Too WOKE To Be Dog Trainers?

In the few weeks since the November 5th election, I’ve been thinking a lot about who we are as a society, especially since we are so painfully divided, and it was not lost on me how much the dog training industry is a microcosm of that society.

I recently read a question that was posted to a Facebook page; the author wanting to know if anyone else noticed an increase in dog trainers boldly promoting their use of electric collars and other noxious equipment to “train” dogs. One response was that these type of trainers are getting called out on their cruelty which unfortunately just gives them more publicity.

I have a different take on this.

Looking back on history class which, as I date myself, was a lot like wondering what was being covered up in the infamous 18 and 1/2 minute gap in the 1972 Nixon tapes. Clearly way too many missing pieces that have been intentionally kept out of history books!  But flash forward, more enlightened people started questioning history’s accuracy, especially with the rise of conspiracy theorists among us who are denying historical events, some of which we bore witness to!

The recognized slang term for those of us who are aware of the facts and social injustices, is called “woke”, however, not surprisingly, it is also used pejoratively against anyone who gives a damn about human rights, science, and well, everything that challenges ignorance. Unfortunately,  these days being an ignoramus is as coveted as having a PhD!  One only has to reminisce  about the “Good old days” when some anti-vaxxers were peddling animal dewormers as a remedy for COVID!

At this point, you’re probably wondering what this fascinating commentary has to do with the dog training industry so as always,  I will digress…

Traditional dog training in the US has its roots in the arm forces when during the Second World War, large breed working dogs were trained to detect explosives, guard the camps, pull sleds, deliver messages, as well as do search and rescue work. And while the current research on dogs didn’t exist at that time, these intelligent, strong dogs were able to ‘tolerate” the harsh punishment-based protocols that their handlers would inflict. In other words, the dogs knew how to avoid the unpleasant consequences!

Post war, when many people moved from the country to the cities for jobs, they brought with them their dogs who needed training in order to adapt to city life, and who more qualified to train dogs, than retired military dog-handlers, some of whom, also found fame training dogs in Hollywood. These compulsion based techniques remained the standard for dog training until the late 1970s when a few animal trainers introduced sound scientific protocols to those who were interested in something that worked for dogs (and actually, ALL animals) without causing them pain. These were the “crossover trainers” who paved the way for countless other “woke” folks who recognized that cruelty had no place in educating animals.

Unfortunately, today there are few guardrails in this industry, meaning anyone can call themselves a dog trainer which runs the gamut of earning a PhD to the person who owns a dog, and this includes a certain celebrity TV dog trainer who has a kindergarten level of dog-knowledge.

Because of the danger this poses to unsuspecting dog guardians and their dogs, the educated trainers and behaviorists, want to have legislation to make dog training a profession that would outlaw the use of shock, choke, and prong collars and give the general dog-owning public a reliable source of trainers who were certified, mandated to continue their education, and would sign an agreement not to harm dogs.

This proposal seems to have widened the line in the sand between professional ideologies of traditional vs modern trainers, and emboldened the uneducated to debunk the science, boldly claiming, among other lies,  that electric shock is harmless! And if you are wondering why a group of traditional dog trainers would be so alarmed that they have to troll other training professionals on social media, I believe that they do so because being “woke” challenges who they are.

 Being able to abuse dogs and erroneously claiming that they fixed the problem, flies in the face of animal welfare, and yet no one is stopping them, and likely won’t until the profession has regulations. Moreover, because fear sells, they know how effortless it is to double down on the lies they tell pet-parents, by portraying dogs as violent beings, in need of a strong pack leader, otherwise it is not safe to sleep at night, knowing at any minute the family dog is secretly plotting to murder the family!

Being woke is the very thing that poked the bear, so to speak, because in our society, the woke are advocates for many humanitarian causes. So Black lives, marriage equality, trans rights, the rights of women, is a sign that society has shifted way too left for their comfort.

Traditional dog trainers, denounce the science that modern trainers know which is that dogs have the same brain chemistry as humans and when fully mature, dogs have the learning ability of a 3 year old human, which means, just to name a few astonishing facts about dogs, they can learn human words, the names of objects and (some) colors, count, use inferential reasoning, fast mapping, and respond to human gestures just like a toddler!

In society, if you treat people and dogs (in this case) as “less than”, it desensitizes those to inflict mental and physical pain on others. Just like the twisted thinking that participating in an insurrection was a patriotic act, so do these traditional dog trainers as they fight to protect their noxious ideology.

I recall a Facebook post from one of my woke clients who, when he questioned the research behind a particular traditional dog trainer’s remarks, was given this response: “Ya know, Bill, this ain’t science, it’s, dog training!”

With both sides being polar opposites, it’s difficult to imagine how this will be remedied, but I’m counting on the better angels of our nature, which Abraham Lincoln spoke about in his first Inaugural Address, compelling people to come together to do what is right.

Is being too woke too much for that elusive paradigm shift? I hope not because we are, after all, supposed to be dog lovers.

HAPPY TRAINING & ENRICHMENT

© Fran Berry CPDT-KA, UW-AAB all rights reserved 2024