You know the old saying, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”? I’ve been thinking about it lately, as I research an article I’m writing on how the foreclosure and economic crisis is affecting pets.

I’m amazed, for instance, at how many people who are horrified by collar jerks and scruff grabs in dog training keep doing the same thing to pet owners.

I mean that mostly metaphorically, of course. I’m not aware of an epidemic of shelter workers and volunteers actually throttling pet owners. But there’s one thing I’ve noticed while working on this story: not much click and treat, lots of punishment.

I’ve read a lot of news stories about shelters from coast to coast and from north to south that are facing larger than usual numbers of pets being surrendered, an increase that’s being attributed to economic hard times and difficulties finding housing. And many of the people interviewed in these stories keep complaining that people aren’t adopting pets right now.

At the same time, many of those same people are ranting and raving about greedy breeders and mandatory spay/neuter being needed, and the horrors of pet store, internet, and puppy mill sales of pets, and screeching “don’t breed and buy while shelter dogs die,” and saying that “every time you buy a puppy, a shelter dog dies,” and really, I just have to ask:

Does this work? Do you think it works? Would you modify a dog’s behavior this way?

Rich Avanzino of Maddie’s Fund has analyzed shelter and pet population statistics and concluded that a very minor boost — from 21 to 24 percent annually — of how many pets are obtained from shelters vs. other sources would put every dog and cat in America’s shelters in a home. So I’m trying to understand why it is that so many animal advocates, from the intake volunteer at the shelter desk to the adoption counselors to the shelter directors, are making it so difficult for people to feel good about shelters.

What if instead of telling pet owners how much they suck, they told them how wonderful they are when they make the tiniest move in the right direction? What if they did all the things Nathan Winograd talks about, like having convenient hours and making shelters friendly, welcoming places for adoptors and volunteers? What if they swore off for, say, one year, telling people what not to do, and saying how terrible breeders and pet stores are, and instead devoted themselves to telling people how great shelter pets are, and how rewarding it is to give a new life to a rescued pet?

There’s positive reinforcement available by the boatload to anyone who adopts a rescued or sheltered animal. And yo, shelters: doling it out is free.

Attacking your competitors — because let’s face it, breeders and pet stores and the guy down the street with the litter of lab mixes are your competitors for pet homes — is a negative tactic that will, after a while, backfire. Ask any politician: relentless negative campaigning turns people off.

And while you talk a lot about pet overpopulation, the reality is, there are lots of people every year buying or being given dogs and cats. Why shouldn’t they get them from you?

Sure, you can’t compete on selection and instant gratification, but you have something to offer pet stores don’t: a warm fuzzy feeling inside from saving a life. Why are so many of you wasting it?