15: Dog Training & Ownership Phrases That are Both True and Not True (aka "Semantics are Messy and Everything is Nuanced")

Haley and Sean run through a (not comprehensive) list of phrases I've heard often in the dog world — particularly in online training communities — that I think have merit (I see where they're coming from and agree in some contexts) but can also be reductionist (too sweeping of a generalization, misconstrued in unproductive ways, otherwise taken too far). So much depends on our personal connotations with different terms!

We talk about:

• “Let dogs be dogs”


• “Let them sniff”


• “Dogs crave structure”


• “Be a good leader”


• “Don’t coddle your dog"


• “Dogs aren’t humans”


• “This is how it’s done in the wild / this is what’s natural"


• “Dogs do what has been reinforced"

We also roast B.F. Skinner a little at the end. All in good fun, we promise.