blauhausk9

Is there BSL in KCMO? I'm super surprised to hear that, there are a lot of APBTs there

American pit bull terrier

This is kind of a rabbit hole question, sorry. Are you familiar at all with the current dichotomy within the world of dog training that is balanced trainers vs force free trainers? Basically people who use all 4 quadrants of operant conditioning vs those who try to use only two. The dog training industry is entirely unregulated, and a lot of people on both sides want some sort of legally recognised regulation for the industry, but the main argument is who decides the rules of regulation. What are your opinions on this, if any? Also any opinion on tool bans, and whether or not it is acceptable to entirely legally ban the use of a physical training tool due to an ethical bias against using them, as well as there being very few recent and thorough studies citing the points that one side argues for in different contexts beyond people training pet dogs poorly?

It is a very deep and controversial topic haha, I love it. And I appreciate your acknowledgment of police k9s and other working dogs! Most people tend to anthropomorphise dogs and think of all dogs as easy to handle pet dogs (you prob already get all of this), and from what I have observed, most people who lobby for tool bans don't have any experience handling high caliber dogs, or training real world working dogs for high stress situations, and simply don't have the knowledge or ability to use the tools with the finesse that working dog trainers/handlers do to produce lasting results.