Every professional has tools in their toolbox. The more skilled the craftsman, the more tools they have at their disposal.
A coach has this non-exhaustive list of tools to help their players:
· Communication tactics
· Video analysis
· A development model/system of teaching
· Depth and breadth of knowledge
A dog trainer uses tools to accomplish similar goals:
· Collars
· Harnesses
· Leashes
· Training treats
· Communication tactics
· Video analysis
Some tools are similar…
Some tools are more useful than others and like great coaching… The skilled craftsmen uses tools that both improve the player and improve the relationship.
A win-win.
And even though Disney World allows the use of them on kids… This won’t fly with your players:
We have a popular culture of “shock collar coaches” that exist in the game. We’re going to lay out why this breed of coaches… Like child leashes… Need to go extinct.
Let’s Talk About Collars
Collars and harnesses are tools to teach. But the user experience of the teaching depends on the type of tool used.
Here’s a few examples:
Slip Leads
These leads are used by training companies that love to market that they don’t use shock collars. Problem is, slip leads aren’t much better. When the dog pulls, they just get chocked so they can’t breathe… But hey, at least the company isn’t zapping your pup…
Shock Collars
These are still used by the majority of dog training companies in this area. The groupthink is that you have to be a “strong leader” and “the dog needs to know it’s place” and “you’re in control as the owner.”
The problem is, this ruins your relationship with the dog and they end up doing things out of compliance instead of trust, love and buy-in.
Sounds like dog training is also at this crossroads of old way vs. new wave teaching…
Shock Collar Training
Shock collar training is taking the easy way out. You can peacock as a strong leader, yell at your dog to sit and shock it when it doesn’t. What does that get you:
Short term adherence over long term transfer and learning.
Doesn’t send relational messages to the dog. Fear based.
These types of trainers also pass blame to the owners of the dog when their lack of skill starts to surface.
If the dog doesn’t respond to this fear-based training, it’s never the fault of the trainer. Trainers blame either the dog owners, the dog or both parties.
“New Wave” Training (Different and Better)
“You have to be different and better.”
Daryl Belfry’s mentor told him before he went off on his own in the player development.
When the status quo in dog training was shock collar training, my company decided to go the “different and better” route.
When shock collar training optimized for short term behavioral compliance, we optimized for long-term learning outcomes.
Watch a dog trainer from a shock collar training company walk in the door to a client’s home and then watch me walk into the home with the same dog in it.
The shock collar trainer isn’t going to get the same greeting from the dog that I do. We are often called to work with clients after they have hired a shock collar training company. They tell us all the time that when the trainer comes over, the dog is scared, appears nervous or sometimes runs and hides. Or in worse case scenarios, the dog gets reactive, aggressive and may begin trying to nip and bite at guests.
After a week working with most dogs, I get full body wiggles, excitement and if the dog could talk, they would say, “I’m glad you’re here!”
We create better relationships and therefore get better results on the back end.
Shock Collar Coaches
Shock collar coaches are the dinosaurs that will not evolve. And just like in dog training, the companies that use them are going extinct in favor of more skillful teaching styles.
One of my coaching mentors always says, “adapt or die.”
This Darwinian idea holds true in coaching just like it does in nature.
There is a meteor coming for those who won’t adapt from shock collar coaching:
· Driving short term compliance
· Transactional
· Fear-based
· Low teaching skill
Will you adapt to a more progressive style?
New Wave Coaches
And as nature destroys, it rebuilds.
The coaches that survive are the inversion of “shock collar coaches.”
· Teach long term skill transfer over short term system compliance
· Transform and give to the player rather than extract transactionally
· Teach from love, freedom and self discovery over fear based styles
· Have high teaching skill in a player development system
These coaches have abundant opportunities on the other side of this reconstruction.
Are you prepared for the earth to shift beneath your feet?