Pinch Me

Last night the local NBC affiliate, channel 10 news, attempted to do what television news is poorly suited to do. That is, to try to encapsulate an important subject in a piece lasting a couple of minutes. The subject was the use of prong collars, focusing it's vitriol on Rhode Island based dog trainer Jeff Gelman. I've referenced a well known quote by Eleanor Roosevelt before in this blog and I'll do it again, "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." The piece focused on an individual, vilifying him in the process. Did he have it coming? Maybe; this is an outspoken person with a Saturday morning AM talk show, a podcast, perhaps there's even a sandwich named after him but when it all shakes out it really doesn't matter. The impact of the story will be short term and while the message board, CLICK HERE, was lively with discussion afterwards (I chimed in as well) most everyone who's seen it has or soon will forget it as our attentions will turn to other things. That's too bad. Not because I would've indulged in some schadenfreude watching this trainer thrust into the spotlight for public ridicule or for that matter watching my friend Katenna provide some insight into effective alternatives. What disappointed me was the missed opportunity to focus on the debate. There's more than one trainer in our little state using pinch, choke and e-collars. For the record, I used to be one of them so it's not my first impulse to wag my finger at Jeff Gelman. What I do find maddening is the steadfast adherence to old ideas that no longer hold up to scientific scrutiny. I think trainers in the not too distant future will look back on traditional training methods the same way we look at phrenology and spontaneous generation, with a collective "Huh?". For all the horn blowing any of us do, there will be a time when we won't be here anymore and only the ideas will survive. Katenna stayed on point never talking about Jeff but instead on methodology, again, on the IDEA.

Lively debate is good, discourse is good, ("Fire Bad" - Frankenstein,...sorry, couldn't resist) particularly if we learn something along the way. In contrast, trotting out one guy to be the poster child for pinch collars is silly but I suppose that coliseum mentality lies just beneath our skins. It reminds of the George Carlin bit where he pulls up to a car accident and asks the police to drag the body closer to the car so his wife can get a better look. If that's why you tuned in, and thought to yourself, "Holy cow, that guy's a jerk" then you're missing the point. Not that Turn to 10 didn't do their part to take your eyes off the shell with the marble under it.

Traditional training is fading, I've done my little part to help that along and would encourage my peers in the training world still employing those methods to do the same. It's a scary prospect, if you've got a family, a mortgage, bills to pay and a successful business model predicated on aging ideas it can be downright terrifying but it's the smart move because it's where the training world is headed, undeniably, like a slow moving juggernaut. It's also evolving as emerging ideas and peer reviewed research adds to the knowledge base. 

Finally, since we're on the subject of pinch collars. If you've moved on to No-pull harnesses or head halters and have some old choke chains and pinch collars lying around, please consider donating them to FoF-RI. Katenna, in her "spare time" transforms them into beautiful bracelets and key chains then sells them, (See them at Dog In Harmony) all proceeds going to Friends of Fido Rhode Island, a grass-roots group of Rhode Island dog lovers who are volunteering to improve the lives of outdoor dogs in Rhode Island. Hey, that's an idea.