08/30/2026
🐕 Here's something interesting to think about when it comes to “dominance” and dog training.
Chimpanzees and hyenas both live in complex social groups with hierarchies. A hierarchy that might, upon observation, look like dominance. That doesn't mean we look at their relationships and conclude that the animals need to be physically intimidated or punished in order to behave appropriately.
Imagine visiting a zoo and seeing a zookeeper using an electric shock to get a chimpanzee to do something. Or repeatedly jerking on a hyena's neck. Or hitting, yelling at, or physically intimidating an animal because it didn't respond the way the trainer wanted. Most of us would probably feel uncomfortable watching that.
And I think that's worth thinking about.
Our ethical standards shouldn't change simply because the animal we're training is a dog. 🐕❤️
Dogs are incredibly capable of learning through consequences, communication, repetition, reinforcement, and relationship. We don't need to rely on fear or intimidation to teach them how to live successfully in our world.
And just because a method CAN make an animal comply doesn't automatically mean it's the most ethical way to teach.
I don't believe that people train that way because they're mean to their dogs... I think they do it because they don't know the other ways to do it. Let me give you the tools to do it ethically and see how FUN training your dog can be!
If we believe animals deserve humane treatment, that principle should apply to all animals—including the ones sleeping on our couches. ❤️
