Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Exposing the Reality of Police Attack Dogs: An Open Letter

We’re not just here to teach you how to train your dogs. We’re here to confront the cultural forces that drive the exploitation of dogs, particularly in the violent use of police canines.

For years, I believed police dogs were noble, heroic partners protecting the public. But that narrative is a lie. Police K9 units are not enforcers of justice, they are tools of a violent system rooted in colonial violence, systemic racism, and propaganda designed to mask the truth.

The history of police dogs begins with terror. Spanish conquistadors used dogs to hunt and maul Indigenous people. In the western hemisphere, enslaved people were hunted by dogs bred to track and kill them. These practices set the stage for Jim Crow era police forces, who unleashed attack dogs on peaceful Black protesters, using violence to suppress civil rights. 

This isn’t history, it’s the foundation of modern policing, where dogs disproportionately harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, while also violating the rights of many others.

Police institutions glorify their K9s, but the truth is damning. According to the Department of Justice, police fatally shoot at least 10,000 pet dogs annually, an average of 27 dogs per day. While individual officers may love these dogs, these INSTITUTIONS don’t see dogs as beloved partners, they see them as weapons, a blatant violation of human rights and basic animal welfare. 

Over the last decade, police dogs have bitten 32,000 people, causing life-altering injuries. Victims include nonviolent suspects, bystanders, and even children.

Police dog training is as violent as its history. Many methods originate from pre-Nazi Germany’s bite sports, which taught dogs to attack humans. The Nazi regime weaponized these techniques to instill fear and suppress dissent. Today’s K9 units inherit this brutal legacy, creating reactive dogs conditioned to escalate conflict.

The use of police dogs also violates constitutional rights. Dogs are deployed to inflict excessive force, violating the Fourth Amendment. Severe injuries often amount to cruel and unusual punishment, defying the Eighth Amendment. And when unleashed without accountability, they deprive individuals of due process, undermining the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

This cruelty extends beyond the streets. In prisons, dogs are used to maul incarcerated people during “cell extractions,” causing lasting physical and psychological trauma on this vulnerable population. 

Globally, police dogs are tools of oppression: Israeli forces use them against Palestinian civilians, Brazilian police deploy them against protesters, and Australian authorities use them to suppress Indigenous land rights demonstrations.

Police dogs are victims, too. Their training causes chronic stress, anxiety, and aggression. Many are euthanized after retirement, deemed too dangerous for adoption due to the same violent conditioning that shaped them.

We don’t need better training for police dogs. We need to abolish their use entirely. Proven alternatives like de-escalation techniques, mental health crisis teams, and community-based safety programs offer humane, effective ways to ensure public safety.

The myth of the “heroic K9” is a lie designed to obscure systemic violence. It’s time to dismantle this harmful system and build a future where public safety doesn’t come at the expense of human rights or the dignity of animals.

To law enforcement officers: if you see these injustices, speak out. Whistleblow on these practices. Share your experiences. Reach me confidentially at ZakGeorge@me.com. Silence perpetuates harm; transparency sparks change.

Sincerely,
Zak George

2 days ago | [YT] | 240

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Will your dog pay attention to you in busy environments, around other dogs, bikes, strangers, sounds, wild animals, etc? Here’s how to get your dog to pay attention to you: https://youtu.be/wkoSO7QuMnI

6 months ago | [YT] | 78

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Our community has been successful in sparking an industry-wide conversation over the last few days regarding ethics in our field. (Go to instagram.com/zakgeorge to follow this conversation more closely and join the discussion over there!)

The question before the entire dog training community right now is this:

Should professional dog trainers recommend or endorse methods rooted in fear and pain for training and behavior modification of the public’s dogs?

(Note: We are not talking about immediate emergencies. That is not dog training or behavior modification, it’s emergency management.)

The question is NOT whether professionals or non-professionals should be using fear/intimidation on their personal dogs. That is a separate issue. We are concerned with how people who call themselves dog trainers are advising the public.

Using fear, intimidation or pain for training may lead to “immediate compliance” but the side effects of those methods can include increased fear, anxiety, mistrust, and aggression. These are not small time or easy to reverse side effects, and should be taken very seriously by professionals.

Aversive methods carry a significant risk of harm, and they are now known to be unnecessary. Effective, humane alternatives exist that consider a dog’s entire emotional existence.

Major organizations like the AVSAB, AVMA, and ACVB do not endorse the LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) protocol as a standard for animal training. LIMA is often used to justify using fear, pain and intimidation in the dog training field.

Some want to discuss how LIMA can be applied more or less humanely, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is no longer supported in the larger animal behavior profession.

As professionals, we must prioritize the well-being of the dogs and people we teach and that includes not creating unnecessary, additional side effects.

Can we agree that using pain and fear should be out of bounds for any professional in this field when engaging the public and their dogs?

This conversation is huge for the dog training industry. I would love to hear ALL of your thoughts in the comments!

7 months ago | [YT] | 50

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

BREAKING NEWS https://youtu.be/d7I1VPjBgko “Dog Daddy” associate Rich DuBarton has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of animal abuse

Rich is the owner of Westbrook Pet Resort, Aranwood Kennel, Europa K-9 Breeding and Training, etc.. who hosted a “Dog Daddy” training event in November 2023 - you might recall our posts calling for a boycott of his business at that time.

As of now, “Dog Daddy” Augusto DeOliveira has claimed to be returning to this facility to work with more of the public’s dogs this April.

Learn more: https://youtu.be/d7I1VPjBgko

10 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 370

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Does your dog know how to leave ANYTHING alone when you ask them to - even a piece of bacon you drop right in front of them without warning? (This is super fast & easy to teach and I have CHANGED the way I train it!! 🚨 Watch here: https://youtu.be/-DglvZw_HDc )

11 months ago | [YT] | 138

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Why do you think dogs (usually) jump on people? https://youtu.be/1_qUHppxOn8

11 months ago | [YT] | 141

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

What was the most challenging part of night 1 with your new dog? https://youtu.be/zt3AVydlc2g

11 months ago | [YT] | 110

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Do you and your dog live in a busy city, or a more rural area? https://youtu.be/rp7niWsF2ug

11 months ago | [YT] | 104

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

Did you start your dog’s leash training inside, or did you go straight outside? How did it go?

11 months ago | [YT] | 90

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

What is the #1 thing that motivates your dog? Is it treats, or toys… or something else? 🤔 youtube.com/shorts/YpbJNIql8kw

11 months ago | [YT] | 105