Veterinarians Shouldn’t Give Out Behavior Advice – Dog Training – Dog Trainer – Behaviorist
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Sam Basso
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I recently recommended that one of my customer take her dog to the vet. I had noticed that the dog had developed an infection around the neck. After examination, the vet diagnosed that the dog had allergies, and that the skin was infected around the collar area. The vet then proceeded to talk about training, since the dog was wearing a prong collar. The vet then went on and on about how they recommend using clickers, head halters, and electric collars for training instead, implying they were more humane. They then proceeded to show how little they knew about training, even obvious to the customer, as they goo goo’d her dog, gave commands incorrectly, and the dog didn’t listen to them. Further, they never inquired about the dog’s behavior history or how well the dog behaved with the owner.
This is a pit / mastiff mix I’ve been training for quite a while. He is highly obedient, though dominant with other dogs. First, would the clicker training, head halters, or electric collar have prevented this vet visit? No. The allergy made any abrasion to the skin vulnerable to infection. Second, why recommend these alternative methods when they don’t even know a thing about training, and never asked if the dog had any behavior problems? It was unprofessional.
I have articles here on electric collars, head halters, and clicker training. No point going over all of that here. The point is that I am not a vet, and when a dog has a problem, I refer it to a professional veterinarian. That’s professional. Vets should do the same, not recommending behavioral advice when so many vets, and I have met many, can’t bring out a dog in front of me that THEY have trained to do much of anything.
Before I’d be handing out advice, I think I’d want to see some proof of my theories. I have proof of what I do, and I can provide numerous references. And I can provide proof of what I’m saying here and elsewhere about these other methods. Let’s see some real dogs, and stop all this theorizing. I’ll bring the dogs I’ve trained, and let’s have them bring the dogs they have trained, and let’s put them to the test.
