Not too many years ago, it was believed that canine obedience training was best accomplished through the use of aggressive dominance practices. Ask any of the best dog trainers and you’ll probably learn that this is no longer an acceptable approach to training a dog.
A dog owner today is looking for a respectful human relationship with the dog, not the wobbly, explosive bond that is established with dominance dog training. This is due, in part, to relatively recent findings by animal biologists and other professionals.
When a dog growls, barks, runs in front of his owner, jumps on guests or pulls on his leash, he is not necessarily vying for dominance. Most of the time, dog misbehavior is just that: dog misbehavior.
“Animal training, behavior prevention strategies, and behavior modification programs should follow the scientific guidelines of positive reinforcement, operant conditioning, classical conditioning, desensitization, and counterconditioning.” This quote, from AVSAB, or The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, was made in response to a dominance-based training regimen they saw developing among canine obedience training programs. The AVSAB maintains that many canine misbehaviors are not the product of attempts at dominance, but of misguided human reinforcement.
For example, if a dog is barking, its owner may play fetch with it, yell at it, release it from its crate, or kick it. All of these responses are forms of attention, whether positive or negative, and will cement the barking behavior as acceptable in the dog’s mind.
In reality, most dominance fights are initiated by humans. When a dog owner growls at a dog or uses an alpha spin on the dog, it begins a chain reaction of aggression, which can ultimately result in aggressive behavior from the dog toward the owner and other humans.
Alpha rolls are good examples of how dominance dog training has gone wrong. Watch a video of wolves interacting with each other. You will notice that submissive pack members will often roll onto their backs to show loyalty to the leader. Alpha pack members do not force these submissive dogs onto their backs, as humans do in the alpha roll technique. Not only does this dog training technique go against the dogs natural instincts, it initiates a pattern of aggressive behavior through intimidation.
If you have observed or been part of a loving and respectful human family, you will understand that leadership is more effective than dominance. Wildlife biologists are changing their views on wolf pack dynamics; they now believe that packs are no different than respectful human families. A functional human family has one or two leaders at the head, and the others respect the leader or leaders. This respect is not stolen by abuse; it is earned through effective and positive leadership. Using this example, it is easy to understand why the AVSAB says that dominance and leadership are two different concepts, and that leadership is the most effective and humane approach when training a dog.
Establishing yourself as a leader and gaining your dog’s respect means using positive dog obedience training techniques, such as crate training and clicker training. It’s natural for your dog to want to jump, bark, bite, chew and dig. But if you use positivity to reward good behavior and replace bad behaviors with good ones, you can get your dog to walk on a leash, stop digging and chewing, and stop your dog from barking and jumping.
Clicker training rewards good behavior as immediately as possible and adheres to all the things recommended by top contemporary dog trainers, progressive veterinarians, wolf biologists, and the AVSAB. When you conduct dog obedience training with patience, kindness, and respect, you will not only achieve the positive results you desire, but you will do your part to demystify the saga of dominance.