I've recently had a few very interesting conversations with other dog owners about whether or not dogs need to be told when they are wrong. These people have worked with some other trainer, and that trainer holds firmly to the belief that dogs need to be told when they are wrong in order to know which behavior is the correct behavior. In the case of this trainer's methods they used prong or choke collar corrections to tell the dog they are "wrong", although I have seen the same logic from trainers who utilize electric shock or any other physical or mental intimidation or threat. The owners I was speaking to had never even considered the fact that you can train reliable behavior without using
Did you know that to become a dog trainer you need exactly ZERO credentials? Did you know that the woman who does your hair or nails has to jump through more hoops to be able to work than someone who wants to work with your dog? Did you know that there have been trainers who have caused the death of a dog due to abuse or gross negligence, and were not liable to animal abuse and neglect charges because they could hold up a dog training book from the 1950's and claim it was the industry standard? (Information for just one case of this abuse can be found here: "Sarge's Law could bring new rules for dog trainers") If you didn't know any of the afore mentioned, then you are like the vast majority
