While I agree that aversive training methods are not meant for all dogs, what do you do in situations like this? There are other methods that I personally use that are neither painful or reward based. This is a very late response, but I would like to point out that there are just some dogs who are not food or toy/play motivated, or some dogs simply do not respond to those things. As such, it is something that each individual must decide for themselves, based on their own values, and system of morality. Ultimately, the question of whether aversive methods are a form of dog cruelty is a moral judgment. Such methods are risky, difficult to implement, and only effective in very limited situations. It is best to explore all other avenues of training first, in particular reward dog training, before resorting to any pain based behavior modification methods. If aversive methods can be effectively used for the short-term, to bring about an increase in long-term quality of life, then it is not so different from the case of surgery. The surgical procedure causes short-term pain, but it will frequently increase the long-term quality of life for the dog. Performing surgery on a dog causes necessary pain. This may cause them to inadvertently harm people, and other dogs.īased on the dog cruelty definition, aversive methods are only cruel if they inflict unnecessary pain on our dog. Causing pain to their dog friends usually stops play, so dogs are highly motivated to play nice.Įven though a play session may involve growling and a lot of wrestling, there is little to no pain inflicted at the end of the day.ĭogs who are under-socialized may potentially be dangerous, because they are unfamiliar with controlling the force and placement of their bite. However, that does not mean we should emulate them in this regard.ĭuring play, dogs rarely cause each other pain or harm, because they have very accurate control of the force and location of their bite.

Saying that an aversive method is only for communication, is simply untrue.ĭon’t dogs sometimes cause more pain to each other, especially in a dog fight? If they were not unpleasant, they would not work. Yes they do, through the delivery of an unpleasant stimulus, for example pain.Īversive methods are always unpleasant for the dog. Too much pain will cause the dog to break down, and too little pain will not provide sufficient motivation.ĭifferent dogs have different temperaments, therefore the right amount of pain will vary by dog, and also by context.ĭo aversive methods get the attention of our dog? These techniques work when we deliver the right amount of pain to the dog, thereby causing an aversive response. Yes, some of them do, including leash jerks, muzzle slaps, and finger pokes. Yes, in the sense that they communicate to the dog, “Do this, or else”. Dog Cruelty - Do dogs cause pain to each other from wrestling and playing?Īre aversive methods a form of communication?

A dogs purpose animal cruelty