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I believe this type of legislation rides on the shoulders of the positive only ideology. Not just the idea that positive punishment is wrong, but that dogs are not familial, that dominance is not real, that aggression is a neurological disorder, and that “it’s all in how you raise them”.
There was also a lot propaganda that bully dogs are nursery dogs. In fact I was taught this by a veterinarian that I worked with in the early 2000’s. The idea was to stop calling them pitbulls and to change the public’s perspective. I think celebrity trainers also add fuel to that fire. We cannot get around genetics just because it’s convenient.
I can’t tell you how many breeders I looked at when I was searching for Vetra that included a contractual agreement to only use positive reinforcement during training. They also had educational material about how Rottweilers should sleep in the same bed as the humans and be treated like the amazing family teddy bears they were originally bred to be. It was kind of spooky. Especially when they have dogs titled in protection sports. They overemphasized the breeds ability to be “a jack of all trades” while ignoring their true historical development.
I have interviewed breeders for clients before but never for a capable breed. Usually sporting dogs (and that is a whole other kerfuffle) but I was given a new appreciation of how deep the rhetoric goes and how ultimately it sets everyone up to fail or pass on injurious information under the guise and romance of being “nice”.
