Animal Training: Science & Ethics

A poster inspired by this quote:

"If you can teach a whale to pee in a cup, you can train your dog without punishment" - Ted Turner (Behaviorist & Exotic Animal Trainer)

If we can communicate with wild animals and teach them new behaviors without dominating them, why do we need to do this with dogs?  With this poster, I hope to inspire pet owners to use humane, force-free training methods that are already being implemented successfully around the world in progressive zoos and aquariums, on important life-saving missions, and wildlife conservation.

Times have changed for the better, and the traditional training paradigm that promotes "breaking" or "dominating" an animal into "calm submission" to get it to do what we want (e.g., using correction collars on dogs, scaring horses, throwing birds, scruffing cats, hissing at iguanas, etc.) is unnecessary, dangerous, and unkind.  Our animal companions deserve much better, and we are capable of doing better.

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Thank you to Sarah Owings, Mary Hunter, Sara Reusche, Irith Bloom, and Laura Monaco Torelli for your help!