So why are dog trainers from across the world quietly flooding into the U.S.?
Because America is the epicenter of dog dysfunction. We’ve created a dystopian culture where consumerism poisons everything, including our relationship with dogs. And the world sees it. That’s why European and Eastern European dog sport handlers and trainers are setting up shop here. Not to elevate our dogs, but to profit off the dysfunction.
Let’s be clear.
Most working dog sports like IGP, Mondio, PSA, they weren’t born here. But dog obsession and the money is here. And so is the sickness.
PetSmart Will Kill Your Dog
Walk into any big box pet store like PetSmart and you’ll be sold a fantasy. Shelves of toys, treats, supplements, and gadgets promising health and happiness for your dog. The reality? Most of those products are cheap, synthetic, mass-produced junk made from questionable materials like recycled plastics and chemically dyed rope. Stuff that will inflame your dog’s gut, disrupt its nervous system, or break down into splinters and shards the second your dog does what it’s genetically wired to do — chew down to the marrow.
That toy isn’t for your dog. It’s for your wallet.
The Service Dog Scam
Then you’ve got companies like Canine Companions pushing out so-called “service dogs.” But let’s be honest. These are emotional support animals, not task-trained working dogs. They’re being sold to struggling families or manipulated individuals, and when the dog breaks down — because it will — the dog is passed off to an underqualified trainer or rehomed again, sometimes to people on welfare or living in unstable environments, desperate for emotional or financial relief. This is the kind of “wrong” dog obsession we are dealing with.
This isn’t healing.
This is human trauma projected onto animals.
What Your Dog Actually Needs
Here’s the truth no one profiting from this industry wants to admit:
Your dog needs fewer than 12 essential items to thrive for life.
That’s right. If you stripped away the noise, all your dog needs is:
Done. That gear will outlast your dog and be ready for the next one.
Everything else? Noise. Clutter. Consumerism. Just like the rest of modern life. We’ve been behooved, tricked into thinking more equals love. But if you love your dog, train it. Lead it. Protect it.
At Upwook, We Do It Different
We’re not here to sell you a lifestyle of endless consumption masked as care. We’re here to train real dogs for real life. Working dogs, companion dogs, and service ready animals with bite, backbone, and brains.
If you’re tired of the lies
If you want your dog to thrive, not just survive
If you know deep down this isn’t how it’s supposed to be
Welcome to Upwook. We’re not here to pet your feelings.
We’re here to raise dogs that could outlive the system.
