If you love dogs, scrolling social media is not for the faint-hearted. Sometimes there are cute dogs looking happy, but if you can read canine body language there are also many photos that make you feel stressed like the dogs in the pictures. It’s no better when it comes to posts about dog training, which range from modern methods to outdated techniques that risk harm. While I see far fewer dogs on shock and prong collars than I used to ten years ago, in a recent radio show on Steve Dale’s Pet World, Dale and guest Patricia McConnell, Ph.D. (who, as Dale says, is the G.O.A.T. of dog training), attribute an increase in the use of shock collars in the U.S. to videos on TikTok. Although we don’t have representative data on the training methods that people use, it made me wonder: Does social media skew social norms about dog training?

Dog training is not regulated, so dog guardians—who love their dogs and do not want to hurt them—may get bad advice from some trainers. Another way that inaccurate information on social media might influence people is by changing perceptions of social norms. Social norms are unwritten rules that shape how we behave. Being kind to dogs is a social norm. We can safely say that most people don’t want to hurt dogs. It’s such a strong social norm that some people can’t watch films or read novels in which dogs suffer, even if things turn out alright for the dog in the end. And it’s a social norm that is backed up by conversations about animal welfare and laws on animal cruelty.

Unfortunately, some dog training methods rely on pain or

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