tldr; I went to a protest for regulation in the dog training industry + trying to warn people about Dog Daddy
…and I wanted to debrief for folks who’d understand what a mentally exhausting day it was.
I’m not sure if anyone here’s been following the Stop Dog Daddy movement launched by Zak George. The protests are meant to shed light on abusive practices in dog training and that it’s an unregulated industry with no education requirements.
For anyone who doesn’t know about this him, DD (Dog Daddy) is an abusive trainer with a large social media following. He often uses slip leads to hang up dogs and deprive them of oxygen, pokes them in their organs, drags dogs around who are clearly trying to escape him, gives harsh and frequent leash corrections, provokes dogs so they show aggressive behaviors just to shut them down…
Aside from unethical training practices, he charges clients $400 for the workshop (today’s lasted roughly from 12-5) and spectators (not protesters) were charged $100. He doesn’t give out the location of his class until day before or day of and he’s been known to switch locations last minute to throw off protesters. To my knowledge has clients sign an NDA too. He’s shady all around.
Animal control and police didn’t show up to this event. We did get someone from a news station to do an interview though. I don’t remember what station, my mind is jell-o. He seemed to genuinely care about what was happening and asked lots of questions.
The building used for the class was for autistic services and the windows were tinted. We think DD purposely chose this location to make it look like we were protesting autistic kids or whatever because pedestrians were confused as hell. We could see into the class if we pressed our faces and phones to the glass. I couldn’t stomach going closer to watch but I saw many videos with terrified and shut down dogs. The yips, screams, and frantic barking alone was devastating to hear from a distance.
I think what was the most upsetting was how HAPPY some clients were with the results…and how unhappy their dogs looked in the class and coming out of it. They didn’t care to hear that multiple training organizations condemn these practices or to look at their dog’s body language. They kept saying they needed to control the dogs, that they were just “tapping the leash”, and that DD himself was incredibly gentle.
Overall the protesters were peaceful (our goal) and most of the clients and curious pedestrians were too. There were a few arguments after we cheerfully asked if clients learned anything and if they could share what they learned. Again, most of these people truly believed what DD was doing was perfectly acceptable and clearly felt threatened by our presence.
The protesters were awesome bringing water, snacks, umbrellas, battery packs, signs, etc. It was lovely meeting so many likeminded people who deeply care about dogs and their well being. Dr. Amy Cook was amongst the group and did a FABULOUS job telling protesters to make room for dogs and talking to clients, pedestrians and DD’s staff.
DD himself was a slippery snake who avoided us very carefully so no one got a chance to talk to him.
It’s hard to say if the protest will have any impact on how DD chooses to “train” or the dog training industry itself. It’s bleak out there and the pessimist in me says nothing will change anytime soon.
Anyways it was a long day and I’m exhausted. Thank you for reading any of this. Give your puppies some treats and cuddles. Y’all are working hard with your fur babies and are awesome pet parents
…and I wanted to debrief for folks who’d understand what a mentally exhausting day it was.
I’m not sure if anyone here’s been following the Stop Dog Daddy movement launched by Zak George. The protests are meant to shed light on abusive practices in dog training and that it’s an unregulated industry with no education requirements.
For anyone who doesn’t know about this him, DD (Dog Daddy) is an abusive trainer with a large social media following. He often uses slip leads to hang up dogs and deprive them of oxygen, pokes them in their organs, drags dogs around who are clearly trying to escape him, gives harsh and frequent leash corrections, provokes dogs so they show aggressive behaviors just to shut them down…
Aside from unethical training practices, he charges clients $400 for the workshop (today’s lasted roughly from 12-5) and spectators (not protesters) were charged $100. He doesn’t give out the location of his class until day before or day of and he’s been known to switch locations last minute to throw off protesters. To my knowledge has clients sign an NDA too. He’s shady all around.
Animal control and police didn’t show up to this event. We did get someone from a news station to do an interview though. I don’t remember what station, my mind is jell-o. He seemed to genuinely care about what was happening and asked lots of questions.
The building used for the class was for autistic services and the windows were tinted. We think DD purposely chose this location to make it look like we were protesting autistic kids or whatever because pedestrians were confused as hell. We could see into the class if we pressed our faces and phones to the glass. I couldn’t stomach going closer to watch but I saw many videos with terrified and shut down dogs. The yips, screams, and frantic barking alone was devastating to hear from a distance.
I think what was the most upsetting was how HAPPY some clients were with the results…and how unhappy their dogs looked in the class and coming out of it. They didn’t care to hear that multiple training organizations condemn these practices or to look at their dog’s body language. They kept saying they needed to control the dogs, that they were just “tapping the leash”, and that DD himself was incredibly gentle.
Overall the protesters were peaceful (our goal) and most of the clients and curious pedestrians were too. There were a few arguments after we cheerfully asked if clients learned anything and if they could share what they learned. Again, most of these people truly believed what DD was doing was perfectly acceptable and clearly felt threatened by our presence.
The protesters were awesome bringing water, snacks, umbrellas, battery packs, signs, etc. It was lovely meeting so many likeminded people who deeply care about dogs and their well being. Dr. Amy Cook was amongst the group and did a FABULOUS job telling protesters to make room for dogs and talking to clients, pedestrians and DD’s staff.
DD himself was a slippery snake who avoided us very carefully so no one got a chance to talk to him.
It’s hard to say if the protest will have any impact on how DD chooses to “train” or the dog training industry itself. It’s bleak out there and the pessimist in me says nothing will change anytime soon.
Anyways it was a long day and I’m exhausted. Thank you for reading any of this. Give your puppies some treats and cuddles. Y’all are working hard with your fur babies and are awesome pet parents