Does It Pass This Test

Tags

alpha dogs, behavior modification, dog training, pack leader, rehabilitation, resource guarding, training dogs

Along with all the stupid sh*t that is passed along as gospel about dogs, there’s the rich arena of stupid sh*t about training dogs.

This is a doozy that is in a book by a “natural” dog trainer. I won’t go into the absurdity of labeling oneself a natural anything, other than to say it’s some silly sh*t. To teach a dog to come when called the set-up looked like this- Put a longline on the dog. Throw something or find a way to get the dog to run off after something. Before the dog reaches the end of the line, call the dog. If the dog stops and comes, all is well. If they don’t, whammo, they’ll hit the end of the line and receive what is termed a “shock,” not to be confused with an electrical shock.

I’m not sure how much thought went into coming up with this gem of bad advice but let’s break it down and see how it fits in with my three criteria; is it unfair, dangerous or stupid.

When a brain is attending to something it’s not unusual for it to not attend well to other things in the environment. There’s a great experiment online that was done using a group of basketball players. Check it out. If you are engrossed in something it is not that you are being disobedient or obstinate if you don’t hear someone talking to you, or the timer go off on the stove. So is it fair to get a dog to run after something, a hugely fun and awesome thing for a dog to do, and expect them to notice that you’ve called them? If your voice is not relevant to your dog is this the way you’re going to go about becoming relevant? I cry foul. This is NOT fair.

Have you ever seen a running dog hit the end of a line? I can’t imagine anyone, other than a chiropractor in need of business recommending that someone do this to their dog. Whether they’re wearing a collar or a harness they are often pulled off their feet and land on their backs. Dangerous? Check.

If passing the tests of being unfair and dangerous aren’t enough, there’s stupid. What if you want to teach your dog to run after balls or frisbees? Or you want to do something else with them that includes having them move away from you? You may have to teach your dog that they will only be brought up short when they have a leash on them otherwise they may worry about being “shocked.” 

There are books about dog training for dummies. With the amount of sh*t out we could have shelves of books of dog training by dummies. 

Advertisements

You Want Me To Do What?

Tags

alpha dogs, behavior modification, dog training, dominance, pack leader, rehabilitation, resource guarding, territorial aggression, training dogs

How gullible do some dog trainers think pet owners are? Pretty darn gullible if you listen to some of the sh*t they recommend for changing behaviors in dogs. You wouldn’t be faulted if you thought 12 year old boys were behind many of the “theories” they expound based on peeing on stuff.

To end resource guarding- pee on their stuff to claim it as your own.

To be sure your dog isn’t going to make a power play- pee on them to assert your dominance (but don’t blame the dog if they just think you have bad aim).

To teach your dog to stay in the yard- collect pee in a bottle and sprinkle it around the perimeter of the yard so the dog will know you’ve claimed the territory.

It would make for a great segment of Candid Camera.

Fast forward to 23:00

Needing Something They Never Had

Tags

alpha dogs, behavior modification, dog training, dominance, food aggression, pack leader, rehabilitating dogs, rehabilitation, resource guarding, territorial aggression, training dogs

One of the perversities of making sh*t up about dogs is that it allows people to continue to use force, intimidation and scary punishment to get their dogs to do what they want. The mythology of the pack leader ranks high on the list for this.

I am not going to reinvent the wheel in regard to explaining that dogs don’t need pack leaders because they are not pack animals in the same way wolves are. You can find lots of information about that from bloggers, trainers, and field biologists. But I will encourage you to imagine what a person’s acceptance that dogs need a pack leader can mean to an animal that survives by the millions without one, thank you very much. It’s like suggesting to a parent that they need to brush their baby’s body every day even though they don’t have fur.

Is this person being a pack leader or just an a**hole?

Dogs are incredibly adept social animals. They have a wide-range of behaviors that help them avoid or minimize conflict among their peers, and the humans they live with. When one of those humans tries to pretend to behave the way they assume a pack leader would behave, imagine how that could be perceived by the dog. What those who know what they are looking at observe is that the dog is on the spectrum of concerned to flat-out scared.

But then again, if dogs have a sense of humor they might just be chuckling watching the human spitting in their food, scurrying out the door first and laying claim to property in any one of the ways recommended by the folks adept at making sh*t up about dogs.

Need a Bridge? I Can Sell You One

Tags

alpha dogs, behavior modification, dog training, dogs, dominance, pack leader, rehabilitating dogs, rehabilitation, training dogs

People struggling with behavior problems in dogs are easy prey. They are often desperate. They will try anything to help their dog and create a semblance of order in their lives. Even trainers and marketers with good intentions (but a load of BS) end up being able to take advantage of this desperation.

This dog is not trying to assert her dominance over this man.

Whether we are hard-wired to conserve energy or have been conditioned to expecting quick fixes, our expectations regarding creating behavior change in dogs have been impacted. Our reasoning gets cloudy when we are given the choice of working with a trainer for several months or are offered an immediate, guaranteed “cure” for our dog’s behavioral challenges. Snake oil comes in many forms, but it’s still snake oil.

I have created this blog to feature some of the most prevalent and tempting mythologies (sh*t) about dogs and dog behavior. My goal is to keep you from stepping in it and tracking it all over the house.