FEATURE | TRUTH IN TRAINING ORDINANCE
�Author Angelica Steinker, M. Ed, CDBC, PDBC, photographed in Quincy, MA.
Hillsborough County Truth In Training Ordinance Was Consumer-Driven and Dog Trainers Should Support It
By Angelica Steinker, M. Ed., PCBC-A, CDBT, CDBC, CAP2
My name is Angelica Steinker, and this is the story of how I came to support dog training regulation in my county in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Hillsborough County became the first in the world to regulate dog training. I want to be clear that most dog trainers are animal lovers and good-hearted people who have devoted themselves to their education. This article addresses the dark side of our profession: abusive dog trainers. As an industry we must take responsibility for our“ bad eggs.”
When I started my dog school more than 18 years ago I began hearing stories of dogs that were being brutalized in the name of“ dog training.” Clients would call my dog school phone number and defensively ask me if I was going to tell them to throw a blanket on their dog and beat him. The first time this happened I thought it was a prank phone call, but the owner’ s voice was so distressed that I realized the call was real.
When the calls became a pattern, I talked to some local vets and peers and learned a specific trainer was known to give this as advice. No matter who called him with what problem the answer was always,“ throw a blanket on him and beat him.” Dog isn’ t house trained, dog growled, dog pulls on leash, the advice was the same, throw a blanket on him and beat him. The“ blanket” dog trainer continued to be in business for many years before moving away without ever being fined, charged with animal cruelty or in any way experiencing consequences.
I had dogs come to my school with parallel bloody holes in their neck. A different local trainer would tell clients they needed to sharpen the prongs on their dog’ s prong collar until it pierced the skin on the dog’ s neck. The owners, while regretting their decision to comply with this advice, did not call the police, nor did they notify animal services. The“ sharpen prongs” dog trainer in question continued to be in business and never experienced any consequences to my knowledge.
Years later I would hear stories from my clients about the trainer they had fired before me. This trainer had come to their home and swung their dog at the end of a leash in a circular fashion until all four of the dog’ s feet left the ground. The owner told the trainer to stop and get out of her house. But the owner did not call the police, nor did she notify animal services. This“ spin the dog trainer” continues to be in business today.
Again a few years later, during a meeting with officers working at animal services, I was shown the public record file of a specific trainer’ s file that was at least six-inches deep with complaints for animal cruelty. The officer explained
Photo: Angela Steinker The APDT Chronicle of the Dog | Summer 2018 37