The Banana Study

How many ways can one facepalm in disbelief that this is even a thing?

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Recently, there has been a study posted on social media discussing the efficacy of shock collars on high enough to cause 100% of dogs to yelp “presumably in pain” compared to yelling “banana” and popping a treat in a bowl, when attempting to stop dogs chasing a lure.

Unsurprisingly, the shock collar won. The study is so ridiculously flawed that even trainers on the other side of the reward-based/balanced argument say it is ridiculous, the scientific community have “concerns about it” and the dog training main organisations are all up in arms.

For one thing, the method they used with treats was actively REWARDING the dogs for chasing 🤠

ABTC Statement

Marc Bekoff - Is Balanced Training Fair to Dogs, Or is it a Cop Out?

Hear me get on my soapbox about it all this week and tell you why, when I am always banging on about science, this study is anything but science-based and is a farce.