{"id":523,"date":"2016-02-18T12:40:34","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T11:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/illis.se\/en\/?p=523"},"modified":"2024-12-30T20:53:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T19:53:59","slug":"on-the-danger-of-dog-collars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/illis.se\/en\/on-the-danger-of-dog-collars\/","title":{"rendered":"On the danger of dog collars."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s a debate raging in Sweden about whether choke collars are potentially dangerous to dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"choke<\/a>
Pros and cons of choke collars? Photo: Elf, Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several influential dog coaches on TV use and recommend them, other experienced dog professionals argue against them. It\u2019s currently causing all kinds of shock waves to ripple across social media, which inspired me for a blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not a dog owner \u2013 I\u2019ve never owned a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m guessing that in some people\u2019s eyes, this disqualifies me from having an opinion on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my view, that just gives me a different perspective. Dog-na\u00efve people, like me, look at dogs and see behaviour without automatically interpreting what it means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also look at dog owners and wonder why they do what they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We carry no baggage, as it were. We have a clean slate with regards to How One Should Handle Dogs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, and I realize this is a sweeping generalization that may offend some readers: I see many dog owners who don\u2019t question what they do, they just continue doing it – because that\u2019s what they learned as a child. They continue perpetuating behavior they\u2019ve learned by observing others interacting with dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sort of like religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or eating crayfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yep. Grow up surrounded by people eating crayfish wearing funny hats, singing silly songs, and drinking alcohol, and you most likely will adopt that habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just ask any person from Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"crayfish<\/a>
If you\u2019re lucky and know any geeky biologists, you\u2019ll learn how to determine the gender of the critters, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Norms are not questioned, they’re typically just passed on to the next generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another such inherited behaviour is putting choke collars on dogs: if daddy did it, chances are, you will too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in this post I\u2019m offering the fresh perspective: a non-dog-owner\u2019s take on choke collars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who\u2019s never owned a dog trying to somewhat impartially examine arguments for or against choke collars, I would start out with these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n