Imagine going around on animal posts and attempting to be condescending about animal behavior when it’s common sense. Let people fucking enjoy themselves.
If animal behavior were common sense we wouldn’t be seeing those posts at all.
I wouldn’t see dogs in my office every week who had been shocked to hell at board ‘n train facilities because common sense tells people that is a good idea.
I wouldn’t see cats euthanized or rehomed because common sense tells people that they did something out of spite. I wouldn’t see a veterinarian tell my own brother-in-law that his cat pooped on the couch because of spite.
I wouldn’t see dogs getting yelled at, put in time out, or physically reprimanded because common sense tells people that ‘he’s guilty and knows what he did was wrong.’
I wouldn’t see people reaching for the spray bottle, air canister, citronella collar, choke collar, prong collar, shock collar, etc.
I wouldn’t have a 2 to 4 month wait list for people to see me or my colleagues because common sense would prevent some of those problems and not result in aversive punishment in others.
I wouldn’t constantly hear the terms ‘alpha’ and ‘dominance’ and shows like Dog Whisperer and Dog: Impossible would never make it to the air.
I keep my mouth shut about dozens of posts a day. I speak up when I think it’s important. I will not apologize or stop doing that. When I look for videos to include in presentations I give, what I have learned is that tons of people gladly put their pets in uncomfortable or downright frightening situations for a laugh and the chance it may go viral.
An animal’s welfare trumps your enjoyment every time. I have not committed to 4 years of my life making less than half what my colleagues make, taking advanced courses, performing research to help people understand their pets better, and studying dozens of textbooks and hundreds of journal articles so I can take a 2 day test and become a Veterinary Behaviorist because animal behavior is common sense.
