Training Method Rant

Ok, I know I haven't written in a long. I guess that's what having a baby will do to ya. But I find that this one is worth blogging

I have a rant coming...

 Taking something a dog is fearful of and just making him "deal with it" is equivalent to taking your fear of spiders (or an equivalent) and putting one up close and just making you deal with it. It could be fast moving. It may jump on you. It may bite. It may crawl up your shirt. You just never know, and neither does your dog. And no, it doesn't remove your dog's fear. More often than not, it makes him more sensitive to that trigger and possibly even the triggers now associated with it. Do more for your dog. Slow down. Think about your dog's perspective and then make better choices on behalf of your dog's needs.

Photo courtesy of Dr Sophia Yin's blog

Also, on that note - lets keep in mind that if every dog fearful of something was beaten by it... 80% of dogs would have been beaten in their life. And that's not even close to the case. Are you afraid of spiders?? Were you beaten by one? Poisoned by one? No? Well, that doesn't surprise me. We have poor associations with spiders, we are unfamiliar with them, they move in funny ways, we haven't studied them. The same goes for under-socialized dogs and cats. The unfamiliar is SCARY!