Every industry needs Field Experts that have extensive knowledge to help guide and lead people to a better outcome. Trusted experts. Reliable experts. Experts who are more concerned about finding truth to help pave a better way instead of pushing their own agenda.
In the dog training industry we called those individuals Dog Behaviorists. For a large part of time, these experts used all their time and experience to learn and discover the best available ways to help train dogs so they had a better life living cohesively with their dog owners. Free from fear of abandonment in wild pastures or taken to the dog pound to eventually be euthanized.
With so much technology and scientific world advancement, can we still rely on the expert advice that Dog Behaviorists have to offer? Can we trust they have the dog’s best interest in mind as it relates to the working pet parents and their current responsibilities? Are their credentials valid anymore? Are they even still experts in the dog training field or is it nothing more than a glamours extinct title that the everyday dog owner is simply familiar with?
What is an expert? Let’s take a common field of study that everyone is familiar with and examine those subject matter professionals. The study of the brain is something everyone has heard of. Tv shows, movies, real life experiences…
People have heard of the term Neurology. And that Neurologists pave the way in being those experts in this field. From sharing their expert opinions in court room proceedings to leading paid seminars to help current and future doctors of the world.
Neurologists have to study all the information available that pertains to the complete breakdown, make up, and use of how the brain works. Neurologists cannot pick and choose which portions they want to learn about and still call themselves a neurologist.
They would be nothing more than an unreliable hack who only learned enough to make themselves sound good.
And if they did learn all the requirements to become a neurologist but only provided help that was the least invasive all the time to spare a person any difficulty afterwards, most people needing their help would be worse off than when they started.
Let’s be honest. Neurology is working with individuals that usually have high risks of some bad ailment that prevents them from having a normal life that most people take for granted. And if you are one of those people who need their help, you want the help that’s going to give you the best opportunity at life. Not the one with the least help but has the highest pleasant factor.
Band-aids are nice and pretty but not effective at saving lives.
How does this pertain to Dog Training?
If a person calls themselves a Dog Behaviorist, they should have extensive knowledge on how to help dogs in all training methods whether they like those other training methods or not. If a dog behaviorists has NOT taken the time to really learn the benefits and short comings of each training method; they are nothing more than a glorified hack that has the ability of a smooth talker to convince their pet parents that their way is the best way.
And while those people may be conned into believing that, those same pet parents are stuck years later with no real change or management tools unless they plan of leaving the work force to stay at home and become a mini dog trainer. Many treat trainers fail to share that they spend long periods of time each day reinforcing positive behaviors with food, treats, and repetition.
Let’s not lose focus. This has nothing to do with treat trainers. Treat training is critical to teaching dogs new skills. And treat training is an absolute skill that many claim to have but few have mastered. There are treat trainers I watch and I am amazed at their process on how quickly and effortlessly they work through on some skills or select commands compared to the rest of their peers.
This is directly about people who call themselves Dog Behaviorists. Understanding the study of how dogs react requires more than learning a singular training method just because you think it’s the best way. And are you really helping any of your pet parents that seek your help? How many of those dogs that you helped ended up in a shelter? How many of those dogs that you helped ended up back in a shelter? How many of those dogs were later euthanized or abandoned? How many dog lives and pet parents could you have affected positively by providing real attainable solutions that worked in conjunction with their working lives?
If a dog behaviorist took any stock in their actual credentials, they would have an idea that other successful dog training method outcomes have a different set of behaviors to monitor and engage with. That their limited singular view cannot be used as a definitive source. And they are 100% responsible for the failures and euthanization of any dog they helped because they could not provide a real workable solution for the family dynamic they were being paid to help. If this blog post held no merit, any horse trainer could train a dog. Any dog trainer could train an Orca. And any Orca trainer could train a tiger and the world would be incident free.
But… They can’t.
People cannot drop their work lives that provide for their preferred lifestyle so they can stay at home and train their dog using treats the way a treat trainer who makes a living does.
They need real workable and attainable solutions.
And if treat training was so effective to work through any situation, treat training would be effective on any animal with zero incidents since treat trainers claim it is the best effective method for all animals.
It’s safe to say.
If a Biologist ever becomes a leading expert in brain studies, then I guess it’s ok that a treat trainer with no other extensive training methods is called a Dog Behaviorist.
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