Our dogs depend on us for almost everything. Food, water, shelter and companionship all depend on our generosity. A dog’s safety and well being are also in our hands, and sometimes, we have to be an advocate for our dog to protect him or her.
The definition of advocate is “one that supports or promotes the interests of another” or “a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc.”
As your dog’s advocate you work with your vet to insure that your dog has good health care. You choose healthy food and treats. You teach and train your dog so he/she can be a valued member of your family.
I want to talk about your role as an advocate when it comes to the last part - training. Over the years, there have been many cruel and hurtful things done to dogs in the name of training. With an awareness of how well positive methods work, many of those methods have fallen by the way. However, there are still a few die hard trainers who hang on to archaic and cruel methods because “they work.” Just because something works, doesn’t make it right.
And, just because you pay a person for their expertise, does not ensure that you will get good advice. There are a couple of instances that keep popping up in my experience that I want to talk about.
The first involves underground fence companies. I have heard one too many stories about cruel so-called training methods used on dogs by underground fence installers. I have heard about their so called trainers using multiple collars and putting collars on dog’s backs and private parts. The advice of some of these people has caused fear and pain to countless dogs.We trainers often see the fallout of this cruel "training". We are the ones who are called when the dog refuses to leave the porch or to even go into the yard at all. We are called when the normally nice Golden bites the neighbor child because he tried to follow little Jimmy home one day and got shocked. In my book, allowing a fence installer to "train" your dog is like asking your yard man to tutor you kid in algebra.
The second involves trainers who counsel their clients to employ severe jerking on choke chains (corrections), picking dogs off the ground by the choke chain (hanging), and pinning or slamming the dog to the ground (the Alpha Roll) to establish dominance over him/her. At the very least, these methods will severely erode the relationship between dog and owner. And, in many instances, they will increase aggression and may lead to the dog being euthanized for “incurable aggression.” Sometimes using these methods will temporarily stop the behavior - growling or barking at another dog or a person - but they don't make the dog feel any better about why he's growling or barking. If you try to stop aggressive displays with punsihment, you are simply supressing the behavior. Sooner or later it will resurface - usually worse than before.
My advice is this; if at ANY TIME, you feel even a little uncomfortable with any method of training used on your dog, stop it immediately. Tell the person that you will not treat your dog that way, and that you will not permit them to do so either. You do not need to argue the merits of the methods. And remember that even though this person is supposed to be the expert, you, as your dog’s advocate have the final say about what happens to your animal. You have hired this person so they work for you. If you are not happy with the way they are treating your dog, fire them!
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