That ain't the flex you think it is.

A few minutes ago, I read a comment written by a trainer who calls themselves “balanced” — by that, they mean they use both reinforcement (like moi!), and also stimuli that harm and scare dogs, such as shock collars, prong collars, and similar (so…not like me). This trainer was angry, like, oooooh man, he was real angry, at a positive reinforcement-only trainer. A positive reinforcement trainer like me, of which there are thousands and thousands, with a ton of us just getting the job done all the time and in all the ways. But this “balanced” trainer said something along the lines of, “you only train dogs to do the easy things, you can’t get a dog who was previously aggressive or scared to walk in big crowds! There’s lots you can’t do!”.

Um, dude?

Hey, man?

Um.

That ain’t the flex you think it is.

I found myself cringing at this comment, for two big reasons. First up: Yes. We can. If a client came to any of us educated, credentialled positive reinforcement trainers, and said “I’d like my dog to be comfortable amongst crowds”, we’d assess the dog, create a plan, and train the heck out of that dog. This would involve something along the lines of protecting the dog during training so they didn’t practice unwanted behaviours, building the behaviour we want through incremental steps starting at where the dog is now and ending up at “walking comfortably and joyfully through crowds”, and setting realistic goals for the client. This is so absolutely, dreadfully, colossally, boringly typical of the work of us positive reinforcement trainers that I didn’t even have to check my notes or edit this paragraph as it spilled, unassisted, onto the page.

[Just kidding. I edit like a fiend. But you get my point].

Second. In some cases, it’s inappropriate to have dogs walk in crowds. Dogs who are profoundly fearful may never be comfortable walking in crowds. Dogs who bite readily when scared, especially those who bite with maiming force, should never be walking in crowds, at the very least without a muzzle. So, yeah, bud. There are cases when positive reinforcement trainers would counsel a client to say, Hey. Sorry, but your dog isn’t a good candidate for hanging in a crowd. Instead, let’s find them some other great options for when you’re doing the crowd thing, such as hanging out with their extended human family, or snoozing on the couch at home, instead of forcing them to be in a situation they aren’t prepared for and will make their lives interminably worse.

Balanced trainer dude was, from what I could tell, implying that dogs who aren’t ready, or aren’t comfortable, should be forced through the use of painful and scary consequences, to be amongst crowds of humans. Humans, including children, who probably don’t want to be bitten. Humans who probably don’t want to see scared, be-shock-collared dogs. Humans who haven’t signed up for the pretty-well-known consequences of hurting or scaring large domesticated predators, unlike my “balanced” trainer colleague.

So that’s the thing, isn’t it? We can get that job done, bud. We can get it done, and in the end, have a joyful dog who is comfortable with crowds. You will, at best, have a dog who used to be happy but unruly, and is now shut-down and scared, and at worst, have a dog who used to be scared and communicating clearly now be a dog who is scared, then more scared due to your training, but also unable to tell anyone how he feels until he tips into “time to bite” territory because of your training.

And that ain’t the flex you think it is, bud.