AKC vice president endorses Ban on E- collars

[dhensley]

Unbeliveable http://tinyurl.com/keknvc2

[Smoke'n Mack]

I got this email yesterday....Looks like they are taking some heat, and trying to do some patch work.

Dear Shayne Bell,

On Saturday morning, AKC agreed to appear on Fox & Friends to discuss our thoughts on the use of e-collars for pet training, a buzzed about subject triggered from the release of a recent study.

The AKC has never called for a ban on e-collars. The AKC supports choice in training methods, as well as trusting the experts. Our thousands of field trial, performance and companion participants are the experts, those with the training experience and knowledge to obtain AKC titles on their dogs. It is our opinion that when placed in the informed hands of professionals, e-collars are an appropriate and effective tool for training dogs that are not only well behaved in the home but also competitive in the field. In fact, listed under the heading “Training Collars,” our position in support of e-collars as it pertains to AKC events, dog clubs and professional trainers has not wavered since it was adopted by the Board of Directors in 2001.

When we accept national media opportunities, we see them as a chance to talk to the nearly 57 million dog-owning households across the country who may not know about AKC’s resources and offerings. For better or worse, the vast majority of those owners will face struggles at the most basic level of training, not the complexities of handling performance-level dogs in the field or advanced companion work. When we appeared on Fox & Friends, it was our intention to speak to those novice owners who are seeking the best methods to create well-trained pets. Those methods do not include misuse or overuse of e-collars at the hands of amateur owners, an opinion with which I’m sure any dog expert can agree. AKC maintains its encouragement of positive reinforcement techniques for those beginner owners.

We continue to support the training techniques used by our experienced, responsible, and dedicated performance and companion competitors, and we apologize for not making that distinction clear during Saturday’s segment.

Sincerely,
James Crowley, Executive Secretary
American Kennel Club

[didion419]

What a bunch of horse crap

[Farmerwells]

"What a bunch of horse crap"

AMEN!!!

[warddog]

Having watched the video several times, the AKC did in fact take the stand Against the use of training collars, period. The gal representing AKC was, as is normal, when one tries to persuade an audience in their favor with biased evidence hogging the entire conversation so that the guy in opposition to her could not even speak. It also became apparent that the commentator holding little Fi-Fi wasn't about to let this professional trainer speak so their point could over run the entire interview. I would really have like to know the qualifications of the AKC representative and how many dogs she has trained in any field situation. I would venture to say ZERO. AKC needs to keep their nose into what they do best and that is register dogs, sanction shows, trials or events and keep their nose out of politics.

[Farmerwells]

Have you ever seen an hound running trash "Come, Sit and Stay"

I just cant believe some people these days

[Big Mike]

AKC is just like any other political group, whatever entity generates the most money for them, that is the opinion they will support.

[New York Hillbilly]

I never thought about this being on television. I was in my wife's new car and listened to the conversation on her satellite radio.

My perspective at the time was that it was a conversation between a male representative of some sort in favor of e-collars, and a female from some fanatic agency like PETA. The male barely got a word in edgewise, so badly talked over that I pictured him sitting there getting his ass kicked. The guy was clearly out matched by someone with very strong anti e-collar views and he was handily put in his place. By the end it almost sounded like the guy was apologetic.

Now I'll go back and watch the clip to see how accurately my mind pictured what really went down. As an owner of such collars in the past with successful use of them, I just shook my head in disgust at the clear propaganda.

Update: After actually watching the segment; the part not seen was that they were not on the set together, which I don't think is a very good setup and is likely why it sounded to me like she was talking over him. I don't think she was intentionally doing it or being rude after watching the clip, and the guy actually did get a chance to say a lot more than I thought originally. Like they say about a picture being worth a thousand words, I don't think the AKC representative was in anyway disrespectful, she was just speaking her mind.

The part that was still clear and I pictured accurately was her apparent strong bias against e-collars. I still think her position sounded more like I would expect from an animal rights group and not from AKC or a group knowledgeable about our hounds.

[rabbitatfarm]

I wonder how the "clicker" works when 'ol Joe is hot on a deer. This bimbo is talking about a house pet, not a field dog. I sure as heck don't want to have to run up with a treat every time Fang opens. I wonder how many dogs have been saved from the road because they had e-collars? keep my collars, thank you very much.

[Budd]

I took the time to write AKC with my thoughts, hope you all do the same.

[Show Me Kennels]

Tree huggers. I'm all about doing what's best for these animals, but there's a thing that most of those kind of people lack is common sense! And can't open there minds to the fact not everybody that not all dog owners have toy Yorkies and dogs that are only worried about there next treat.

[Marcus Lehotay]

Amazing! Makes me want to find a new registry..... In 20 plus years using E collars I have never experienced my dogs suffering the ill effects..... What a JOKE!

[Bear Creek Kennel]

Wonder why they didn't discuss the ill effects of running trash. Such as fast movin cars on paved roads and land owners with loaded weapons ..... Much less common, general obedience that most house pets lack!!!!!Guess those are not very sexy topics for national media

[smokedawg]

No telling how many times E-collars have saved hounds from being lost to a trash race, heading toward a highway, or just being lost in general. They save dogs lives. They are by far the most effective and humane way to control a hound in the field. Anyone that wont aknowledge this fact dont train dogs in the field. Period.

[IndianMeadowBeagles]

City Folk!!!!!! Give Old Blue a biscuit & tell him not to run off game. LMFRAO!!!!!!!