Press Release:
My Best Buddy Dog
Training Joins the Pet Professional Guild’s
#ShockFreeCoalition to End the Use of Electric Shock as a Training Tool for Pets
Global Advocacy
Campaign and Website Launch Takes Place September 25, 2017
September 25, 2017, Sharpsburg, GA: For the welfare of
pets and those around them, and to improve the relationship people have with
them, the Pet Professional Guild (PPG), an international member association for
animal behavior and training professionals, is launching a global advocacy
campaign and website to end the practice of using electric shock to train,
manage, and care for pets. My Best Buddy Dog
Training is proud to participate in this worthy initiative as a local
partner, to provide resources and share knowledge with pet owners in Coweta and
Fayette Counties.
PPG’s #ShockFreeCoalition,
which will launch as a week-long campaign from September 25 – October 1, 2017,
comes at a time when animal behavior and emotions are being researched more
than ever before. Countless studies, conducted by veterinary scientists and
canine behavior specialists worldwide, indicate that using pain and fear to
train animals risks causing physical injury, as well as a host of psychological
issues that may include a pet becoming fearful of other animals and people —
and potentially aggressive towards them as a result.
The goal of the
#ShockFreeCoalition
is to build a strong and broad movement committed to eliminating shock devices
from the supply chain once and for all. Though electric shock in animal
training is currently banned in a handful of countries, it is still legal in the
United States and many other countries worldwide. Part of the #ShockFreeCoalition’s
remit is to educate pet owners and shelter/rescue workers to help them provide
the pets under their charge the best care and training, and to help owners find
competent, professional pet industry service providers whom they can trust to
use only humane practices.
“What’s so sad
is that most people do not realize that they are hurting and scaring their pets
with electric shock training devices,” said Niki Tudge, president and founder
of PPG and the #ShockFreeCoalition. “Unfortunately, they often find
out the hard way when their pet becomes shut down from fear, or aggressive
towards people and/or other animals, as fallout from the electric shock. Fear
is incredibly easy to instill in any animal, and exceptionally difficult to get
rid of. These pet owners end up facing a long road of hard work that can
require a tremendous amount of patience, time and money to help their pet
overcome this newly — and unnecessarily — created fear. Indeed, in all too many
cases, a pet may end up being abandoned in a shelter, inaccurately labeled as
“aggressive,” or euthanized.
“The pet
training industry is entirely unregulated at present, meaning that anyone can
say they are an animal trainer or behavior consultant,” Tudge continued. “As a
result, those who call themselves dog trainers, or even “dog whisperers,” may
still be utilizing outdated punitive methods, such as disc throwing, loud
correctional “no’s” and, in some cases, more extreme tools such as electric
shock collars, choke chains and prong collars. All of these are, sadly, still
at large. They are training tools that, by design, have one purpose: to reduce
or stop behavior through pain and fear.”
Global leaders
in the animal welfare, veterinary, behavior and training worlds — such as
celebrity dog trainer, Victoria Stillwell; best-selling author and ethologist,
Marc Bekoff Ph.D.; and renowned author, veterinarian and certified applied
veterinary behaviorist, Dr. Karen Overall — have lent their voices to the #ShockFreeCoalition
to help educate pet owners and professionals on the dangers of these devices.
“Electric shock
has no place in modern dog training and behavior management,” author and
founder of San Francisco, California-based The Academy for Dog Trainers, Jean
Donaldson, wrote in her statement for the Coalition. “It is never necessary and
is inhumane and side-effect laden. I know of no valid argument for the
continued sale of these devices.”
In addition to
hosting a pledge document for signatures, the #ShockFreeCoalition’s
website (www.shockfree.org) will be a clearinghouse of position statements,
scientific studies, articles, videos and research on the dangers of electric
shock. The site will also provide guidance on humane training practices and how
to find educated pet care professionals who use scientifically-informed,
humane, force-free practices.
Events during
the campaign week will include an “Ask the Expert” Facebook chat with Jean
Donaldson, on September 27, 2017 at 3 p.m. E.T., and a special “Shock-Free” edition
of the PPG World Service live radio show/podcast with Marc Bekoff Ph.D., on
October 1, 2017 at 4 p.m. E.T.
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