truly science-based methods, it relies on suppressing behavior through pain, fear, and intimidation, directly contradicting what we now know about canine psychology, learning theory, and animal welfare.
It’s not just another style; it’s outdated, unnecessary, and actively harmful.
Remember, dog training is entirely unregulated, anyone can slap on a label and start shocking, choking, or intimidating your dog without any accountability, leaving your dog’s emotional and physical health in the hands of novices with zero qualifications and zero oversight.
Research published in the journal Anthrozoös analyzed language from 100 popular dog training websites, revealing that trainers using aversive methods frequently employ specific euphemisms and jargon, such as calling shock collars “e-collars,” referring to painful electric shocks as “static corrections” or “stimulation,” and using terms like “pack leader” to justify outdated dominance-based methods.
These phrases are chosen PRECISELY to conceal the harsh reality of their practices.
Another common tactic employed by these folks is making bold guarantees and unrealistic promises, such as “guaranteed results in one session” or “instant off-leash freedom.”
Such claims exploit desperate guardians, promising quick fixes that rely on painful corrections and aversives to suppress, rather than genuinely resolve, behavioral issues, methods scientifically shown to worsen stress, fear, and aggression in dogs.
But their methods are not aligned with modern ethical standards upheld by any leading behavior science and animal welfare organizations.
Every credentialed veterinary behavior organization worldwide, including the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB), explicitly condemns their methods because overwhelming scientific evidence strongly supports they directly cause significant psychological harm, dramatically increasing stress, anxiety, fear, and aggression in dogs.
These harmful techniques can severely damage your relationship with your dog and lead to new, more complex behavioral problems over time.
In stark contrast, modern dog training and behavior methods embrace humane, neuro-affirming practices that prioritize your dog’s emotional health, cognitive development, and individual personality.
Neuro-affirming teaching isn’t just about rewards or reinforcement, it’s a commitment to understanding and nurturing your dog’s emotional health, cognitive abilities, and individual personality. It demands a profound respect for dogs as sentient beings whose well-being deserves absolute protection.
You deserve a trainer who doesn’t just claim results, but who is educated enough to foster genuine trust, resilience, and emotional safety, someone committed to transparency, compassion, and scientific rigor. Anything less is failing both you and your dog.
When searching for dog trainers, beware of euphemistic and ambiguous marketing language. Look critically at claims of instant fixes or guaranteed results and be cautious of websites using terms like “e-collar” without honestly explaining that they mean shock collars.
Instead, choose trainers who are transparent about their methods, clearly state their reliance on humane approaches, explicitly reject the use of aversive tools, and openly discuss the long-term, compassionate, and scientifically validated approaches they use.
I realize this post will ruffle the feathers of "balanced" trainers, and while our community warmly welcomes those ready to cross over to humane methods, the violence and denial in this profession must stop.
For those still digging in their heels, here are a few questions you owe it to the public, yourself, and to dogs, to honestly answer:
If your methods aren’t abusive, why do you need to use devices designed specifically to inflict pain, fear, or discomfort on dogs?
If causing pain or fear is truly unnecessary, how can you justify repeatedly choosing tools and methods proven to cause psychological trauma?
Why do you continue using methods explicitly condemned by credentialed animal behavior experts as unethical and harmful, if you’re genuinely interested in the well-being of dogs?
Learn more:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fellow-creatures/202304/you-have-to-read-dog-trainers-websites-closely-study-says
Dog Training and Behavior Counseling
