BC SPCA launches program to accredit dog-training businesses
Posted January 29, 2019 8:18 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The BC SPCA is launching a program to accredit dog training businesses in an industry that’s currently unregulated in the province.
“Many trainers say they are using humane methods, but until now we’ve had no way to assess this or to make a referral,” Dr. Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer for the BC SPCA said.
The SPCA says the AnimalKind program uses humane and reward-based standards to audit companies.
It says they were developed after a thorough review of scientific research and feedback from international animal behaviour and dog training experts.
“There is an extensive body of research comparing dog training methods, and the studies conclude that dogs learn as well or better with positive reinforcement,” said Dr. Karen van Haaften, the BC SPCA’s senior manager of behaviour and welfare.
“The research also finds that dogs trained with aversive or fear-based methods exhibited negative responses, including increased aggression and a range of stress behaviours during training, such as tensed or lowered body posture, lip licking, yawning, yelping and flattened ears.”
She adds dogs dogs trained with such methods often show these “stress” behaviours when a verbal cue like “sit” is given later on in life — even if there’s no punishment after the command.
