FEATURE
Consent by Canines
Should we reconsider using this term in dog training ?
By Amanda Gagnon , M . S ., CDBC , CCPDT
This morning , as I worked with a fearful dog , she approached and pushed her hip toward my knee . Intrigued , I gave her a little scratch , then withdrew my hand to see if that was going to fly . She looked back at me for a moment , then pushed her hip more eagerly into me . I stroked her fur again , then withdrew once more . This time she turned and tilted her head to the side . She wasn ’ t used to getting this kind of communication . Suddenly , she plowed her whole head into my forearm and nuzzled me to make her meaning clear . I might call that enthusiastically consenting to be touched .
But , should I really call it that ? In a recent opinion piece in The New York Times , journalist Alicia Wittmeyer accused dog trainers , and specifically Zak George , of drawing parallels between sexual assault and dog petting when we use the term “ consent .” Dog trainers have been using this term for many years , and the reporter ’ s association with sex caught me off guard . Is it possible that when we say “ consent ” now , people picture rape ? We have to trust people to be smart enough to know that we are not referring to anything sexual , but is the term itself distracting from an important conversation about the worst kind of human violence ? If so , we have a responsibility to carefully consider whether this is the best turn of phrase for ourselves , the dogs in our care , and the humans in our community .
First , we should examine Wittmeyer ’ s assumption that the word “ consent ” calls up associations with sexual assault . At first blush , this seems to be an error , because most dog professionals , myself included , don ’ t think of the term as connoting sexuality . However , a little digging reveal that many of us do draw parallels between dog petting and sexual advances . For example , I recently attended an online workshop given by Grisha Stewart with the provocative title , “ Consent Culture : Don ’ t Just Grab the Pussy Cat ( or Dog !).” This is an obvious reference to unwanted sexual advances . The workshop
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