Project Trade encourages pet owners to exchange aversive training devices for discounted force-free training services provided by PPG members
Tampa, FL – The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) has launched Project Trade, an international advocacy program that encourages pet owners to trade aversive equipment for scientifically sound, force-free training and pet care services. PPG members may opt in to the program and, in doing so, will provide incentives for their clients to switch to more appropriate training and pet care tools by giving them professional educational support at discounts of 10-15 percent.
A wide variety of equipment and tools are commonly used when training and caring for pets and the pet-owning public needs to be aware of the potential problems and dangers some of it may pose. Devices such as choke, prong, anti-bark and shock collars, electronic fences, and scat mats are designed to reduce a dog’s behavior through pain or fear, which cannot promote learning. In addition, there is the risk of injury to the animal and, specifically, the use of collars and leashes that are intended to apply constriction, pressure, pain or force around a dog’s neck should be avoided.
Respected veterinarian and thyroid expert, Dr. Jean Dodd’s, says choke or prong collars “can easily injure the delicate butterfly-shaped thyroid gland that sits just below the larynx and in front of the trachea [and] can also injure the salivary glands and salivary lymph nodes on the side of the face underneath both ears,” while bestselling author and canine behaviorist, Jean Donaldson, states: “These devices… when they work, do so to the degree that they hurt. With the advent of modern methods and tools they are irrelevant.”
PPG members who participate in Project Trade will be able to display a unique badge on their business website and have access to personalized marketing collateral at cost. They will also be listed in an online directory that will be marketed to the pet owning public. Further promotion will occur with regular updates, photographs, reports, and success stories featured across PPG’s platform of publications. In addition, each month the member who has collected the most equipment will be recognized with a certificate and featured on PPG’s website. Finally, every October, PPG’s advocacy committee will determine which participant has submitted the most equipment and the winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to PPG’s educational Summit, taking place this year in Tampa, Florida on November 7-11, plus a plaque and a $5,000 prize.
“Personally I am delighted to see PPG develop this program as I know of several trainers who have posted photographs of the aversive equipment they previously collected, and I have gathered a few shock devices of my own too. Adding to my collection is a source of pride… and it may well save a dog’s life,” says PPG advocacy committee chairman, Daniel Antolec.
Adds PPG president, Niki Tudge: “We believe that the general pet-owning public deserves affordable access to transparent, competent and accountable pet behavior and care professionals. Pets deserve to be cared for, managed and trained in a nurturing and stable environment. We want all pets and their guardians to experience the huge advantages and long-lasting effectiveness of force-free training and pet care. Project Trade is the ideal vehicle to help achieve this.”
About the Pet Professional Guild
The Pet Professional Guild is a 501(c)6 a member organization founded on the principles of force-free training and pet care. Its membership represents pet industry professionals who are committed to force-free training, pet care philosophies, practices and methods. Pet Professional Guild members understand force-free to mean: no shock, no pain, no choke, no fear, no physical force and that no compulsion-based methods are employed to train or care for a pet.
About Project Trade
Project Trade is the Pet Professional Guild’s international advocacy program that promotes the use of force-free pet training equipment by asking pet guardians to relinquish choke, prong and shock collars (and any other devices that are designed to change behavior through pain or fear). Project Trade is designed to give pet owners incentives to seek pet professionals who will exchange aversive training and pet care equipment for alternative, more appropriate tools and educational support at reduced cost. It is the Pet Professional Guild’s position that effective humane animal training and pet care procedures lay the foundation for an animal’s healthy socialization and training and helps prevent behavior problems. The Pet Professional Guild believes that the general pet-owning public deserves affordable access to transparent, competent and accountable pet behavior and care professionals, and that pets deserve to be cared for, managed and trained in a nurturing and stable environment.
For more details, see www.projecttrade.org