Force Fetch

3 Pages 678 Words

Force Fetch

Force fetch is an inhumane training method used on certain dog breeds. This procedure consists of a painful ear pinch. When applying the ear pinch, the trainer grabs the dog’s ear and squeezes it with a hard object in hand. The hard object aids in applying extreme pressure and makes the dog yelp in agony; then a fetching object is forcefully shoved in its mouth. Once the dog has the fetching object in its mouth, the trainer stops the pain temporarily. “That when training a dog you must be in control at all times” ( Koehler 64) according to this well known trainer. Then the trainer takes the fetching object away and repeats the process until the dog is fetching without pressure. The training session lasts upwards of an hour. “A dog’s learning is no different from a child’s”(Wolters 26) this is the mentality used in forcing dogs.
An early force-fetch session begins on a table. Jim Dobbs, a pro trainer from California, is not afraid to admit the assets of force fetch. “A training table will prove invaluable to speed the dog’s learning of “hold” and “fetch” (qtd. in Dobbs 23). The table has a metal pole at each end with a wire connecting the two at the top. A dog collar is wired to one pole; then fastened around the dog’s neck so that the dog cannot escape. Once the dog is firmly secured, the trainer begins a force-fetch session. The wire attached to the top of the two poles is used later when the dog is suffering through walking force fetch. A walking force fetch consists of the same painful ear pinch. The dog is forced to move from one end of the table to the other in order to fetch the object.
A remote control is used in later training stages to administer an inhumane electrical shock to the dog to reinforce the force-fetch method when the dog is out of range. With applied electrical shock, the dog is guaranteed to react no matter where the dog is located. The intensity levels var...