Vets
on Behavior Proclaim: Never Use A Shock Collar--
How to Choose A Dog Trainer
Steve
interviewed behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall and legendary dog trainer
Captain Haggerty about how to choose a dog trainer…and referred
to this story. You can hear the archived interview in the audio
archives.
By
Steve Dale
Orlando,
FL Never, under any circumstances, choose a dog trainer
who uses an electronic collar (shock collar). “You wouldn’t
send your kid off to a school where they use shock,” says
veterinary behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall. “So, why would
you send your dog there?”
After
falling out of favor, the electronic collars are making a comeback.
”We’re so concerned about keeping sharp knives or
anything that may be poisonous away from our pets because we love
them so much; yet, it’s acceptable to give our best friends
a jolt,” says Dr. Kersti Seksel, who is a board certified
veterinary behaviorist in both Australia and in the United States.
“It’s appalling!”
Overall
and Seksel led a group of 23 veterinarians participating in the
North American Veterinary Conference Post Graduate Institute in
Advanced Clinical Behavioral Medicine, May 23 through 29, in Orlando,
FL. In addition to providing accelerated advanced education, the
Institute offered a rare opportunity to set a standard for the
profession. The attending vets in the behavioral medicine group
(including a vet from Spain, three vets from Australia, and three
from Canada) created a document with a list of recommendations
for choosing a dog trainer.
The
document is based on science, and supports trainers who use praise
and reward rather than punishment. Seksel, who is from Seaforth,
Australia says in most places in Australia, electronic collars
that zap dogs are illegal. “That’s how bad they are,”
she says. “In general trainers who tend to rely on choke
and yank training or electronic collars tend to be punitive in
their methods. They punish the dogs for what they don’t
do, rather than rewarding the dogs for doing something right.
And that fact is that aside from being inhumane, this method of
teaching only discourages learning.”
Overall,
a researcher in the psychiatry department at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, agrees, “I’ve
seen so many animals damaged by shock. And I’ve seen people
devastated when they realize that the dog who they love has been
made a nervous wreck or aggressive because they’ve chosen
the wrong training method. Dogs that are chronically yanked and
popped may have recurring laryngeal nerve paralysis and other
physical injuries as a result, not to mention seriously damaged
psyches.”
The
veterinarians who crafted the recommendations also urged avoiding
trainers who use chain link choke collars (also called training
or correction collars) and prong collars (also called pinch collars,
blunt metal prongs are fitted around the dogs’ neck). Flex
or retractable leashes are strongly discouraged as training tools
to be used in training classes.
Dr.
Tamera Cole Stenson of Ft. Wayne, IN was among the group of vets
who created the recommendations for choosing a dog trainer. She
says it seems in many locations around America, there isn’t
a single trainer who uses what the group defines as appropriate
equipment. “We’re reaching for an ideal here,”
she says
The
tools veterinarians do recommend for trainers include using treats
(to motivate), head halters (they’re kind of like horse
halters for dogs, and include the brand names Halti and Gentle
Leader), full body harnesses, flat buckle collars (the kind you
affix your dog’s ID tags to), and of course, praise. Clickers
are generally acceptable, depending on the owners’ ability
to “click train.”
When
choosing a dog trainer, consider first and foremost a trainer
recommended by a veterinarian. However, be sure to ask if the
vet has personally seen the trainer’s classes. Also consider
the trainer’s experience, references from friends and neighbors,
and membership to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. It’s
also important for you to audit a class.
“The
dogs and their people (in the classes) should look happy,”
Overall says.
Cole
Stenson adds, “I know many veterinarians recommend trainers
based on reputation or other factors, but,that’s not good
enough – veterinarians really need to see the trainers in
a class setting.”
Ideally,
puppies should begin their first class early enough to finish
by the time they’re 16-weeks old. While this recommendation
isn’t always – or even often practical - the vets
who have a special interest in behavior offer indisputable scientific
evidence that early positive socialization is as advantageous
for puppies as kindergarten is for children. In fact, these classes
are typically dubbed puppy kindergarten.
“Appropriate
early training and socialization enhances the bond you have with
your dog and teaches the dog good manners,” says Institute
participant Dr. Randi Olson of Valparaiso, IN. “The goal
is also to avoid behavior problems from developing later. When
serious behavior problems occur, there’s a real life potential
for those dogs to wind up being given up to a shelter.”
Other
recommendations from the Institute list include dogs in juvenile
class, defined as canines who are about from about four months
old to 6 months old shouldn’t necessarily be mixed with
puppy kindergarten students (those that ideally graduate by their
16th-week) or dogs partaking in adult classes.
Trainers
should have a curriculum which clients can review in advance,
offering reasonable and age appropriate expectations for their
canine students. Puppy classes should be held indoors (juvenile
and adult classes can be held indoors or outdoors). No matter
where the classes are held, check out the safety of the dogs.
For example, whenever anywhere near traffic, dogs should be on
a leash. Proof of appropriate vaccinations should be a requirement
to protect all the dogs in the class.
Finally,
when trainers are in over their heads, they should accept it and
refer those difficult cases to certified applied animal behaviorists,
veterinary behaviorists or veterinarians with an interest in behavior.
“Our goal by making these recommendations is to raise the
bar, for both the benefit of dogs and their people” says
Cole Stenson.
