Friday, November 18, 2022

Incompetents Don’t Own All the Tools

This is an official White House picture. 

Look in Joe Biden’s left hand — that’s an E-Collar Technologies remote.   Terrific!

Joe Biden and the dog trainers he’s hired knows E-Collar Technologies collars work, and are a gentle way to train a dog faster and with less confusion. It’s a tap, not a zap.


I also advise staying away from fools and incompetents, and the world of dog training is full of them. 

  • If a dog trainer does not know what a clicker is, or how and why they work, they are incompetent. Stay away from them, and put them on mute.

  • If a dog trainer doesn’t own a treat bag, or know how to put on a slip collar, they are incompetent. Stay away from them, and put them on mute.

  • If a dog trainer doesn’t own a 20-foot leash and a set of muzzles to fit any dog, they are incompetent. Stay away from them, and put them on mute.

  • If a dog trainer doesn’t own a cot to teach place or know how to fit a pinch collar, they are incompetent. Stay away from them, and put them on mute.

  • If a dog trainer doesn’t own a modern e-collar and know how they work (and how gentle they are), they are incompetent. Stay away from them, and put them on mute. 

To be clear, no dog trainer has to use ANY tool, but they should own and know how to use ALL of them. 

If a putative carpenter shows up at your house and doesn’t own a power saw or know how to change a blade, she’s not a real carpenter, no matter what set of tools she may prefer.

If a putative house painter shows up at your house and doesn’t own a paint sprayer or know how to clear the nozzle, he’s not a real house painter, no matter what set of tools he may prefer. 

In the world of dog training, all the tools are cheap and any competent dog trainer should own all of them, and know how to use all of them. If you think a modern e-collar causes pain, you’ve just told me you’re incompetent, and you’ve told the world to stay away and put you on mute. 

Nothing good starts with a lie.

3 comments:

lucypup2009@gmail.com said...

Well, we all know his GSD's are bitey, so good on him for mitigating that.

kelly said...

re: lucypup2009: I'm putting you on mute!!

Viatecio said...

I brought this up in a discussion about the title of Veterinary Technician Specialist in behavior (aka VTS-behavior): there is no baseline for what one can actually DO with a dog apart from know which end gets the food and which end delivers the stinky brown piles.

No qualification for knowledge of the history of training or the trainers that really did the hard with with a lot of dogs back inna day.

No requirement for knowledge of how every tool in one's toolbox is designed to apply a certain type of pressure in a certain way and when is appropriate for each one to be used in a humane and effective manner; most importantly, when to NOT use each one should also be emphasized and of course, how to reduce one's reliance on any tool as a management protocol for the long term in the absence of training.

No prerequisite of training a dog to a measurable standard of off-leash reliability around provocative situations and putting those results on public display up against a defined skillset.

No ability to use those same skills to demonstrate successful rehabilitation of a canine deviant by using training to positively and constructively affect behavior to a similar result as above, including demonstrating those results with the dog off all artificial chemical psychotropics (both temporary sedation/restraint and long-term re-wiring) and no influence from the constant presence of extrinsic rewards or compulsive threats to obey.

Just do these here activities, shadow these here folks, parrot this here dogma, take this here exam and thousands of dollars later, one STILL knows next to nothing about dogs AND now has the authority to put that ignorance on full display by condemning those of us that do.