The world has plenty of popular dog trainers whose style often varies as per their personality. Some gain popularity through social media, while some are happy with their own personal life and having a dog for themselves.
However, as training a dog has become a market of its own, social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and many others have seen a massive rage of self-proclaimed dog trainers, and among them is Dog Daddy.
Augusto Deoliveira, who is mostly known as the Dog Daddy, is a dog trainer who produces lots of online dog training content. He was in controversy after several videos of him training a dog that seemed to be highly confrontational and aggressive to many people on the internet. In the videos, Dog Daddy is seen seemingly whipping a terrified, snarling dog around by its neck.
What Did Dog Daddy Do?
While the Internet is full of popular dog trainers, Dog Daddy claims to provide services to train dogs. One of his videos caught the attention of the internet, where he was seen giving harsh leash training methods to the dogs, which seemed like an unacceptable way to train them by the internet users.
His aggressive style labeled him as the most problematic dog trainer on social media, as he was seen seizing control of a dog, which is a part of his routine training.
Why Was Dog Daddy in a Controversy?
His aggressive style brought him to the center stage of scrutiny by the netizens and media. In his video, a dog collapses after being exhausted and short on oxygen as Augusto Deoliveira, aka Dog Daddy, takes the leash from the owner and holds it up.
The dog’s neck is choked as the four-footer flails, thrashes, and occasionally attempts to bite him. While the video seemed like torture to the dog, it abruptly cuts to the dog heeling or sitting at his side.
The accusations against Dog Daddy range from him not fulfilling training promises to employing very harsh methods on the dogs. He was also banned from conducting dog training businesses in Italy and Sweden, as there also have been claims of him selling dogs with fraudulent health and temperament details.
Right after being called out by the netizens, Dog Daddy posted an apology video. He accepted some of his actions that irked dog parents as they alleged animal “abuse” while conducting the training. He also announced that he will be taking a break at the moment as he’s reflecting on his training methods. However, he did make a comeback a few days after the video.
Who Is Dog Daddy? Is He Cruel to Dogs?
With millions of followers on social media, Augusto Deoliveira became famous after a video of him walking five German shepherds off-leash in New York was featured. As per his website, he sells classes which are a combination of dog training seminars and individual hands-on training with each client.
He charges a heavy amount of $400 for a three-hour group class, $1,200 for a 90-minute session, or $100 to observe a group class of him training the dog.
Following the controversy, a UK-based animal welfare organization, RSPCA, voiced its concerns about Dog Daddy’s training techniques. They believe that such methods can traumatize dogs, potentially making the dog hard, if not impossible, to rehabilitate.
The local dog trainers also shared their disapproval of his tactics, terming them as “harmful” and an example of “aversive conditioning.”
It is yet to be clear whether he is actually cruel to the dogs or not, but the internet believes Dog Daddy has been very harsh, which he has apologized for. His future actions might determine how the internet reacts to his dog training videos.
Let us know in the comments what you think about the actions of the Dog Daddy. Do you think he will improve his actions, or everything was just fine the way he trained before?
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