@luketbachelder This is so weird to hear as I've dealt more with people ridiculing r/reactivedogs for how "soft" we are. I also don't spend much time in other LIMA subreddits, and thus encounter a lot more "shock collars solve everything" discussions, so I may simply be failing to notice the occasional "balanced" advocate in here.
I think this is probably a case of mods not being able to moderate as actively as they would like. Given that this is an emergent problem, it's a new development and not necessarily a philosophical change. Reporting comments which stray from LIMA are probably the best way to get the issue under control.
But the biggest problem is probably an extension of the other, extremely insightful comment posted in here: people don't understand that this isn't actually a question of training philosophies. It's a question of science. Advocating in favor of LIMA and rejecting dominance theory are just two examples of the same thing: being guided by scientific consensus and not casual anecdote. We treat LIMA like it's an ethical stance when in reality, it's applied behavioral psychology.
(Of course, given how difficult it's been for scientists to convince the public to stop hitting their kids, it's not surprising we've yet to convince people to stop scaring their dogs.)
While dominance theory has probably done the most damage to effective dog training, the invention of the remote-controlled shock collar comes in at a close second.
I think this is probably a case of mods not being able to moderate as actively as they would like. Given that this is an emergent problem, it's a new development and not necessarily a philosophical change. Reporting comments which stray from LIMA are probably the best way to get the issue under control.
But the biggest problem is probably an extension of the other, extremely insightful comment posted in here: people don't understand that this isn't actually a question of training philosophies. It's a question of science. Advocating in favor of LIMA and rejecting dominance theory are just two examples of the same thing: being guided by scientific consensus and not casual anecdote. We treat LIMA like it's an ethical stance when in reality, it's applied behavioral psychology.
(Of course, given how difficult it's been for scientists to convince the public to stop hitting their kids, it's not surprising we've yet to convince people to stop scaring their dogs.)
While dominance theory has probably done the most damage to effective dog training, the invention of the remote-controlled shock collar comes in at a close second.