The Real Dog Blog

Tamar Geller

Last night, 20/20 did a segment on dog training with Tamar Geller, author of The Loved Dog. It was a relief to finally see a dog training session on tv that was not focused on the use of coercion, force and physical training methods. I think training takes time and there are no "quick fixes" to severe behavior problems. Tamar's methods are more closely aligned to those used by well known trainers such as Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar and Patricia McConnell. I'm glad to finally see some airtime for these types of methods, which are endorsed by humane associations across the country.

How we say things

One of my pet peeves….the way we use our words.  For instance, some shelters are coined "high kill" while others are referred to as "no kill".  Of course, the term “no kill” sounds sooooooo much better to us that it makes the other shelter sound like a horrible place.  What do those terms normally mean?  Normally they mean that one of the shelters (usually the “kill” one) cannot legally turn away any animals and therefore must end up euthanizing due to space constraints, while the other shelter has the luxury of turning away animals so they don't get overcrowded.  The way I see it, both groups are working towards the same goal....but one is given a verbal “black eye” because of what people call it.  It’s really not fair to those wonderful workers in any animal shelter.  (Incidentally….I prefer the term “limited admission” and “open admission” as terms for these types of shelters). Here's a great article, albeit a long one, about why we should use caution in how we use our words.