Unique investigation: One Voice denounces the violence used in the sport of dog obedience training

20.09.2017

The investigators of One Voice have infiltrated a dozen French dog training centres between 2014 to 2017 known as defence for sporting purposes (obedience trials) or security (guarding). The images and proof they have just brought back illustrates the violence used in the training of these dogs, which end up aggressive and dangerous.

This activity, which has nothing to do with leisure, feeds the networks with so called working dogs. It causes the abandonment of dogs that have become aggressive and dangerous. This situation leads to the unfortunate and predictable accidents leading to them being put down. One Voice is calling for a ban on this type of dog training, dog training involving biting and of so-called “defence dogs” that turn them into lethal weapons. It is a question of respect for the dog as a sentient being, but also a question of national security. All dogs are entitled to the respect and warmth of a loving home.

The conditions of the investigation

The ring (obedience trial) is the most popular dog sport in France with over 7000 licensed members and nearly 750 clubs registered in 2016 (1). The dog training community of the Ring in France is a very closed organisation and the trainers are suspicious of any newcomers. In took three years for the investigators of One Voice to be fully accepted, and to be able to film with a hidden camera the activities of several centres, including some very famous ones. Their observations were reported (to read or download the investigation you’ll find it at the bottom of this page).

What is the Ring ?

Considered as a canine sport, training for the Ring consists of obedience, jumping and biting tests in which dogs must, for example, jump fences, bring back objects, refuse bait and attack and bite on command, in different stages. Dogs must obey instantly, without thinking. They must be an extension of whoever controls them (the “handler”). The Ring is reserved for so-called defence dogs, mainly Malinois and German shepherds.

Instead of a fun activity of complicity between the human and the dog, the fusion that seems so perfect during competitions is far from the fruit of a wonderful communication. It is actually based on a violent denaturation of the animal.

A dog “handler” explains: “In the Ring, it is completely robotic, it is a mechanical thing. The dog is just a robot that obeys, we teach it, it learns very quickly. Not so much a robot, since it is learning, but it can only do what it is taught. In the Ring, it has no opportunity for anything else, there is no freedom for the dog, it is completely submissive.”

Unacceptable training conditions, similar to methods of torture

The coercive methods observed are the result of mistreatment or even cruelty: cries, electrocution, spiked collars, choking by hanging, whipping and lashing, brutal hits from whips and cables, deprivation of food, all are common practices from a very young age. The investigators filmed many scenes and discussions which are visible on the site that is dedicated to this campaign.

The behaviour of dogs is irreparably transformed

This type of training does not only treat the dog as an object, it turns it into a weapon. While the authorities established a law in 2008 prohibiting biting, these dogs are transformed into real killing machines for the purpose of leisure.

Muriel Arnal, president of One Voice, says:

“Training dogs for the Ring is not a hobby. It is organized torture, with the sole objective of satisfying the ego and the need for domination of those who orchestrate and publicize it. How many dogs are sacrificed and how many dramatic accidents will it take to put an end to this legalized cruelty, which turns dogs into weapons? One Voice is calling for a ban on this type of dog training and the training of so-called defence dogs.”

These practices are obviously sources of suffering for dogs, who seek only to protect themselves from punishment by submitting to the contradictory orders of their trainer. This violence condemns these dogs to isolation outside of the training: isolation made necessary due the potential danger they pose towards other beings. Trainers “put them away” like equipment into transport crates, into car trunks or in cellars. Deprived of the love of a home, subjected to extreme violence the rest of the time, their confinement, which in itself is a matter of abuse, reinforces their aggressiveness. One Voice recently complained in several cases about dogs detained in this way.

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