Ethics and Morals

I googled the difference.

Morals are personal principles and beliefs about what's right and wrong. They're based on personal experience, upbringing and culture and vary a lot between individuals.

Ethics are shared rules or codes of conduct set by society, a group or profession. They may exist within a legal framework and are consistent within all members of that group.

Where does that leave dog owners when looking for help with their dog?

There is no regulation in the Dog Training Industry. I don't believe there will be any time soon, if ever, probably not in my lifetime. Misinformation (that's false or inaccurate information shared by mistake without intending to deceive), and disinformation (deliberately spread to deceive) abound. And that makes regulation a real minefield anyway because facts are often buried under opinions.

Organisations who we should be able to rely on to have checks and balances in place and who should only support and platform educated and ethical trainers don't always do so. That's often because the loudest voices, the pushiest people and the most prolific social media accounts are the ones that are seen and heard over others who are quieter, more thoughtful and better educated. And that's how those with questionable morals get airtime.

But in today's world, more and more, each individual needs to take responsibility to think for themselves and not take what we read, hear and see on face value. Again misinformation and disinformation is everywhere.

It shouldn't be that way. We should be able to trust what we read, hear and see when it's presented by a professional (meaning someone who earns a living from a particular skill). If your next door neighbour gives you crap advice (intentional or otherwise) about your dog's training and it backfires that's on you for taking advice from someone who clearly didn't know what they were talking about.

But that shouldn't be the case with professional trainers. I'm not talking about differences of opinion or training approach, I'm talking about ethics and morals. When a trainer spreads disinformation for financial gain and to increase their social media presence, that raises serious ethical questions. Because as a society we know that's wrong. We know exploiting people's lack of understanding is wrong.

Morally? For the person spreading the disinformation maybe they don't see it's wrong. Maybe their personal experience and upbringing means they believe that as long as they come out ahead they can trample on those around them because there are no consequences. What's morally unacceptable to one person may be totally acceptable to another, and the ethics most of us use to guide our decisions don't apply to them. I'm not condoning it and it doesn't mean we accept it of course.

One clue that a trainer knows it's disinformation rather than misinformation, is when called out by others they become defensive rather than attempting to provide coherent and rational explanations of what they do. The ones who spread disinformation often use incoherent word salads to deliberately confuse people. I can only assume they hope their lack of ability to clearly explain will be seen as a lack of communication skills rather than being deliberately misleading. And it works to a degree because despite their behaviour they still have supporters and followers.

Do you stick to the speed limit because it's the legal and safe thing to do? Or do you stick to the speed limit so you don't get caught and fined? If there's no chance of ever getting caught would you speed regardless of the consequences to others?

There are trainers out there doing the equivalent of speeding, knowing they can't be caught and don't care about the consequences. Because there are no rules or standards, no oversight. And the worst bit is their audience applaud and support them because they don't understand, or worse, they don't care.

That's where taking personal responsibility is so important. Think about what you are hearing, seeing and reading. I know I say this all the time but stop, think, does it make sense? Does it match your morals? Is it ethical?

Because I can instantly see through the bulls#@t. I can't always tell if it's mis or disinformation, meaning I can't always tell the INTENT behind what's being said. But sometimes I can, sometimes I know it's disinformation because some trainers are careless, they don't think before they post, they think others will look past it, they dig themselves into a hole, they kick own goals.

Despite all its faults, social media can leave some fascinating "paper trails", you just need to know what to look for. And that's the downfall for those with questionable morals who don't care about ethics. They do get found out and exposed and when confronted, they or their supporters, will say it's just a difference of opinion or deliberately ramble in an attempt to confuse and bypass accountability.

I can confidently say that exploiting anyone's lack of understanding for financial gain and notoriety is ethically wrong.

You get to decide if it's morally wrong. Choose wisely. Our dogs depend on us.