Honesty in Dog Training
“I don’t like words that hide the truth. I don’t like words that conceal reality.”
- George Carlin
A cork board holds individual letters, seemingly cut out from magazines, with push pins. The letters spell "HONESTY."
While I don’t agree with everything in his Soft Language routine, the way Carlin talks about sanitizing language hits home for me. Some language changes are helpful, and some language changes cover up harm.
Sometimes it is helpful to soften our language. I certainly do it at times. For example, I could use the word “cage” when talking about a crate, but the words “crate” or “kennel” are less likely to conjure upsetting associations in our minds. Crates can certainly be misused, but crates are beneficial and often necessary for safety, so I want my clients to feel good or neutral about using them.
There is a popular meme featuring prong collars and/or electronic collars with images of sweet little flowers and words that say “it's not abuse, it’s communication.” And maybe the use of these tools doesn’t always rise to the level of abuse, but it is possible to communicate with dogs without hurting or threatening them. Those cute flowers and soft colors don’t change the fact that these tools were designed to cause pain or discomfort.
Some language changes are helpful, and some language changes cover up harm. There are some practices in the dog training industry that thrive on secrecy and dishonesty. Every year there are multiple news headlines about dogs losing their lives in the “care” of their trainers. When we say “it’s not abuse, it’s communication,” we’re providing hiding places for these kind of “trainers.”
I’ve heard many trainers say, “I use an electronic collar, but it’s not a shock collar. It provides electronic stimulation.” A collar that provides electronic stimulation is a shock collar. A collar that provides electronic stimulation is not different from a shock collar. It is a lie to say that it's not a shock collar.
The word “correction” bothers me too. Of course we want to correct behavior we don’t like. I correct behavior I don’t like. The word “correction” has come to mean some sort of leash jerking or shock or some other aversive stimuli. Similarly, the word “education” has come to mean something aversive too. People say this tongue-in-cheek when they’re talking about hurting the learner. If the “correction” or “education” is so ethical, why aren’t we calling it what it is? Why don’t we say, “jerk the leash” or “hit this dog with a wiffle ball bat” instead of “correct your dog”?
Some language changes are helpful, and some language changes cover up harm. If dog owners heard us say “I’m going to shock your dog every time they step out of the ‘heel’ position,” I think a lot them would not consent to that anymore. If our training practice relies on manipulating clients by using words that mask what we are doing, maybe it’s time to rethink the things that we are doing.