The Reader received numerous responses to the April 6 cover story “Who Should You Trust to Train Your Dog?” about the arrest of dog trainer Ami Moore. The following are excerpts from some of them.
It should be recognized that the vast majority of trainers, whatever their methods, are at worst ineffective. That said, harm can be done, and an inexperienced or temperamentally unstable trainer wielding an electric collar is more likely to do harm than an equally unskilled trainer training on-leash. Whereas a trainer who persists in making unfair leash corrections will eventually get bitten (the dog may be confused as to why it is being corrected, but it will have no trouble identifying who is doing it), a trainer armed with an e-collar may dish out unfair corrections all day without consequence.
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Patricia Robertson
Most shock-collar trainers that I know use the collar as negative reinforcement. And the initial levels might be very low. Barely noticeable even. But buyer beware: a dog that is not faced with distractions will work to shut off a barely there sensation. But when highly aroused in a distracting environment, don’t bet on it. That’s why the collars have many levels.
There are many self-styled “dog whisperers” these days, but only one Cesar Millan, an effective Alpha leader. True Alpha leaders remain calm and assertive, always in control first of themselves and then of their environment; their assertive energy is transmitted and acknowledged. They don’t need an “attitude.”
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