A 61-year-old Fall City man was killed by a Greyhound bus late Sunday on Interstate 90 near Issaquah while apparently trying to get his dog off the freeway, according to the State Patrol.
Was there ever a clearer case of why you should train your dog to obey commands?!
I have recently been listening to audiotapes of Cesar Milan’s (the “Dog Whisperer”) latest book. I have found some interesting material, and I’m going to publish a review here soon. But, one thing that puzzles me is how anyone can call themselves a “dog psychologist” or "behaviorist", but not train dogs to do any kinds of commands. Seems kind of weird to me to offer training services, but not deal in command oriented training. I see the same kind of thing with so-called “certified animal behaviorists”. These folks, oftentimes with PhD’s from major veterinary schools, don’t teach command oriented training to dogs. Some actually scorn that kind of thing, calling it useless or cruel. They promote what they call “cruelty free” training, meaning they use drugs, harnesses and muzzles to control dogs when in public and in the home. Well, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO IF THE DOG GETS LOOSE?!! This “no training”, use drugs and harnesses, thing is fanaticism, in my humble opinion. The above case proves my point. Dogs need obedience training. They need to be able to obey commands off leash, with distractions.
What is a greater cruelty, using obedience training to teach a dog it MUST obey certain commands, or letting your dog or yourself die if your dog gets loose in traffic because you are a fanatic?
AMAZING FACT: You can do both types of training folks… deal with behavioral issues AND train command oriented behaviors. That doesn’t harm the dog, it improves the dog and it is an insurance policy to help prevent tragedies. I can do both. Why can’t or don't these other folks?
Was there ever a clearer case of why you should train your dog to obey commands?!
I have recently been listening to audiotapes of Cesar Milan’s (the “Dog Whisperer”) latest book. I have found some interesting material, and I’m going to publish a review here soon. But, one thing that puzzles me is how anyone can call themselves a “dog psychologist” or "behaviorist", but not train dogs to do any kinds of commands. Seems kind of weird to me to offer training services, but not deal in command oriented training. I see the same kind of thing with so-called “certified animal behaviorists”. These folks, oftentimes with PhD’s from major veterinary schools, don’t teach command oriented training to dogs. Some actually scorn that kind of thing, calling it useless or cruel. They promote what they call “cruelty free” training, meaning they use drugs, harnesses and muzzles to control dogs when in public and in the home. Well, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO IF THE DOG GETS LOOSE?!! This “no training”, use drugs and harnesses, thing is fanaticism, in my humble opinion. The above case proves my point. Dogs need obedience training. They need to be able to obey commands off leash, with distractions.
What is a greater cruelty, using obedience training to teach a dog it MUST obey certain commands, or letting your dog or yourself die if your dog gets loose in traffic because you are a fanatic?
AMAZING FACT: You can do both types of training folks… deal with behavioral issues AND train command oriented behaviors. That doesn’t harm the dog, it improves the dog and it is an insurance policy to help prevent tragedies. I can do both. Why can’t or don't these other folks?
1 comment:
What a sad, sad story. I totally agree, every dog needs training. I've trained mine, by clicker training...worked wonders. They sit, stay, come you know all the good stuff, by command and they know exactly what I'm talking about. Except....you knew there would be one didn't you?...My dear Bosley...he's scared to go outside of his yard..he loves his yard...he loves his squirrels, his ducks, his geese..he doesn't like moles though...he's a German Shorthaired Pointer...and he's so not a hunter. But that's OK...he now minds well, has great manners around our guest, he loves us and our other dog and is a pleasure to have in our home. It doesn't take much to train them...it is so worth it...
Post a Comment