With so many people adopting dogs now, it’s not uncommon for experienced professional dog trainers to have a new client waitlist. While waiting for a training session, you may be seeking advice via YouTube, Netflix, Nat Geo, and the social media hive mind. But, how do you differentiate advice based on best practices vs advice that makes for good entertrainment?

“As seen on TV” advice is written to tickle people’s egos and exploit the lore of dogs as domesticated wolves in need of domination. Dog training TV shows are flashy and made to entertain. They’re also highly edited, making training seem magical and incredibly quick. Suppressing behavior is not the same as changing behavior for a healthier outcome. There’s a reason why these shows have a disclaimer, “Do not try this at home.” As shown, the outcomes are often not reliable, nor reproducible, and ultimately may backfire. 

Best practice advice often seems much more boring by comparison. Science-based advice requires people to change their own behavior in order to improve their dogs’ behavior – without domination. That doesn’t make for great television, so…

When consuming dog training advice, no matter the source, here are critical thinking tenets:

• Training should cause no harm.

• Trainers should be able to concisely explain the peer-reviewed science behind training plans.

• Training plans should be clear for both people and dogs.

• Trainers should be able to adapt plans quickly and humanely in response to the dog's behavior.

• Training methods should be reproducible across multiple breeds and species.

• Trainers should listen to your concerns, and never make you feel you have to do something you are not comfortable with.

• Training should cause no harm.

Since dogs are so commonplace, everyone has advice to share. Oftentimes, this advice is based on superstition, hearsay, and TV shows. Before trying something with your dog as seen on TV, ask your trainer. She doesn't want to have to undo any damage done by a well-meaning media consumer.