Personally I don't even understand the "us" vs. "them" camps. What frustrates me is that people are arbitrarily put into camps. I have been put into camps that I don't even consider being a part of. I'm not IN a camp. Either that or I'm in my own camp. You decide. ;-)
My point is, the way I live my life with dogs is not based around any "person", or "camp". It's based upon my relations with dogs and how I can get the best out of my interactions with them to make life easier. It's not even about "____ is better than/inferior to ______". All decisions I make are based by ME, alone. Not by what somebody tells me I should or shouldn't think like. No matter what 'camp' they are supposed to be "in".
I do have strong beliefs on certain things. I DO think prongs, slip collars, and electricity are wrong. Plain and simple. No amount of "discussion" is going to make me feel otherwise, because I don't believe in the use of pain and/or fear in teaching or management. I also don't really like head halters that much, which goes against the "camp" I've been put into. I don't say that the people who are using them are "bad people". Not at all. Do I think they could make better decisions? Of course. But that's not my business and for the most part, unless it's discussed openly I don't harass everyone who uses those tools about my beliefs. Because I know that's not right. I would just never use them because they go against my personal values.
What frustrates ME is that because I feel this way, I am put "into" a particular camp, where people "assume" that I'm somehow egotistical or "positivist" or what have you, simply because of the values that I have. They think that because I don't use certain tools I'm "unbalanced" or "closeminded", when to the contrary, I'm likely one of the most open-minded people you'll meet when it comes to everything dog. My mind was very open to those tools. Just because I don't like them, that doesn't make me "closed" to their use. I know how they work. I know how to properly use them if somebody would have asked. I know they can be effective. I also know they can be ineffective. But I still choose not to use them. I think that I should have the right to not have that used against me, the same way people have the right not to have me harass them for using them.
I have also found that using a clicker is the best, most efficient, way for me to teach most overt behaviours. No, I don't use the clicker for everything. No, I don't use treats for everything. And my dogs are as reliable as I expect them to be, and to the extent that I have worked with them. There is a lot of learning that goes on without any treats OR a clicker. But there is a lot of work that does too. I've seen just as many anti-clicker people and people who try to jab at those who use clickers. I don't care if you use a clicker or not. But it's how I live my life with dogs, and it will be a part of how I give advice to other people. If I didn't promote what it is I personally believe in I'd be a hypocrite. Just because people try to help others in certain ways doesn't mean they are 'closeminded', it means they are teaching based upon what they know best.
When I run into a problem, I sit back and look at the situation. I look at the behaviour I want. I look at the behaviour I have now. I look at the antecedents that cause the behaviour. I look at how the behaviour is changing/or has changed in the past. And then above all I look at the dog's emotional and arousal state. My immediate goal in life is to reduce stress and anxiety in my animal family. And for me personally, that does not involve the use of force, and for the most part it does not involve using P+. I don't do this because I feel "better" than anybody else. I do this because through experience I have found dogs respond best through these ways. I do this because my animals seem to respond better. I do this because in the end this is what makes ME feel good, and comfortable, and stress-free.
What frustrates me is, as indicated in the original post, that people assume they know what other people are thinking. Just because you watch CM doesn't mean I think anything about you whatsoever. Just because you even like him doesn't mean I think anything about you whatsoever. It doesn't mean that I think you're all about the hammer, or that you immediately jump to using "heavy" methods. That's the problem there. I'd be surprised if anybody DID make those assumptions. I know that I don't. I try not to make assumptions about anyone or anything, especially not based upon the fact that they watch a certain TV program. If somebody came to my house and saw my collection of literature I'd be scared to think of what "camp" I was in - I have reads from Donaldson, to Kilcommons, to Fennell, to Koehler, to Pryor, to some abstract books like "The Tao of Puppies", all one on shelf. I read it all, truly. And that is how I base my philosophy.
As many know I don't give in much at all to "dominance", "leadership", "alpha", etc, in terms of humans relating with dogs. However, because I know that I have a lot of different views, I still study the ideology of people who use these terms routinely, and who believe that hierarchies exist between species, so that I can better understand where they are coming from when they are talking about it. I study these things moreso BECAUSE of that, so that I CAN better understand others, even if they are doing things that I don't believe in or think even necessarily exist. People have accused me of being closeminded, "out there", and other various things because I have a philosophy that differs from just about all of the mainstream culture. In order to live the way I do with my dogs, and talk about the things that I do, I HAVE to know about other views besides mine, it's basically a necessity in order to be able to talk with others at all. I don't care if people use those terms or believe in the status and hierarchy stuff, I really don't. If it enhances their life somehow with dogs, and the dogs are living a better quality of life because of it, that's what matters. It's where the dogs are living LESS quality in life, and are subjected to various things in the "name" of dominance or rank, that truly hurt me inside. It's not the term itself, but how the term is applied. And in the end, once again I'm going to share my viewpoint with others. That doesn't mean that I think you're horrible for thinking differently, or even necessarily unjust in your beliefs, just that I am human too and have my own views about the world that we live in. And I have the right to share how I live my life with dogs, even if it doesn't match up or agree with yours. Some people vehemently disagree with me. That's fine by me, it doesn't affect in any way how I live my life. Some people agree with me, and see some things in what I've written. That's okay with me too. Once again if I didn't ever talk about or promote how I live my life, what I believe in, in the context of helping people with their dogs and perhaps helping them learn about something that yes, I feel they have a misunderstandign of, then what's the point in doing what I've been doing all this time?
If you haven't noticed, there is a common thread that goes throughout most of my post. And that is the construct of values. We all have values. All of our values will be very different. Just as I have to respect that people will use certain things in the name of teaching (although there are some things I can just never respect, and that goes much deeper into values, but I'm sure everyone can relate to the feeling, even if the situations differ), I would hope that people can respect that I feel certain things are wrong and that I choose not to use them. It goes two ways, really. And whether or not you respect it is not going to change how I feel about them.
It's just that the situation can go many ways (I would say two ways but it's not just two). Just because there are things I refuse to use with dogs, does not make me "unbalanced' or somehow inferior to somebody who uses the entire spectrum of tools available. Just because I do choose to go a lot gentler than you might, does not make me "extremist". It makes me, me. And I can only be me, and I wouldn't want to be anybody else. It's just like how I don't call you "unbalanced" if you don't use a clicker. I don't even call you 'unbalanced' if you use a prong collar. Yes, I disagree with them. And I would never in my good conscience recommend them. But I'll get over it, and I'll still respect you as a person. Just as I would hope people would respect my decisions regardless of how "froo-froo" or "idealistic" they seem to you.
In the end, I don't put people into camps. Rather I look at us as we are, a community, comprised of each of our own individual households, each member taking up their own household upon a long street or on a block, and each household has its own independent thoughts, and feelings, and beliefs, and to stay on topic methods of working with their dogs. My household likely involves different things than your household does. Just like yours is likely different than the next person's. But yet the community learns to agree to disagree and overall the community moves on and thrives. That's what makes a community after all, rather than a camp, where separatism is promoted and encouraged.
The only camps that exist, exist in the minds of those who place others and themselves within them.
(Note: All references to "you" are to the general public, not to any poster in particular)