08/22/2025
A well written description of how worse
Case talk can actually harm training dogs, not allowing owners to make the best choice for THEIR dog.
No two dogs are alike and the training is not alike even when it looks like it maybe.
Using a tool.. any tool should always be selected for the dog and the owner and not the worse
Case talk from friend of a friend.
Let’s do better at the best thing for the dog!
Fear-Based Framing in Dog Training
Why Worst-Case Scenarios Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Here’s the pattern I see over and over again in dog training: one of the industry’s favorite tactics, on both extremes, is fear. Trainers will take a rare worst-case scenario and present it like it’s the inevitable outcome.
On one side, we hear that dogs trained with e-collars are unsafe, anxious, and just waiting to redirect aggression. On the other side, we hear that dogs trained with reward-based methods are spoiled, dangerous, and running wild. Neither is true. What both have in common is the same tactic: using fear-based “what ifs” to position one method as superior while shaming the other.
The Redirection Example
Take one example that’s been circulating on Facebook: “Why I won’t socialize my dogs with e-collar trained dogs.”
At first glance, it sounds like a safety warning. The implication is that e-collar dogs are more likely to be anxious, conflicted, or lash out in social settings.
But here’s the thing: in practice, the scenarios being described, like a dog redirecting aggression when recalled on an e-collar, are extremely rare. Redirection usually happens when a dog is physically restrained, pulled back on a leash, blocked by a gate, or grabbed by a handler.
A remote collar cue delivered from 50 feet away? That’s not the same thing. Unless the dog already has a history of redirecting when frustrated, it’s not a likely outcome. And if the dog does have that history, the risk exists with or without an e-collar.
In my own career, I’ve trained hundreds of dogs using e-collars. Out of all those cases, I’ve only ever had one dog redirect like that. And here’s the key: that dog redirected on every tool, in every context. Their frustration wasn’t about the collar, it was part of their overall behavior pattern.
The real problem here isn’t e-collars. It isn’t reward-based training. It’s the way trainers weaponize hypotheticals.
When we exaggerate rare risks into everyday warnings, we stop talking about what truly matters:
• The dog’s individual history and temperament
• The handler’s skill, awareness, and management
• The environment the dog is placed in
• Whether the dog’s physical and mental needs are being met
Those are the real predictors of safety and success, not whether a dog wears a particular tool.
So the next time you hear a trainer make sweeping claims built on fear-based “what ifs,” whether it’s about e-collars or reward-based training, pause and ask: Is this really a common outcome, or just the scariest story they could tell?
Because worst-case scenarios dressed up as everyday truths don’t protect dogs. They divide trainers, confuse owners, and push people further into camps. At the end of the day, dogs don’t need camps. They need handlers who can see past the fear tactics and give them what they really deserve: clarity, skill, and the freedom to live like dogs.
