I’ve been to a lot of dog-related seminars, and, at every one, the female/male ratio is something like 90/10. Or 95/5. I thought it would be different at the Im-PECK-able seminar put on by K9 Behavior Consortium, thinking of all the guys I’ve run into over the years with law enforcement dogs, especially drug and bomb dogs. But nope. Mostly women again. I asked a colleague if this was typical for other scent discrimination training seminars, and the answer was yes.
So. Why so few men in dog training seminars? The U.S. population is about 50/50 male/female. (With slightly more women, and less than half of one percent non-binary.) However, like many professions, dog training doesn’t reflect the country’s demographics. According to Zippia, 61% of dog trainers are female, 39% male. That number surprised me, because in my area, it feels like the skew toward women trainers is much higher than that.
But if the percentage of professional dog trainers is about 60/40, then why isn’t that reflected in seminar audiences? I am asking this respectively, especially to the men reading this blog, who I very much hope will chime in. I know it’s easy to make assumptions about this, and uh, some of them, aren’t particularly gracious to the males of the species. But, please, please, let’s try not to go there. There could be lots of reasons why men are less likely to go to seminars than women.
Before going much further, it was time to consult my resident expert on men: Jim. After I asked him why he thought more women than men went to dog training seminars, he said, initially, “Men think they already know how.” He said it, not me. But this led to a much deeper discussion–Jim noted that in years past, before dogs were house pets and considered members of the family, most dogs were working dogs, trained by men whose duties and hobbies included hunting with dogs. I added that once dogs more commonly began living in the home, we know whose job it was to teach the “youngsters” manners. Women.
It does feel that, recently, as men became more involved in child care, they also became more likely to go to dog training classes. (Anyone agree? I’m just speculating.) But going to classes is one thing, becoming a professional dog trainer who goes to seminars is another. The glaring exception to this is the demographics of seminar presenters. Look at all the men who are doing a fabulous job training us to train dogs? (I was going to say “look at all the hot men who are…,” hot meaning popular, but then I caught myself.) (Okay, fine, let’s face it, some are hot in both senses, but if you think I’m going to name any names you are delusional.)
I am not the first person to speculate about why so few men go to dog training seminars, or become dog trainers for that matter. Stanley Coren wrote an insightful article for Psychology Today in 2016 about this very topic, titled “Are Women Better Dog Trainers Than Men?”
Whether they are better at it or not was not my primary question, it’s why more men aren’t more interested in learning from others in this field. (Could they be related? Is it easier for women?) There are lots of possible reasons, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Here’s just one, to get us started: If women currently dominate the field, would men be uncomfortable showing up? Like going to a beauty salon and feeling out of place?
My goal here is not to be negative about men. There’s more than enough of that going around. It’s to figure out how to encourage more men to get involved in dog training, to go to the best of the best, and learn how to be better at what you do, if you’re already in the business. There’s a reason for this, one I think is more important than understanding interesting demographics. It’s the powerful effect of watching a member of your own gender performing a skill. I’ll never forget the first time, after two years in undergraduate college (in my 40’s), that I saw a women lecture on the stage at UW-Madison. (Karen Steudel, who passed away in 2021.) Everyone I had listened to and learned from up to that point had been male. Seeing a women was transformational. Truly. The effect it had on me was shocking. Wait? I could do this too?
According to one site, 71% of men from age 18 to 44 own a dog in the U.S. You can find lots of data that mess around with different figures, but the fact is that a gazillion men own dogs, and those men need role models to teach them how to train dogs in the most effective, efficient, and compassionate way possible.
What can we do to encourage more men to be involved? Chime in, but please, keep it constructive and respectful. I need it for my sanity in this day and age.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Spring in the country–So much to do, so little time, not enough energy. After a morning working outside, Jim and Maggie, consummate nappers both, are snoozing away, but Skip and I are still wide awake. Regrettably, Skip’s energy far outlasts mine. Please tell me he isn’t begging me to go back outside again in this photo.
Maggie, however, is always awake around dinner time. Below, she has her paw in Skip’s empty bowl, as she often does once the bowls are licked clean. Please Sir, may I have some more?
We had the sheep in the small pasture behind the house, and they stopped grazing when I went out to brush out Skip, the Official Winner of the Sweeping the Beach Dog Contest. I would give a lot to know what they were thinking when the piles of dog hair got bigger, and Skip got smaller.
Birdwise, it’s like a Natural Geographic documentary out here! Right now we have eyes on 11 nests: Two with two different house wren mommas, (that’s the house in one of the photos), a house finch, phoebee (there’s a picture of her in the carport—you can just see her tail and head), a Mourning Dove, at least 5 barn swallows, and one bluebird nest in the pasture at the top of the hill. Most nests have a momma bird sitting on the eggs—for days on end—but the bluebirds and finches are already busy feeding their babies.
The last few years we’ve been trying to clear the honeysuckle and garlic mustard from an area we call “The Mystery Woods.” (We never went there until recently because it was solid honeysuckle, the invasive kind.) We’ve had some success, but it’s a never ending job. Here’s my reinforcement, two native plants that are showing up–quite a few Jacob’s Ladder and one precious Showy orchid.
Keep in mind these are surrounded by mostly invasive scrubby things, but still . . . You gotta find delight where you can, right?
Tell what’s delighting you this week, and chime in on the male/female skew in dog training. We’d all love to hear what you think.