Which of these things hurts more? Before you answer, put yourself in the place of the victim, honestly know what you’d feel like if this happened to you. Consider carefully the initial pain or hurt and then consider how long the memory lasts in the body, mind and soul.
Hit, slapped, spanked, choked, jerked by the neck, shocked, fill in the blank with any physical punishment, one being doing it to another.
OR
Fear of being harmed, yelled at or screamed at, threat of force or bodily harm, not understanding what is going to come next due to a lack of understanding of language or gestures or unreliability of the perpetrator, fill in the blank with any emotional or mental abuse, one being doing it to another.
Tough call, isn’t it? Both categories leave marks. Some that never heal. Physical, mental and emotional. So which is better?
I have an acquaintance who is a dog trainer, she’s been training the same way for years. She’s very hard on her dogs with physical, mental and emotional corrections and she wins competitions with them. BUT. Her dogs do not go to her willingly outside the competition ring. AND. At competitions her dogs snarl, growl and make aggressive motions toward other dogs when another dog simply walks by. NOW. Granted, when she yells at the dogs to “Quit it!” they do…for a few minutes, then they’re right back at it. I disagree heartily with the way she treats her dogs. She will not soften her heart.
And what for? A trophy? A perfect sit?
I have a friend who wins competition with her dogs. It’s all a game to them and they love her very, very much. They will do anything for her.
Which trainer do you want to be? Which dogs do you want to have?
Consider some incident from your life that you’ve never been able to let go of or that you still think about sometimes. Some hurt of some kind that someone else did to you. Then think about what you’re doing to your dog. How is it any different? It all gets kind of hazy when you think about it like that. Doesn’t it?
Yikes, Guys. What are we doing? Why are we following the work, words, and advice of trainers who get results from force and violence?
It does not take force to train a dog or even to train another human being. It takes intelligence and sometimes a little time. You can have anything you want from your dogs without force or violence. Think about what you’re doing. Put yourself in your dog’s place. Would it be okay with you if your dog bit you every time you did something he didn’t want you to?
Heaven really can exist on Earth every day for us and our dogs. Please stop hurting the dogs. – Darc
Hello Darc, Thanks for the reminder. I try to NEVER treat my dog roughly and it is paying great dividends. I cannot agree with you more, even the harshest words accompanied by strong body language can upset any living being. My dog is treated as a special friend, one that I know will never let me down. He has such tender hearted feelings and I see who he comes to in time of reassurance. The trust and respect is awesome. Another thing to remember to is that the envrionment in ones household can have a drastic effect on your dog. Arguing and fussing in the presence of your dog is not a good thing, take it to another private area. Sounds crazy to some but I for one believe that animals pick up the stresses of everyday life. Let’s make their tender lives enjoyable and peaceful lives, after all, they deserve the best we can give them. Jani
GOOD for you, Darcie, for saying it. I ditched a competition trainer I had been paying for the very reason you state: the 60-cent ribbons and paper certificates weren’t worth what he was wanting to do to dogs in order to accomplish that.
For the record, I went on with my dogs (on my own) to win many more ribbons and awards, none of which were worth nearly as much as the joy and partnership given to me by my dogs in return – but all of which served to prove a point to people who set value by these things: Positive (reward-based) training WORKS, dogs find joy in it; and, best of all, it’s just plain fun.
Keep on spreading the good word.
Kathy