Dispatch #1: Introduction
Whether you’re a first-time pet owner, dabble in dog competitions, train and hunt a gun dog or are a professional working dog trainer, chances are you’ve ran into the same roadblock as me. You struggled to find up to date science backed resources to help you in your training journey. Between social media and the old guard trainers it can be hard to wade through nonsense and find what is backed by evidence.
My goal is to change that.
The dog industry is flooded with recycled methods from the 1980s. I’ve found that even the top print magazines frequently publish articles that are essentially rewritten versions of decades-old techniques and methods. If you’re looking for up-to-date, science-backed resources to help you through a training roadblock, finding the "why" behind the "how" shouldn't be this hard. The gap between what science knows and what the average dog owner does is nearly forty years wide. It’s time to close that gap.
Here's why I believe I can help.
When you take all my hobbies and interests and boil them down you are left with one commonality, when something interests me, I deep dive into it. I’m a researcher first and foremost. This coupled with always looking for the next best thing to obsess about has given me a much broader background than most. Professionally I’ve spent significant time (and struggles) in the worlds of:
Scent Detection: Explosive and specialized odor work.
Protection & Bite Work: High-intensity discipline and control.
Sport & Field: Retriever trials and German versatile hunting dog testing (JGHV).
Pet Ownership: The day-to-day reality of living with man's best friend.
I’m definitively not a master trainer, I’m a researcher who trains. And today’s data suggests we can do a lot better. I have spent my career seeking out the best of the best in each field. Sometimes I found "next best thing," -ironically- turns out to be a forgotten piece of wisdom backed by modern data.
The Mission: Science Over "Trust Me, Bro"
These Dispatches will be me sharing what I learn from my research, whether you just taught a dog to sit for the first time or have been training dogs full time for 20 years, the goal is for everyone to take something useful from it. However, one rule remains constant: everything I publish is rooted in the most recent research and logical reasoning. You won’t find any "this is just how my mentor did it" anecdotes here. If I recommend a method, I will provide the context and the science to back it up. The Walther project way is: Analyze, Apply, Achieve
Double the Context: The Blog & Podcast
You are currently reading the first written article I will ever publish, which is already super exciting (for me at least), but there’s more! Each article will be accompanied by a Podcast that will either feature myself going into nuances of the article or it will be an interview with an expert on the covered topic. The Podcast and these articles will go hand in hand to provide you with the most context and in-depth reasoning on any given issue.Do yourself a favor and tune in for both every Friday.
Last but certainly not least, please reach out with ideas on topics and or general feedback. This is a new journey for me. I want this project to be worth your time. For that to happen, I’ll need all the constructive feedback and Ideas I can get. If you have a topic for me to dissect, don’t be shy and reach out at j.c.walther@outlook.com.