What's Wrong With Dog Shaming?
- Thread starter Puppylove
- Start date
Adrianna & Calvin
Experienced Member
I think some of the shaming photos are hilarious (I've posted them in the Friday thread) but I see the point of the article. Dogs who look cowed, or distressed (there are several youtube videos of dogs in prolonged displays of submissiveness which are particularly wretched) -- not so funny. And other times, I think the person should be holding the sign -- "I left my underwear on the floor and the dog ate it, AGAIN." Some of the posts do reflect that the person is at fault (Mom left the trash unattended for 10 minutes). Others, like 'i'm scared by my own fart noises' seem to be harmless in that no one is really to blame, it's just a comical idiosyncrasy.
I think that, coming from this group's positive perspective, we may not see the photos as damaging because it doesn't influence how we think of dogs. We look at ones where a dog has chewed his millionth shoe and know whose 'fault' that is. But I guess we should keep in mind that many people will see that and think the dog has a discipline problem, and that would be bad news for dogs
That post isn't the only one on the 'controversy' of dog shaming:
http://www.ohmidog.com/2012/08/24/dogshaming-who-do-we-blame-for-this/
(among others)
I think that, coming from this group's positive perspective, we may not see the photos as damaging because it doesn't influence how we think of dogs. We look at ones where a dog has chewed his millionth shoe and know whose 'fault' that is. But I guess we should keep in mind that many people will see that and think the dog has a discipline problem, and that would be bad news for dogs
That post isn't the only one on the 'controversy' of dog shaming:
http://www.ohmidog.com/2012/08/24/dogshaming-who-do-we-blame-for-this/
(among others)
Leaf Hunter
Active Member
If you follow the author's line of reasoning, we shouldn't enjoy movies like Homeward Bound or Beverly Hills Chihuahua either because these just perpetuate myths about dogs too. And that's just silly. They're funny dog movies and everyone (except maybe little kids) know its all in good fun.
Best thing we can do IMO, is to lead by example. Train our dogs to the best of our / their abilities and when people come up and ask how our dogs do these cool tricks we use the opportunity to talk about positive dog training.
It only takes a second to say,"Oh go on Youtube and look up videos by Kikopup and DogStarDaily (Dr Ian Dunbar) or go to DogTrickAcademy.com. It's really easy and fun."
Best thing we can do IMO, is to lead by example. Train our dogs to the best of our / their abilities and when people come up and ask how our dogs do these cool tricks we use the opportunity to talk about positive dog training.
It only takes a second to say,"Oh go on Youtube and look up videos by Kikopup and DogStarDaily (Dr Ian Dunbar) or go to DogTrickAcademy.com. It's really easy and fun."