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!
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!
8 months ago | [YT] | 50