Merchants of Fear - Part I

Merchants of Fear

We’re all afraid of something. Spiders, snakes, fire, cockroaches, things that go bump in the night. Fear is an emotion that many times is vital to our survival.  Fear can also be brought to us and perpetuated by others and made to look as though THIS fear or THAT one is necessary so that something else won’t happen. Fear is used by many to mold public policy, induce you to spend money or agree that others should spend your money.

Today, fear entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are moral crusaders who genuinely believe that the very fabric of society is threatened by evil forces or at least their corner of it. At the other end of the spectrum are the salespeople and manufacturers in the market of fear.

There are those who could be called “merchants of fear.” These are people who want a situation, circumstance, or environment to look very, very disturbing. These merchants of fear usually gain some sort of advantage if their area of expertise is made to look more threatening. Ideas of this kind are found in the society to a marked degree. It isn’t just the newspaper reporter or the politician; individuals here and there also engage upon this.

Examples in the world of dog training are rampant.  TV celebrities, well known trainers and others say about dogs, “Look! It’s dangerous. Look! It’s out of control. Look! It has teeth. Look! It’s dominating you.” They not only report the most threatening behaviors of dogs, but also sensationalize them, making them worse than they are and villainizing the dogs for being dogs. The survival of these trainers are tied to the fear that your dogs are spiraling out of control, into the “red zone” where only some form of pain, fear or intimidation can turn that dog into your pet again.

These fear merchants have lots of allies among businesses with vested interests.

Recently, on Facebook, a video has been going viral.  This video is about the type of marketing done with food products.  It’s a shocking video even when you know what actually happens in factory farms.  The video is about how, even given the exact pictures of the environment your food animals are living in, the words used, the viewpoint from which the picture is taken and the emotions it all produces in you, helps them sell you on the idea that all is well and buy our product. Here is the video.

The speaker in the video says “This is systemized cruelty on a massive scale, and we only get away with it because everyone is prepared to look the other way".  The speaker in this video is actually an actress named Kate Miles, but the facts about produce and its marketing are 100% real. The audience is also real, and thus the looks of disgust are totally real too.

The truth of the matter is that in the dog training world, this type of marketing is used daily as a counter to the fear merchants who induce you to think about how dangerous dogs are.  The fear merchants tell you that if you don’t become the “pack leader” or the “alpha” and prove it every minute of the day in every circumstance with your dog that he will take over the leadership.  The picture you are presented is of teeth and blood and chaos if you can’t be the leader. 

The marketing of the devices and tools that these trainers use play on your sense of safety and the ability to enjoy your dog and live the dream of owning man’s best friend.  “Is your dog controlling your life? Does it steal food from the counter, nuisance bark, pull you on walks, or ignore you when called at home or in the hunting field?”  “Remote E collar training is one of the most effective ways to get your dog to do what you want, whether that means corrective negative behavior or performing in complex roles like as a service dog or in dog shows.”

It is not to the advantage of those who get their income from the sale of fear to promote products that reduce that fear.  Even those teaching the use of the shock collar are aware of the degree of fear needed to sell their products and services.

“Before I begin, let me say that if you decide to use one I recommend that you not refer to it as a "shock collar." The very name sends some people into paroxysms of fear. "How can you be soooooo cruel to shock your dog!!!"  Call it instead a remote training collar or even an electronic collar. Yes, I know its a euphemism but it may also help you think about it another way. There's an old H. L. Mencken story about language influencing the way we think and act that's too long for here.”

Another common remark about the severity of the shock collar is to equate it to getting a static shock. “BTW, before we get too deeply into this topic and everyone starts calling the Humane Society on me, let me explain what the stimulation is like. If you have ever dragged your shoes across a carpet and then reached for a doorknob and gotten a shock you have received the same sort of stimulation as comes from the Ecollars.” 

I don’t know about anyone else, but I go far out of my way to avoid static shocks! They hurt!

Snake Avoidance

One of areas of dog training that is almost exclusively under the purview of those who use shock collars is in training your dog to avoid snakes and other dangerous critters.  Two years ago I started researching snake bites in dogs, what alternatives there were to shock collars (none) and the history of the use of the shock collar in this training. What I found were Merchants Of Fear; especially here in Arizona.

They create an atmosphere of fear of your dog dying from snake bite.  They tell you that there are 16 species of rattlesnake in Arizona to watch out for.  They fight with tooth and nail against “cookie trainers” and “positive reinforcement” by showing pictures of dogs with swelled heads or IV’s of fluids designed to save a life saying that these incidents are caused because the owners of these dogs went to the “so called behaviorists”.

These trainers claim to get 100% effective compliance from the dogs they shock while telling you that if you don’t bring your dog to them, they will die a horrible death or that you will have to spend 1000’s of dollars on anti-venom to save your dog.

Never once do they tell you HOW they are going to do this, what the effect is on your dog at the time of the shock, what the fallout of using these methods can be, and that 100% is a far cry from the actual success rate.  Never once do they site actual statistics of snake bites and their effects, where snake bites generally occur and what percentage of those bitten actually die.  When presented with actual data, they return to trying to produce fear in their prospective clients and the public at large.  The media goes right along with this.

Must Be The Only Dog

More and more lately I'm seeing posts on Facebook, ads on Craig's List and emails in my inbox about dogs who are in rescue, need a foster or adopter now for various reasons or they will either be in boarding or taken back to the pound or put to sleep.  In 90% of these ads it is said that the dog has had training with  trainers and loves humans, but just can't be with another dog.  No cats are included in these ads as well and many times no children. 

It seems to me that there is something really wrong here.  Shouldn't a dog who has gone through training - usually board and train - a specific type of socialization, and behavior modification, be ready to be a dog?  To live with other dogs?  I can see the no children because of size considerations in many of them, I can also see the point in no cats as it's usually the cat's fears that cause the issues.  But shouldn't a dog who has been through this type of program be able to live with other dogs? 

I follow the posts about the various dogs that hit the E-List for behavior issues, agonizing over every one of them because I know that if I had the facilities, the energy and physical attributes I had 10 years ago, I could help these dogs.  But alas, that isn't the case. So I resort to hoping that the behavior issues are only due to the stress of being in the shelter and not something carried over from a prior life.

But, what I see are these dogs, who have issues with other dogs, put into a board and train situation for a month or two, sometimes more, and come out the other end still not able to live with other dogs.  Why?  Isn't that supposed to be what they are in training to fix? What are they learning?

It doesn't take that much time to bring a dog back to it's natural balance, it's social nature.  One month of concentrated behavior training, and in the worst cases, two maybe three, and the dog should have let go of it's fears, learned how to communicate with it's own kind, and be able to be social in most circumstances.  Even with a dedicated foster taking the same dog to group classes that deal in reactivity and aggression and actually doing the assigned homework can "cure" most of these dogs in 8 weeks. Why is this not happening?

This is a lament more then a rant.  I want so badly to be able to help these dogs.  I know I can do it, I've done it way too many times in the past and am still doing it with dedicated owners and even some fosters in the allotted 8 week time period.  The dogs I work with are just as fearful, just as dedicated to eating anything that scares it, just as "red zone" as the ones in these ads. I work with dogs with fight and bite histories that would curl your hair in seconds. I work with dogs who are so out of balance that they even want to kill the fake dogs I use to assist in their rehabilitation.  They are so out of tune with reality due to their fear, they really do think the fake dogs are real.

But I've never been good with raising money for situations like this.  And so I have to sit on the sidelines and hope that someone younger, someone with a similar education and understanding of ethics, biology, physiology, evolution, behavior analysis, ethology and compassion will come along and do what I no longer can.  I am forced to sit on the sidelines and watch while someone with a prong collar, a shock collar and no true education can claim to fix behavior issues and fail.  And listen to the people who think these trainers are wonderful because the dogs can now sit, down, stay, heel, come and walk around in circles ignoring other dogs for fear of getting whipped.

Cookie Slingers?

I did a survey last night of every FB dog training related page and it's website that I like and every FB dog training related page and it's website that another trainer likes who claims he/she is a balanced trainer. In 85% of the pages, food is a major ingredient for training. The most talked about concept in 90% of those pages is engagement/relationship.

You're probably asking why I did this and the amount of time that it probably took. As for the time, remember, I'm a computer programmer, I wrote a program to do the survey that took 30 minutes to write . As for why, well, I take a lot of classes and seminars every year, I never stop learning. I also buy a lot of books and DVDs. My library includes everything from Karen Pryor to The Monks of New Skete. I have dog training books from the 1800's to present day.

A few days ago I signed up for an online class on engagement with a group of trainers that have been around a long time, trainers who have trained thousands of dogs from pets to sports champions, and have produced many books, seminars and DVDs. These trainers would be considered "balanced" I suppose.

The basic premise? You want engagement? You want your dog to look to you and basically ignore the environment? Provide motivation in the form of food, toys, fun and movement that elicits the prey drive.

This theme was prevalent on the websites in the percentages I mentioned above on the "balanced" trainers and even some not so balanced.

So why are only those who try hard to maintain positive reinforcement methods of training called treat trainers and cookie slingers?

A Resource Guarding Testimonial

One of those epic dog training learning lessons happened last night. Being a trainer, I always feel embarrassed to admit when I have issues with my own dogs. Why? Who knows. No dog is perfect and I should be proud of their many accomplishments. 

Roo (far right in photo) has begun resource guarding and last week got into a fight with Ava (far left of photo) because Ava walked past her bowl while Roo was eating. Ava and Roo are litter mates and really go for the gold when they tussle, similar to human siblings. There was blood and limping for a few days after. 

When Roo eats she takes her sweet time crunching every morsel. Lucky and Ava are gobblers. This is a recipe for disaster. Roo is always the last eating. I had always separated their bowls during meal time because Roo would always bear teeth at the other two dogs. But Roo's guarding has gotten progressively worse over time. Guarding toys, spaces, and people. 

Last night I talked to my mentor, Jamie, about the escalating problem. I also signed up for an eight week class with Roo. Jamie said that I created the guarding by always having Ava and Roo's bowls at a 10' distance, and Lucky inside altogether. She said I should have their bowls directly next to each other. The thought of this spiked my anxiety. I asked her how to accomplish this, when if Ava just looks at Roo when close to the bowl, Roo goes for the throat and Ava doesn't turn down a fight. Jamie took the time to explain the process in detail, and fed her pack and a new puppy that is with her for board-and-train right then, to teach me the proper way. 

Well, 6:30 this morning, I was scared. My husband asks, "Are you prepared, in case there is a fight?" I was. But I kept positive, determined that there was not going to be one (even though my mind was racing expecting it). I know that my body language has to tell my pack a different story. I had Roo on a leash just in case. 

Jamie recommended Ava and Lucky "down, stay" after they eat and wait for Roo to finish. I thought it would be way easier just to let them gobble and wander off. Sigh. 

The photo is of me, so excited and proud. 10 minutes in, I realized we were in the clear! Everything went just as Jamie said it would (if I followed instruction exactly). WOW! Another huge round of applause to Jamie. I know that many other trainers would have recommended shocking the dogs to get them to stop. This is another testament to her unorthodox methods of training. That are not hard on the dog. 

Questions. Does Anyone have Answers?

For what reason would one trainer go out of his way to trash another trainer?  Is that trainers business so bad that he has to make himself look great at the expense of another trainer?  Is that trainer so ashamed of the methods he uses deep down that he has to make all other methods look ineffective?

I admit, I haven't been able to help every single dog that has come my way.  I admit that I'm human and make mistakes.  And I publicly apologize to the very few dogs that I couldn't help whether it was because I couldn't get near the dog or because it was taking longer then the owner was willing to wait.

But I don't publicly publish private emails from a trainer to a client or tell lies about the vets that are supposedly recommending me to clients.  I realize this trainer has barely over 100 likes on his FB page, it's more about the hurt that was attempted because of one of the very few dogs I hadn't managed to help.

Why would someone thinks it's ok to do this to me?  This isn't the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last I'm sure.  It seems to be something that control freaks and sadists need to do to make themselves feel less guilty. It seems to be something they do to elevate themselves over others by trying to make others look lesser.

It makes me wonder if that's the same reasons that they do the things to dogs that they do, to make themselves feel less guilty, less like failures and more like macho men (or women since it was a woman the last time this happened). 

What they don't realize is that this kind of treatment actually makes me feel good.  That I am the target of campaigns like this means that I am making a difference, that I am effective and the dogs I help are known about. 

Every time I read the CL ads from this trainer I laugh.  He says all is bad over here, that the methods don't work, that the statistics are wrong, that fear about the misbehavior of dogs is what people should have and to come to him to not be afraid. 

But he never actually tells people what he is going to be doing to their dog or what he is going to require that they do to their dog.  His latest is that he doesn't do board and train anymore because the dog will only listen to him at the end and not the owner.  Is his training so bad that the dog can't generalize?

This reminds me of a statement he made awhile back that might still be in some of his advertising.  He said that group classes don't work because the dogs are all more interested in the other dogs and can't learn anything.  Funny about that, real life has other dogs, other people, squirrels, cats, lizards and so very many other distractions in it.  If you train in a vacuum, the training will never hold.  So how does he ensure that his training holds?  What methods does he use to keep a dog from wanting to chase a cat?  Is he willing to lay it all out? Full disclosure?

I hide nothing.  Everyone who reads my website, follows my blog or my Facebook page, knows exactly how I train, and how I don't.  More then needing regulations and laws about getting certifications, I think there should be laws about full disclosure and false advertising instead. 

Magical Thinking In Dog Training

"No one method works for EVERY dog. This applies for all training techniques, including positive-only. It is foolish to believe otherwise, because every dog is different and requires a custom approach."

Hmm, I think the issues and the animal are being confused here.  All dogs are basically the same.  Their issues maybe different, but they all learn the same way, they all desire survival over death, they all need to eat and drink and breathe. 
I remember a force trainer who I had to work with as co-trainer a few years back calling for a meeting between the 3 trainers in this endeavor. The purpose for this meeting for him was to insist that using his forceful methods would be overlooked by the two of us who used force free methods. His approach however was "How do we teach sit?". The other trainer and I both insisted that there were many ways to do it and even named a few. But he kept insisting on getting this question answered until I finally asked him what his point was. And he said "then you don't mind if I use force?".

So saying with one hand that all dogs are different and require different approaches and on the other hand teaching sit with only one method is showing me that magical thinking, convenience and most likely laziness are at play. 

Too many times I've heard the above quote from those who insist on using "corrections" and tools that are designed to create pain or at least discomfort. But when given three scenarios of dogs with different issues and asked to provide three different approaches to these issues, they can't, they can only use their tools that they think they understand.  The resort to correcting everything, no matter what the cause of the behavior is, refuse to consider that anything else could work and follow only those who are as narrow minded as they are.

How do you teach?

Remember school? I know it's hard for some of us older type people, but I do remember the classes I disliked and the ones I excelled at.  I disliked history and English and loved math and science.  Many years ago I figured out why.  It had nothing to do with the subjects themselves, it had to do with the way they were taught.  Both history and English were full of rote memorization and the tests for those subjects reflected that. Math and science were full of puzzles to solve, creative processes and diving into the inner structure of the universe and life.

I've since changed my mind about history when I discovered in college how rich and exciting learning about those who helped create the world we now live in could be. I also learned why we do the things we do today and why money and leisure are the main motivators.

Studying the history of the language we speak, the intricacies of grammar and the true definitions of words and how powerful communication is, has changed my viewpoint of studying English.  One of the most powerful changes was in realizing that which words you choose and what order you put them in can create either a scathing insult or a loving compliment and unless you understand sentence structure and grammar, you'd never know which was coming from your best friends mouth.

This fits right into dog training and why I train how I do these days.  My purpose is to create a self-controlled, confident dog that is willing to work with the human end of the leash without strife, can perceive and resolve problems and understands the rules of living in a human created world.  You can’t really get this with training that only asks for rote learning.

Rote learning, memorization of facts and figures; or in the case of a dog, commands; only works until the test or when the history teach (trainer) is around to trigger that file drawer that you’ve stuffed everything into.  There is no tie-in to real life and in the case of our dogs, no information about how to act when the human isn’t there or in situations where commands haven’t been taught.

I’ve heard way too many trainers say “teach the dog to sit to prevent jumping” and “teach the dog to sit to prevent fence fighting” and “teach the dog to sit for food”.  But what is really happening here?  Even in the R+ world, this is just basic rote learning, memorization of what to do in specific situations.  Where is the understanding of sentence structure, grammar and understanding? How many situations are you going to need to teach your dog to “sit” in?  About as many as there were dates I had to memorize in history class of significant events in history?  And even if it is finite for those significant dates what about the small things in life?  What does the dog do when you startle him flushing the toilet the first time or drop the roast on the kitchen floor?

Hence my switch from rote learning of commands, often with force behind the learning, to structured games that teach with nothing but fun, self confidence, self control and the willingness to participate.

Ask yourself next time you hit the training ground, what is it that you are really teaching your dog.

Purchase the Book

              Snake Avoidance Without Shock - The Book

Snake avoidance is purely about teaching a dog that the sight, smell or sound of a rattlesnake is to be avoided.  This is no different than teaching a dog not to cross the street without our approval, rush the open front door, beg at the table or poop in the house. It’s also a lot easier then teaching a dog to alert someone to an impending seizure or a dangerous drop in blood sugar levels.

 

Training a dog is all about teaching it what to do when.  It doesn’t matter whether that when is a word, a signal, a smell (detection and medical alert dogs), an object (agility and fly ball), or a shock (avoid pain). If training a dog what to do when wasn’t possible, guide dogs, bomb sniffing dogs, cadaver dogs would none of them exist.  Very few of these dogs were trained with the use of a shock collar and even the small percentage that are is lessoning as everyone embraces the fact that dogs are a lot smarter than we’ve given them credit for in the past.

 

Does it work? Yes.  Just two days ago, as I write this, we encountered our first rattlesnake since moving to our current property. I had not yet finished the avoidance training with my own dogs.  What they did as soon as the rattle started was:  Brynda and Asher ran away and as soon as I opened the back door ran into the house.  Micah was barking up a storm at this creature from about five feet away.  This is Micah’s normal response to just about anything new or that he feels doesn’t belong in his space.  Temperance was trying to herd it in high heeler fashion, but still staying about five feet away and mostly behind Micah. 

 

A frantic, emotionally charged, high pitched “COME” from me pulled the two of them away and into the house.

 

I have other success stories from clients who took the class, but there is nothing like the adrenaline rush of seeing your own dogs in danger and realizing that your training has worked.

Buy now, before the release date, and receive 12 more games - two full weeks of fun and learning!

Release date is September 1, 2013

http://snakeavoidancewithoutshock.com/purchase-the-book.html

Possibilities and Perfection

There are many methods of training a dog and some are a mixture of others. It seems however, that they all promise to create a dog for you that can do no wrong, that will comply to your commands/requests instantly each and every time. But is it really possible? can you turn a dog into a robot? can you make a dog that is better then all humans?

Nature is more powerful then any dog training method.  Emotions are more powerful then any method also. There isn't always a training or behavior solution for every dog problem.  Each time a dog does something, cued or not, it's slightly different then the last time she did it, or the next time she will do it.  Nothing in this universe is ever an exact duplicate of another, not even actions, even if the only difference is time or space. 

This variability can work for you however IF you train your dog to think, to solve problems and to be able to listen through arousal or depression.  This is how nature works, it's what allows animals to actual survive in the wild. Each and every situation is at least slightly different than any other, and if a dog cannot change it's own behavior that slight bit, it may not survive that situation.



If you could train a dog to 100% reliability, there would be no need for sports and competition because there would be no way to win against other dogs trained to 100% reliability.  It doesn't matter what method you are using - clickers, toys, play, shock or choking - creating a robot dog out of flesh and blood and emotions cannot be done.

And yet, people still look for magic wands. We have created a culture where everything has to be done now.  "Make your child a genius, just put these ear phones on your stomach", "lose 16 dress sizes with this diet in 5 weeks" and other strange advertisement trying to part lazy people from their hard earned cash.

Think before you expect something of your dog that even you aren’t capable of. Acting perfectly all the time is a pipe dream for dogs or any other species. Get out there and do the work necessary for getting the best dog possible but at the same time remember that we all have bad hair days.

How Many Lessons?

How many lessons, how much time, does it take to train your dog? This is the wrong question to ask. It isn’t about the number of lessons, or even how much it costs, it's about committment and seeing things through to the end.

I had a phone conversation with someone who has literally talked to almost every trainer in town about her needs.  She sited answers such as "for $2000, in two weeks you'll have a perfect service dog", "first you have to pay $1500 for the obedience and then another $2500 for the service dog training and it will take a month", "Your breed of dog cannot do what you want it to, give me your dog and I'll trade you for a breed that will", "your dog is too young", "your dog is too old" and many other either canned answers of time and money or reasons why it couldn't be done.

If all you are concerned about is how long and how much, you will not get effective results. If all you are getting is excuses about why things can't be done or weren't done after you did pay the money, you need to find an effective trainer. There are some excellent trainers in this area and there are some who only want your money. The trainer and the methods you choose can directly impact what is going on in your home. Your dog is part of your life, it's up to you to determine how your dog fits in.  You can take the easy road and have a "trained" dog in 2 weeks and a permanent collar attachment, or you can make the commitment and work with your dog for the time needed.

BTW, she signed up with Seize The Leash.