Kommetjie Canine College

12/04/2025

Last Day to Register for:

🐾The Inaugural Decoding Aggression & Reactivity Summit🐾

🚩🚩If you have been meaning to get around to it, this is your last chance, so don't miss out! 🚩🚩

This year, Ness Jones, host of the “Decoding Your Canine” Summits, is hosting a special session “Decoding Aggression & Reactivity”. Without a doubt, aggression and reactivity is the problem that dog guardians dread the most – having a reactive dog (even if they are just reactive in only a few specific situations) can be incredibly stressful and the cause of much embarrassment and anxiety. It can often feel like these issues prevent us from enjoying activities with our dogs and too often we feel alone and at a loss as to how to help them.

But you aren’t alone and help is at hand for you to understand better what aggression is, why it happens, how we can prevent it and how we can manage and improve our dog’s situation so that we can build stronger bonds with them, support them and help them to live the best life possible: Join me and 15+ top experts as we delve into the world of dog, what makes them tick and how we can help you overcome the problems you are having.

On April 13 the inaugural Decoding Aggression & Reactivity Summit will kick off. Whether you are a dog guardian wanting help with your own dog or a dog professional looking to expand your knowledge to help clients, this is for you.

My friend Ness Jones has brought together some of the world’s most knowledgeable trainers to discuss aggression & reactivity and how to resolve it.

You’ll not only get access to 17+ hours of educational information and actionable tips, you’ll also get a workbook to take notes, audio & video, and a free gift from all the speakers.
And you can get lifetime access to all of it by clicking HERE https://www.decodingyourcanine.com?affiliate=CGNKQO

This is a paid for summit, as each guest has put a lot of time and effort into preparing for their talks and sharing their knowledge – and so will be getting a small percentage of the sign-up fee so that they are able to offer quality information to a wider audience in this way. The cost of the summit is $47 (about R850 for my South African followers) – considering that this is not just for one or two hours of information from one expert, but over 17 hours from 15 experts, it is actually well worth it – and access is for life, so you have no time constraints and can watch at your leisure.

Here’s just some of what to expect:


Troubleshooting Complex Scenarios
Supporting Reactive Dogs
Aggression and Reactivity in Puppies
Emotional Learning
Managing Up-Close Encounters With Your Reactive Dog
Facilitating Social Contact for Reactive Dogs
and so much more …

And me, of course! I’ll be chatting on the important topic of “Unpacking Aggression: What is it and why does it happen.

Claim your ticket to this amazing online event here https://www.decodingyourcanine.com?affiliate=CGNKQO

Hope to see you there!
Taryn Blyth
Dog Behaviourist and Trainer
DipCABT (OCN UK)
Advanced Certificate in Early Canine Development (UP)

04/04/2025

🐾Don’t miss the inaugural Decoding Aggression & Reactivity Summit🐾

This year, Ness Jones, host of the “Decoding Your Canine” Summits, is hosting a special session “Decoding Aggression & Reactivity”. Without a doubt, aggression and reactivity is the problem that dog guardians dread the most – having a reactive dog (even if they are just reactive in only a few specific situations) can be incredibly stressful and the cause of much embarrassment and anxiety. It can often feel like these issues prevent us from enjoying activities with our dogs and too often we feel alone and at a loss as to how to help them.

But you aren’t alone and help is at hand for you to understand better what aggression is, why it happens, how we can prevent it and how we can manage and improve our dog’s situation so that we can build stronger bonds with them, support them and help them to live the best life possible: Join me and 15+ top experts as we delve into the world of dog, what makes them tick and how we can help you overcome the problems you are having.

On April 13 the inaugural Decoding Aggression & Reactivity Summit will kick off. Whether you are a dog guardian wanting help with your own dog or a dog professional looking to expand your knowledge to help clients, this is for you.

My friend Ness Jones has brought together some of the world’s most knowledgeable trainers to discuss aggression & reactivity and how to resolve it.

You’ll not only get access to 17+ hours of educational information and actionable tips, you’ll also get a workbook to take notes, audio & video, and a free gift from all the speakers.
And you can get lifetime access to all of it by clicking HERE https://www.decodingyourcanine.com?affiliate=CGNKQO

This is a paid for summit, as each guest has put a lot of time and effort into preparing for their talks and sharing their knowledge – and so will be getting a small percentage of the sign-up fee so that they are able to offer quality information to a wider audience in this way. The cost of the summit is $47 (about R850 for my South African followers) – considering that this is not just for one or two hours of information from one expert, but over 17 hours from 15 experts, it is actually well worth it – and access is for life, so you have no time constraints and can watch at your leisure.

Here’s just some of what to expect:


Troubleshooting Complex Scenarios
Supporting Reactive Dogs
Aggression and Reactivity in Puppies
Emotional Learning
Managing Up-Close Encounters With Your Reactive Dog
Facilitating Social Contact for Reactive Dogs
and so much more …

And me, of course! I’ll be chatting on the important topic of “Unpacking Aggression: What is it and why does it happen.

Claim your ticket to this amazing online event here https://www.decodingyourcanine.com?affiliate=CGNKQO

Hope to see you there!
Taryn Blyth
Dog Behaviourist and Trainer
DipCABT (OCN UK)
Advanced Certificate in Early Canine Development (UP)

02/04/2025

There have already been a lot of excellent rebuttals to the latest post on the supposed evils of playing fetch with your dog. While I get the feeling that everyone is sick of the subject by now and I could just refer to the following article I wrote several years ago: https://www.tarynblyth.co.za/playing-fetch-the-new-prime-evil, I have decided to wade in again to particularly address those who have complained about the backlash the post has received. Those of us who have had a strong negative response to the post have been accused of being overly critical and blowing things out of proportion. I feel I need to explain why I believe the backlash to the post is actually warranted.

While I agree that we can be too quick to criticise and pull the work of other trainers apart over minor details and I try not to do that, I found myself deeply disturbed by this anti-fetch post and couldn't ignore it.

Many people have said that the post just calls for some moderation in playing fetch (which is needed) and we are all completely overreacting to someone who is just recommending common sense and balance. But this is not how I read the article at all.

The post in question sets out to systematically analyse the act of a dog fetching something in a way that paints the very behaviour itself as emotionally and physiologically damaging. What is more, the author uses supposed science or scientific theories in the analysis, which gives the impression of authority and expertise. This puts the reader in a position where, if they do not personally understand the concepts and biology being referenced, they are likely to take the post as a factual scientific analysis of the behaviour – when it is certainly not.

I won’t go into great detail about the hormones and neurotransmitters involved in playing fetch this time, because I want to focus more on the theories around predatory behaviour in dogs, which the post seems to be hinged on. However, here is a quote from another fabulous post that did address the biology a bit:

“CLAIM:
Fetch spikes dopamine and cortisol - so it must be harmful.
REALITY:
Yes, hormones are involved. Because fetch is exciting.
Dopamine = anticipation. Not addiction.
Cortisol rises with arousal - just like when your dog trains, plays, or sees a squirrel.
Or heck, cortisol even spikes when your dog gets off his bed in the morning.
Let’s stop panicking about hormones! Hormones are biology, not pathology.
Arousal isn’t the problem. Recovery is.
And by far the majority of dogs recover just fine. Drink, flop, nap, done.”

Julie Naismith: https://www.facebook.com/julienaismithtraining/posts/pfbid0QYE8SsKBttdqs5JtPhm9NtzhZdujCD5Qt7HtjDZ9h72YnSKZiEVk5ao3QeimTPkYl

Okay, so getting that out of the way, let’s look at the crux of the post in question:

Playing fetch gets dogs stuck partway through the predatory motor pattern and therefore creates massive frustration and leaves dogs in a state of arousal.

Hmm….. In response to questions about the post in the comments, the author mentions the theories of Raymond Coppinger, an evolutionary biologist whose work focused on the evolution of the domestic dog and how we come to have the different types of dogs (in looks and behaviour) that we find ourselves living with today. The author claims to get his ideas about predatory motor patterns in dogs from this work, but oddly, he seems to have missed the most important aspect of Coppinger’s theory: that the vast majority of domestic dogs do NOT have full predatory motor patterns: domestic dogs only have remnants of predatory behaviour, as a result of the selective breeding of dogs for specific tasks over thousands of years.

For those not familiar with it, a very brief explanation of Coppinger’s theory is as follows:

All dogs are “juvenilised” wild canids. Early humans favoured canids that did not show strong predatory behaviours, because they were safer to live with, so dogs with weakened or incomplete predatory behaviours evolved to live among people. Humans then realised that different dogs with different remnants of predatory behaviour could be useful for different types of work and selective breeding for these functions began. Dogs that enjoyed stalking and chasing, but not biting or ripping things to pieces, were great for herding. Dogs that enjoyed grabbing and holding, but not ripping to pieces, were great for retrieving, dogs that had virtually no predatory behaviours remaining were great for living with and guarding livestock and dogs that went straight to grab, bite and shake from just looking at something were excellent “pest control”.

While the full predatory sequence in a wild canid for the purposes of eating is:
ORIENT – EYE – STALK – CHASE – GRAB BITE – SHAKE BITE – KILL BITE – DISSECT – EAT
Our domestic dogs only have bits and pieces of this genetically programmed into them and very seldom go through this entire sequence. Those that do have a fuller predatory motor pattern SELDOM follow through to actually eating things that they catch. Are there exceptions – yes, of course – but it is not the norm. For more details on this, please see my article on the importance of genetics in understanding behaviour: https://www.tarynblyth.co.za/genetics-and-behaviour

The anti-fetch article hinges on dogs not being able to complete the predatory motor pattern, when our dogs have literally evolved and then been selectively bred to NOT have a full predatory motor pattern and to gain satisfaction from rehearsing those segments of the predatory motor pattern that do remain. When it comes to the few dogs that do have a fairly full predatory motor pattern and may actually be proficient hunters if given the chance, I would challenge you to get them to fetch a ball – spoiler, it probably won't happen. The more “mature – wild type” canids that live amongst us are notoriously bad at retrieving – if it is not alive, they have no interest in chasing it and putting it in their mouths. The entire theory the post is based on makes no sense.

In fact, as a behaviourist, one of the most important things that I look at when assessing whether a dog’s needs are being met, is whether they have a suitable outlet for the remnants of predatory behaviour that is specific to that type of dog. Simplistically, is a pointer getting to point? Is a herder getting to herd? Is a retriever getting to retrieve and is a terrier getting to shake and shred stuff? Of course, modern dogs seldom have the option of rehearsing these behaviours on living things (thank goodness!), so engagement with various toys is where we focus this type of behaviour. For some dogs, this will mean that fetching a ball or other item will be immensely enjoyable and satisfying. Far from being a cause of frustration, activities like playing fetch can alleviate frustration by meeting needs hardwired into our dogs.

Does this mean that every dog should fetch a ball or that we should throw a ball 100 times in a row for dogs that do enjoy the activity? Does it mean that dogs cannot get hurt fetching a ball or that there is no repetitive strain on joints during running, breaking and turning? Does this mean that there are no dogs who will become over-aroused by fetching over and over again or that some dogs will find it hard to stop the game? No, of course not.

Firstly, with any activity for our dogs, we have to keep their physical safety in mind and repetitive ball throwing can impact on physical health and lead to injuries if done in excess. As a Rottweiler owner, with heavier built dogs, I am acutely aware of the potential for injuries and am careful to look after my dogs’ joints and ligaments in any activity we engage in. I have also cautioned some clients who I observed overdoing the ball throwing to tone things down and vary ball activities, out of concern that if they continued on as they were, their dogs would be injured. And yes, you do get certain dogs who have a tendency towards over-arousal and fixation, but I would argue that this propensity was inherent and if it was not brought out by the ball, it would have been brought out by something else. In dogs with true compulsive/addictive type behaviours, it is believed that the chemical reward cascade does not function properly – this is a physiological problem and not the result of exposure to a ball. Ball fetching may not be suitable for a dog with such a predisposition but it didn’t cause the condition and taking away the ball (while that might help) won’t fix it either – the answer in such a case would be far more complex and sadly, not that easy.

Finally, I wanted to mention that it is always a good idea to keep in mind who a post is written by and to dig a little bit into their qualifications and training ideology. I don’t want to use this post to pull the author apart, but I would encourage you go onto his website and check whether he has any listed qualifications. In this regard, please keep in mind that “Cynologist” is not a qualification and simply refers to anyone who works with and “studies” dogs. I would also encourage you to read his training philosophy carefully and see where his background lies. Ask yourself whether this person presents any evidence that they are in a position to expound on biology or neurophysiology. Ask yourself what kind of training methods you think they use or condone. Is this someone who you would take advice from, if you are in the positive reinforcement camp?.

So, in summary, why do I find this post so deeply disturbing:
1. It is presented as scientific fact, when it is anything but
2. It completely misunderstands the very theories it is based on
3. It is alarmist and extreme
4. It risks taking away something which can be beneficial for many dogs and their humans
5. It seems to have been shared without anyone looking into or asking important questions about the author

Is this really something we want to spread amongst the dog-owning public?

01/04/2025

Is it possible to teach your reactive dog to be calm and composed around its trigger?

Do you want to know how? Then you should sign up for the inaugural Decoding Aggression & Reactivity Summit.

My friend Ness Jones has put together an amazing summit of more than15 top professionals, myself included, from around the world to help you resolve this anxiety inducing problem!

This is a paid product but is well worth the $47 US (R850) price tag for the more than 15 hours of education information and actionable tips you will receive.

The 2025 Decoding Aggression & Reactivity Summit will be released on April 13 and then you’ll gain access to expert speakers from around the world.

Not just that … you will also hear from yours truly talking about "Unpacking Aggression"

Your tribe is waiting: https://www.decodingyourcanine.com?affiliate=CGNKQO

14/03/2025

I am sharing this post, because it highlights why we always go on about checking the credentials of the person you hire to work with your dog. This person's name I know well, because he has advertised himself relentlessly as a dog trainer and behaviour specialist in the area where I live and work. Please be aware that there are some deeply delusional individuals posing as experts in this industry. Sooner or later though, they usually trip themselves up. Please do your research into anyone you work with and do not trust people with zero qualifications claiming to be experts.

14/03/2025 • News • Animal Cruelty • The Cape of Good Hope SPCA conducted an investigation into allegations of animal cruelty involving Mr. Jamie Pieterse from K9 Patrol Pet Army, a non-profit organization purporting to enhance animal care. This organisation solicits public donations to fund i...

08/03/2025

My post about the use of crates to micromanage dogs was shared to an American based dog training group, where clearly there is a huge amount of emotional investment in crate training. While there were many positive comments, there were also a lot of very unhappy responses and a lot of fear-mongering that dogs that aren't crate trained are in mortal danger. So I am sharing my response to the comments on that post here.

I'm not sure how many times I can say it that people will actually take it in, but again, if you would like to crate train for SHORT TERM management, that's your perogative and I'm not criticising that. What I'm criticising is the normalisation of dogs essentially living in crates and the idea that dogs can't be successfully raised in our homes without a crate. After reading this morning of a child bitten while trying to put the family dog in his crate, I'm not prepared to pretend that this is okay.

My comment:

"I tried to let a lot of the comments on this post go, because I wasn't sure that it was worth responding, but as the author of this post, being accused of giving "horrible advice", I am now going to say something.

For a start, as everyone who actually read the post properly mentioned, this post is not saying that using a crate carefully as a short term management solution is bad and should never be done. If people can carefully and slowly acclimatise their dogs to crates and this is the easiest way for them to manage very short term situations, that's fine and absolutely your perogative.

However, when I hear things like "crates save lives", honestly we are now veering into the same nonsense espoused by balanced trainers who will claim that shock collars save lives.

Fear mongering to try and force people into believing that if they don't crate train their dogs might die, is beyond ridiculous. Do you understand that caging dogs in this way is banned in many European countries? Do we have an epidemic of dead dogs in Europe as a result? Of course not.

Not caging your dog doesn't mean that they are automatically running around the house in your absence ingesting broken glass. Believe it or not, people do manage to puppy proof their homes or utilise certain areas of their homes as safe, comfortable places for their puppies and dogs to stay, without sticking them in cages. There are alternatives that don't involved limiting your dog's freedom of movement to such extremes.

Furthermore, the insistence that all dogs have to be crate trained, in case they ever have to be caged at a vet, during travel or after surgery ignores the fact that dogs hardly view sleeping voluntarily in a comfy crate in the familiarity of home, with being confined in a strange cage surrounded by veterinary smells and noise. Unfortunately vet visits and stays are stressful in and of themselves and your dog isn't magically going to breeze through this because they're "crate trained". What could be improved however, is vets becoming familiar with fear free practices.

I'm not sure about the references to travel, as most dogs I know do not get crated in cars. They usually get tethered into a seat belt by a harness attachment, so again, not an issue. If travel refers to air travel, well very few dogs deal with that and for those that do, a cargo hold is not the same as your lounge and again, those circumstances will be stressful whether they're crate trained or not. If you are going to be flying with your dog in the passenger area next to you and they need to be crated, I'm sure you can train for that tiny eventuality as the need arises.

With regard to post orthopedic surgery or injury care, I and many friends and clients have seen multiple dogs through things like TPLO's and osteotomies without the use of a crate. Again, believe it or not, you can manage dogs quite successfully without caging them.

If you want to use a crate for very short term confinement or as a comfortable place for them to voluntarily sleep, that's your perogative and I would never tell you that it's wrong to do so.

Please extend the same curtesy to people who manage their dogs just fine without the use of a crate. People who don't see the need, who don't want to spend a fortune on a steel cage they have to find somewhere to set up in their home in order to practise for something that might never actually happen.

Lastly, if your dog is destructive when left home alone, sticking them in a cage is not a solution. You need to find out why they are destructive. Are they bored because you are leaving them alone for far too long? Do they have separation related distress and are falling apart emotionally when you leave? Either way, crating them isn't addressing the root of the problem, is at best creating immense frustration and at worst adding horrendously to their suffering. They need help, not confinement."

27/02/2025

Dogs should not be micromanaged for our amusement or convenience

I am honestly tired of reading posts where people ask for help with dogs who are crated for many hours at a time and never have free access to the home or garden. Dogs whose entire lives consist of being rotated between a cage and structured training or play times or supervised periods (often on lead) in the garden or house. Dogs who never get to just roam around the home and settle where they like. Dogs who never have any free time, where nothing is expected of them, unless they are confined to a cage that they can do nothing more than turn around in. Dogs who are expected to accept their incarceration without a murmur and are deemed problematic if they show any signs of distress.

Yes, I understand that many people find crate training useful for things like house training and generally managing puppies for SHORT periods of time, when they are not able to keep a close eye on them. I also understand that there are some dogs who have been introduced carefully to crates who seem to view them as a safe place to retreat to VOLUNTARILY when they want to rest or have something to chew and don’t want to be interfered with by others. This post is not about these reasonable uses of SHORT TERM confinement.

This post is about those who believe it is okay for dogs to essentially live in a cage, except for those times when we want to actively do something with them. It is this sadly too common attitude that we need to talk about and I have no idea how we have reached a place where it is remotely thought to be acceptable. Zoo animals are treated better than this. I find the number of posts on supposedly positive reinforcement-based training groups, where people ask advice about how to stop their dogs objecting to being confined to a crate, truly distressing. One would hope that at least there might be some desperate reason for the dog’s confinement (such as recovery from injury or risk of severe conflict with another dog in the home), but when this question is asked, the answers I have seen recently have been as follows:

• I crate and rotate all my dogs, because it is convenient for me to live with them like that
• Other people in my home don’t like dogs, so they cannot be freely in the home and must be confined to one room anyway
• I like my dogs to have individual time with me, so only want one out at a time, so that their focus is on me and nothing else
• My dog “works” better if he doesn’t have any free time on his own
• My old dog doesn’t like other dogs, so when I got a puppy, I knew I would have to crate and rotate them permanently
• My dog is destructive when left alone at home, so needs to be confined to a crate so they can’t do any damage to anything in the home

I am sorry, but living in a cage and only coming out for short periods of time, because it is convenient, because the dog performs better in some training task, because you want your dog’s entire world to be you, because your dog has separation distress or is bored out of his mind being left alone for 8-10 hours a day, because you added a dog to your home KNOWING that your other dog would never accept them or because the dog isn’t even welcome by your family in the home in the first place, is not a decent life for a dog.

I understand and empathise with people who end up in a situation where their dogs, who started off fine together, end up becoming incompatible for some reason and have to live separately. I understand that in such incredibly difficult situations “crate and rotate” may be the only option other than re-homing or euthanasia. I truly get that and know that in such cases this may be the only and best option to save both dogs. But what I don’t accept, is people who know that one of their dogs is intolerant of other dogs, yet they still go out an get another dog, PLANNING to use crate and rotate as a way to have more dogs – often because they want another dog for some sport or other and totally disregarding how unfair it is to deliberately get a dog, knowing that their life will be so extremely restricted.

And no, living in a cage and coming out for a few hours a day to engage in some high intensity activity which the dog seems to be excited about, is not a good life. Welfare depends largely on choice and freedom. Emotional wellbeing hinges on having opportunities to meet fundamental needs: the need for social contact, the need for freedom of movement, the need to explore, the need to find comfortable places to rest, the need to play and the need to respond to stimuli in the environment, by being able to move around and investigate what is going on.

Of course, our dogs cannot have 100% access to all these things all the time, but they should at the very least have the freedom to explore their own living environment and make themselves comfortable in it for most of the day. They should be able to seek out social contact and reassurance from others in the home and should be able to entertain themselves with play, when they feel like it.

Unless you are forced to, because of a life and death situation, why would you ever want to take this away from them? Why would you want to cage them and restrict their lives so much, if you supposedly love them and want them to be content and happy? Are our dogs valued family members, whose needs we respect? Or are they nothing more than an extension of our own needs, desires and ego?

Unless your dog is going to be a valued family member and their basic and fundamental needs will be more important than your convenience or ego, rather don't take a dog into your home.

31/01/2025

Pain, Lack Of Control And The Anxiety Of Punishment

Towards the end of last year, I developed “Tennis Elbow” which a doctor helpfully told me was “just my age and will go away eventually” (apparently, I am not a spring chicken anymore sadly!). Over the summer holidays it did go away, almost completely, thanks to not lugging heavy equipment around a training field and being able to take a break from the endless typing admin that comes from running a dog training school.

Of course, with the start of the new year and work, I quickly developed symptoms again, but in order to be able to carry on with life, but tried my best to soldier on - until yesterday, when Cruz and I ended up in a confined space at a retirement home demo and I ended up having to juggle a heavy bag of props and a 52kg Rottweiler amongst wheelchairs and tables full of biscuits! Apparently, my elbow decided it had had enough and I ended up in agony for the rest of the day.

The point of this story is not to gain sympathy, but because, as I was experiencing the pain yesterday and reflecting on the whole experience of this sorry injury, it brought to mind what dogs must experience when they are “trained” with shock collars. Let me explain:

The condition that I have causes a sudden, intense, sharp, burning pain to shoot from my elbow down my arm when I move a certain way - picking up a glass of water for example or brushing my hair. The problem though, is that because you feel “fine” the rest of the time, you completely forget that there is anything wrong and it takes a long time to figure out, and then constantly remember throughout the day, what to avoid. One minute you are going through your usual routines and doing the most benign and mundane thing and the next, you literally jump and gasp in pain. Not only that, but suddenly new things trigger the pain and other things that were painful before, suddenly seem okay – it is highly unpredictable and impossible to avoid altogether. Things deteriorated to such an extent yesterday that even doing absolutely nothing (literally sitting with my arm still) did not prevent these totally random shocks of pain. I ended up with an ice pack tied to my arm for hours – trying just to numb it altogether, with some success.

Again, the point of this post is not to feel sorry for myself or look for sympathy, the point is to use this as an analogy for the experience of dogs “trained” with electric shock. Knowing that pain may strike at any moment, for no apparent reason and with no way to avoid it, has a profound effect on your emotional state and your daily quality of life. As a human, I can at least understand that I have a medical condition, but a dog receiving random shocks around their neck has no idea why it is happening or what they can do to prevent it from happening again. The helplessness of knowing that you are going to suffer pain and being unable to figure out why and unable to stop it from happening puts you on edge, it creates anxiety throughout the day and by the end of the day you are emotionally and physically exhausted.

I have always known and understood that punishment creates anxiety and trauma and depletes emotional coping skills (not to mention having a profound impact on general health and wellbeing), but my experiences with this unpredictable shock-like pain, has impressed the reality of this on me at a deeper level. I am not a stranger to pain, as I have rheumatoid arthritis and I've experienced times in my life where I could barely move because my joints were so swollen and sore. However, there is something particularly unpleasant and exhausting about feeling fine one minute and being in agony the next for no apparent reason.

I know that some trainers who use shock collars will come back at this post by claiming that their punishment is not random. They will claim that the use of shock is predictable and that the point of it is to teach the dog how to avoid the pain and therefore change behaviour. I disagree, because while they may understand what they are trying to teach, the fact that dogs end up having to wear shock collars on an ongoing basis or for regular training sessions, means that the dogs have not figured out how to avoid the shock. If these devices really worked as these trainers claim, they would only need to be used once and never again. The fact is that dogs never fully understand why they are experiencing sudden sharp pain. They may try to avoid all sorts of different things - quite often superstitious learning takes place, where we see dogs avoiding things that have nothing to do with what the trainer was trying to teach them, or dogs just become generally inhibited and shut down - but I guarantee that no dog ever really understands why they are being hurt. Instead, they live with the anxiety of knowing that something deeply unpleasant may happen at any moment, which they can do nothing to avoid and have no control over.

How anyone thinks it is acceptable to inflict this kind of pain, anxiety, trauma and helplessness on any animal, never mind one that is supposed to be a member of their family, is beyond me. It is completely unacceptable and totally unnecessary. It is unethical on every level.