(updated below)
It’s positively Orwellian in Dogworld these days. Up is down. War is peace. And, the shark-tooth pinch collar (That IS what it looks like and it does bite the dog’s neck. See it here.) is called the “good dog collar.” It is “gentle” and “enhances your relationship with your dog” and is sold by PetSafe Warehouse. PetSAFE. Really?
I had sworn off writing about nasty collars that pinch and gouge and send electric currents through our dogs’ bodies. Hanging dogs by their leash and collar to “correct” them, aka helicoptering dogs, Cesar Millan and his wannabes–Is there a town in the US without at least one Cesar wannabe? I thought I had said good-bye to all that too.
Instead I aimed to focus on the amazing stuff going on in the world of reward-based training. And, it is HUGE. Look here, here, and here for just a tiny sample. And, don’t forget to check out the dog bloggers on my blog roll. They are terrific! As for me, I wanted to write more stories about how such training changed my life and probably saved Sadie’s. (I will do this!)
But, first I must take a whack at dismantling the Orwellian doublethink that is running rampant in the world of dogs. It’s crazy out there! And, I don’t believe it will go away by ignoring it, like begging at the table.
Let’s begin with euphemisms. Like “leash correction” for jerking the dog’s neck, or helicoptering, as I mentioned above. My personal favorites are “remote” collars, “underground” fences, and, the latest way to shock your dog, the PetSafe Stay Mat! Wireless Crate. They are everywhere in everyday places we don’t typically associate with possible torture by electric shock such as Amazon.com and LL Bean. What could possibly be wrong with something that is remote and “doesn’t cause any harm,” and sold by good ol’ LL Bean?
Plenty. The shocks these devices deliver are not remote or invisible or harmless to our dogs. They are up close and personal. But that sanitized language gives us a way to talk about shocking the hell out of our dogs, intentionally or “accidentally” (Oops! Turned that dial way up. Didn’t mean to do that!) without actually saying what we are doing. And, if we can’t say what we are doing, then we might not even know what we are doing.
What concerns me is that the general doggie public seems to be gulping this 100-pound bag of nasty Orwellian kibble without even choking.
One way out of this mess is to insist on calling a spade what it is, a bloody shovel! No more slight of hand. No more euphemisms. No more “remote” this or “tickle and buzz” that.
Frankly, as I see it, if these devices were meant to merely deliver a tingle or a buzz to “get our dog’s attention” then that’s ALL they would be designed to do. But they are not.
Here’s a second bit of Orwellian doublethink that’s showing up a lot more these days, it seems to me. Traditional compulsion trainers are dressing up their punitive methods in the admittedly feel-good language of reward-based training. You know, using words like “happy dog,” “relationship,” “no harsh methods,” “bonding.”
For instance, this quote: “Dogs that don’t get corrections are much less happy (than those who are trained using reward-based methods).” (Italics mine.) Apparently corrections, which are punishments, make dogs happy? I am not making this up. You can read the blog post by the guy who claims to be Utah’s number one dog trainer here. He also says corrections should be used as a means of “building a better bond between dog and owner.” (Italics mine). So dogs are masochists?
There is not one iota of science to back up his assertion. In fact, research tells us just the opposite. See for yourself here (p.139) and here. And, don’t forget what Ian Dunbar has to say is an undeniable fact about punishment: “Any punishment for inappropriate behavior is an advertisement that you have yet to effectively teach your dog how you would like him to act.”
That said, there is one possible exception that I learned about in a lecture by a leading reward-based trainer. Dogs who were trained using mostly positive reinforcement and occasionally mildly corrected by being told something like, “That won’t do. Try again,” did learn faster than the dogs that received only positive reinforcement. But, taking note of the prong collar Mr. Utah’s dog wears in the picture on his website, I don’t think he’s referring to this kind of mild correction despite his use of words like “humane.”
And, that picture of his dog in a prong collar is another Orwellian slight of hand, or mind. In contrast to the picture, he claims he does not use harsh methods, as does a local trainer in my neck of the woods. On her website she shows a picture of herself holding the remote control for a shock collar while advertising—“No harsh methods.” (She, by the way, is the trainer who trained Jane to train George who ran up to me screaming on Sanitas Valley trail trying desperately to escape the searing pain around his neck. (You can read about Jane and George in “It’s Shocking.”)
The problem here is that for people who don’t know better, and many don’t, they don’t see the contradictions. They just see that ‘professional’ dog trainers say punishment using prong collars and shock collars is humane, so it must be so.
I had my own little adventure into the 1984-like world of dog training. Out of curiosity I emailed a local dog-training center to ask them about their training approach, information that was nowhere to be found on their extensive website. Their reply? “We prefer positive reinforcement and our style mirrors the Monks of New Skete.” Ah, okay. That’s curious. The Monks as I recall use lots of corrections.
Finally, there is that Orwellian twist of the tongue where you say you are doing one thing, while actually doing quite another. Do you recall the Clear Skies initiative? That was a federal program that allowed tons more pollutants into the air.
Here’s an example of a similar thing from the dog training world. In this video Cesar’s instructing you in how to fit and walk your dog with his “Illusion Collar.” I love the name. It’s like the collar isn’t even there. It’s just an illusion. I know. I know. It’s named after his wife. But somehow I don’t think that if his wife were named Patty it would have been called the “Patty Collar.”
Click here for the video. Pay attention to the dog. How does the dog look to you? Happy? Loving its Illusion Collar? To my amateur eyes, this dog appears anxious and stressed: ears pinned back, panting, lip licking. She’s not a happy dog about to go for a walk.
Notice the music–la de da, nothing untoward happening here. And what does Cesar say just after he puts the contraption over the dog’s head: “The most important part is the conditioning, how he feels about the collar. It’s best for them not to feel anxious, nervous, fearful tense…”
Do his words and the images match? Did he doing anything to condition the dog to the collar even though he said that was the “most important part”? Do you think the collar evokes a positive response from the dog? I don’t see it. It seems to me he’s merely tolerating it because he has to.
And, by the way, how did YOU feel as you watched? Happy? Uneasy?
Now let’s take a look at a video of dog trainer Jean Donaldson conditioning her dog to the gentle leader, another kind of contraption to help keep dogs from pulling on walks. Click here and scroll down to “Conditioning an Emotional Response” to view the video.
How did the Chow dog look to you? Reluctant? Engaged? Happy? Does she learn to like her gentle leader?
What about Jean’s words? Did they match what’s going on in the video? I think so.
And, how did you feel watching this video compared to the last one?
I have to say I could barely bring myself to view the Illusion video more than once. I felt very badly for the dog. How much more joyfully Jean’s dog willingly puts her head through the gentle leader, a harness, by the way, that most dogs do not take to easily.
So here’s my shout out to you:
- Call out the contradictions between what is said and what is done when you see them.
- Don’t abide euphemisms. Debunk them.
- Take back the language of reward-based training when it is co-opted in the service of dressing up traditional punishment-based training.
And, stay positive. I am.
Now, is that a contradiction?
UPDATE
Kudos to Collen Falconer of Enlightened K9 for naming “helicoptering” what it is–ABUSE. See her blog post here.
See Nicole Silvers blog post calling out the damage that so-called “invisible” fences can do here.
Hi there,
i just wanted to say kudos to you on your excellent blog post “It’s Positively Orwellian in Dogworld.” You have really captured the essence of what I have been trying to get across with my efforts. I thought you might be interested in checking out the spin I put on the whole Cesar debate with press release I issued last week in support of the product I invented to help spread the Train Humane message – the Clicker Leash. Here is a link to the press release that I have placed on my blog to get people’s feedback http://clickerleash.wordpress.com/. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Keep up the the good work!
Adina
http://www.clickerleash.com
Outstanding post, as always!!! Lovelovelove the JD video, I have always taught the dogs to stick their own muzzles through the nose loop but never thought to do the targeting with the GL before that step, will definitely be revamping my intro to GL steps with new dogs as a result!!
Well said Deborah. Just like any new parent, people with a new puppy or dog are extremely vulnerable to big dollar persuasive marketing tricks.
The tragedy is that people so want to do the right thing by their new dog or puppy so they put their trust in a “dog trainer” or a large pet product manufacturer imagining the company might have the dog’s best interests at heart.
Shame that so often their trust is not warranted. I had personal experience of this many years ago. Luckily for me a GOOD trainer, Mary Swinyer, helped turn our albeit small but still horrible situation around.
Thank you for this post. I am also a dog owner in Boulder, CO. I have also long noticed the contradiction with words and euphemisms being used to describe corrections-based training. People should call a spade a spade. At least with traditional dominance-based trainers you can see what they are doing to the dog whether it be hanging them from a choke or prong collar, jerking them off their feet, or throwing throw-chains at them. They may tell you it’s really OK, but you can see for yourself that what is being done is not OK. However, trainers who use shock collars for everything are a whole other category and what really concerns me. Here you can’t ‘see’ what is being done because pushing a button takes no effort, the trainer is just standing quiet and still and since they are not physically touching the dog they can’t possibly be doing anything harsh, right? you can only see the dog’s adverse reaction which is usually only too easy misrepresent to the public as being something less than it really is. They use euphemisms like “tickle” and “buzz” and dress it up as being “gentle” because there’s nothing physically touching the animal. I am really disappointed that recently there are more and more exclusively-shock collar trainers setting up business in everywhere including the metro denver area.
I work as a trainer at a big box store and turn people away from the shock collar case as often as I can. It’s hard at times to regard these moments that I have with people as being opportunities to help / educate / spread the word about R+ . I would love to hear from other trainers (or anyone!) about effective strategies in these situations. Stating something like “I’d do everything that I could to talk you, dog owner, out of buying something from this display….” is generally a good starting point for me. What are some others that have worked for you?
Disappointed in all of the times that the people I speak to say “I’ve never ever had a problem ever with using a shock collar….” Oh, really? It seems clear that a lot of people choose to not see the damage they do.
Great blog, btw!
-Misa
My favorite is “praise training”. Almost any dog would be thrilled to work for praise only, right? And when your dog doesn’t get it, well, that hardly ever happens and your dog is especially stubborn and I guess we’ll just have to give her a little yank to get our message across. I think the euphemism for that is “thank ‘n yank”.