Category: Common Problems ¤
  Author: Gail Fisher ¤
   Title: Myths about Dominance ¤

I'm in the process of updating our Clicker Training Manual that we give
to our Level 1 students.  Today I was editing the chapter on pack
behavior, entitled "Leadership Smeadership -- Can't We Just Be
Friends?"  It struck me as relevant to the recent threads.  The
following is a section on debunking some myths.  The previous section
was "Sense" and this one is "Nonsense".  In the manual (with the ability
to do graphics) the first sentence of each paragraph (the nonsense)  is
bold/italics.  I've marked them with ** below.  I hope this is of
interest to some of you.

"NONSENSE

** Behave like a dog and your dog will respect you.**  Dogs never think
we humans are dogs.  While we can communicate with our dog through body
language, facial expression, and vocalizations, our dogs know we are not
dogs.  It may be dangerous to try to act like a dog, as our dogs will
react in kind.  For example, a 7-year-old child playing a game, crawls
up to a dog eating dinner, growling and "talking dog".  The dog will
treat this child as a potential thief.  How?  At best with a warning
snarl and growl.  At worst, with a disciplinary put down – involving
teeth and biting.

 **Dominate your dog and he'll respect you.**  This is a dangerous
belief.  Too often people equate dominance with physical intimidation
(such as alpha rolling their puppy or dog) or corporal punishment.  It
is not necessary to dominate to earn a dog's respect. Physical
domination often causes a dog to fear a person rather than respect him
or her.
 Respect is earned by fair, consistent treatment.  Respect is earned by
developing a bonded relationship based on fair training and dependable
behavior.  Physical intimidation is damaging to a healthy, respectful
relationship between person and dog.

** Dogs view eating order as an indicator of pack status.  Feed your dog
last, after you eat, to establish your leadership.**  This is the worst
nonsense I've ever heard about pack behavior.  It is just plain untrue
that dominant animals always eat first – or that eating order has any
bearing on establishing leadership. When the pack has sufficient food
(which is always the case in a human household), puppies and adolescents
eat first. In fact, adult dogs regurgitate food for puppies, standing
patiently by while they eat.

** Pack leadership, once established, is forever.**  Herein lies the
biggest fallacy about the dominance approach to dog training.  Pack
leadership is not absolute.  It is specious, faulty reasoning for
control of a dog to be strictly based on a dominance theory of
leadership.   In the wild, pack leaders get old, sick, and injured just
like all the other pack members.  An aging or infirm pack leader is
deposed – perhaps even attacked and killed.  Then a younger, healthier,
stronger pack leader emerges – "The King is dead.  Long live the King."
 But probably the biggest problem of the dominance approach to
controlling a dog is the fact that the pack leader must be present to be
influential.  Behavior in the presence of the pack leader does not carry
over to his absence. Dog owners often tell us, for instance, that the
dog is well-behaved when the husband is home, but totally out of control
when he is not.  A well-trained dog behaves regardless of who is or is
not in the room or in the house.

CONCLUSION
 It is interesting to understand what your dog's behavioral roots are,
but this is not a guide for human behavior.  Dog training based on a
dominance approach is rife with problems that are non-existent with
clicker training."

Gail Fisher
The All Dogs Gym (tm)
Manchester, NH  03103
gail@alldogsgym.com
(603) 669-4644
FAX (603) 641-6767