Growing up I had a best friend we’ll call Fred.
At a very early age Fred developed an interest in girls. And he would do just about anything to show off in front of them.
One day he got an idea inspired by the one guy that was every boy’s hero growing up in the 70’s.
Fred was going to duplicate a stunt he saw Evel Knievel do. He built a ramp and was going to jump 19 garbage cans. Evel had jumped 19 cars and broke the world record.
We could only round up about 8 garbage cans but Fred found some five gallon buckets and was able to rack up 19 objects to jump over with his bike.
Looking at it I privately told Fred that I didn’t think he could do it. It looked like a pretty long jump. Fred smiled and was undeterred. He knew he could do it and once he did the girls from the neighborhood would think he was the bravest, coolest kid on the block.
The big moment came. All the kids from the neighborhood were there to see the colossal stunt.
Fred went to the top of the hill on Campfield Road, faced the crowd and gave one last wave and started his descent.
He hit the ramp at full speed and we all knew he was going to be successful. His bike launched in mid air, it was amazing, our friend was going to be a hero. He WAS the next Evel Knievel.
Fred landed right around the fifth garbage can. His head smashed into the handlebar, garbage cans were flying everywhere. The sound of smashing garbage cans and screaming kids could be heard for blocks. Then the blood kicked in. Fred had a gash on his forehead and once he saw it his screaming canceled out all the other noise.
Mr. Fritz, a recently returned vet from the Vietnam War, came charging out of his house. “WHAT THE &%#@ ARE YOU KIDS DOING?”
The garbage cans, the screaming, Mr. Fritz and the blood were too much for us kids and we scattered like a group of scared deer in a field full of hunters.
Now I smile remembering this but at the time it was terrifying.
When you’re a kid you believe in magic. You truly believe that you can do the impossible. You become an adult and learn that believing in magic can result in more than a few smashed up garbage cans.
See, as a dog trainer I have to get results when I am hired. I have to do what it takes to train the dog or the dog may end up in a shelter or worse – dead.
Unfortunately there are thousands of dog trainers that believe in magic. They don’t like the thought of negative consequences to stop behaviors so they cling to false beliefs.
They believe this so strongly that it becomes a religion to them. Recently, I put up a video on YouTube with a reactive dog.
I explained how I changed this dog’s behavior using (GASP) a negative consequence and the “all positive” or what I like to now call the “PO’d” crowd went out of their minds.
I’ve been threatened, been called Hitler (can you believe this) and a boycott was started. You can see the comments for yourself. I’ve kept most of them up there for you to see but had to take some down because they are so incredibly ridiculous.
Me, a lovable, harmless fuzzball.
All because a bunch of dog trainers believe in magic.
These trainers go out of their minds at the thought of using any kind of negative consequence even though it is the correct course of action when faced with a behavior that needs to be stopped.
The sad fact is that dogs are dying because of their flawed ideology. Just because you want to believe something is true doesn’t make it so. Just like my friend Fred found out.
Anyway, if you believe in magic we are probably not a good fit. But if you want real results, if you want your dog to listen to you wherever you go, to STOP certain behaviors like jumping, biting, barking and more,head on over to The Dog Training Inner Circle.
It’s just $1.00 to join and you can get started today.
No magic tricks. Just real dog training solutions to help you get results fast.
All the best,
Eric