09/25/2026
I know there’s few things that are as contentious and drama-inviting as are critiquing whatever the popular, currently en vogue training approaches are. I also know there’s a million roads to Rome.
But…
I keep seeing newish trainers, who I can tell are deeply influenced by current trends, who are working with somewhat serious dogs, who are engaging in approaches that place themselves in danger, and also invite the very worst out of dogs who simply aren’t that problematic.
I get that the balanced training world is currently in major flux. I’m watching many so-called balanced trainers engage in approaches that are far more closely linked to force-free/positive-only work. I know I’m not the only one who sees this, because I hear from tons of trainers privately about it.
Recently I was sent a few videos with a trainer working with a dog with a bite history. The trainer had done nothing to create any of the three priorities I shared in the X graphic. Zero clarity of dangerous behaviors predicting significant consequences. Zero hierarchy clarity. And zero clarity as to the dog having two paths on offer.
As I watched the trainer go through this work, I was flabbergasted by how foundationally flawed I felt the approach was. And yet the comments—many from high profile, highly regarded trainers—were filled with praise for the beautiful work. I wasn’t surprised, because it’s the “work” that’s pedestalized currently by certain groups.
Flash forward a little over a week and the trainer had returned the dog to the owners due to the dog engaging in increased aggressive bahavior. Behavior the trainer was unaware of how to approach—which was in actuality extremely common, normal stuff—and thus the trainer felt the dog was becoming too unsafe.
Once again the trainer was universally praised. This time, not for the beautiful work that had failed to yield the desired results, but instead because the trainer had referred the dog out to someone with more experience.
And to be clear, for anyone who is unclear, this post ISN’T about that trainer, their work, or their referring the dog out. I’m glad they did the right thing.
What this post is about is the current training culture that is leading young trainers, like this one, astray. Astray from simple, effective, reality-based concepts in favor of training concepts that are more emotionally appealing, and lauded by the cool kids—but which are fatally flawed.
While we should always be working to push the industry forward—exploring new ideas, techniques, and concepts—when we abandon foundational principles that are essential to success, we lead trainers and the owners who depend on them dangerously astray.
