In another recent study, around 25 percent of owners using confrontational training techniques reported aggressive responses from their dogs. Their findings support those of the Mech at the University of Minnesota: dogs don’t fight to get to the top of a “pack.” Rather, violence appears to be copycat behavior - something borne of nurture, not nature. Researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom studied dogs in a shelter for six months, while also reanalyzing data from previous studies of feral dogs. The National Geographic Channel even posts a warning on the screen during each episode: “Do not attempt these techniques yourself without consulting a professional.”Īccording to a paper in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, attempts to assert dominance over a dog can increase a dog’s aggression. Many veterinary behaviorists believe punishment-based techniques, like those seen on the show, could come back to bite dog owners. “What was needed was for humans to learn dog psychology.” “In America, we using human psychology on dogs,” Millan says in an email. “I think people are coddling dogs more than ever before.”īut in 2004, “The Dog Whisperer” - Millan's doggy psych 101 - premiered on the National Geographic Channel, and the momentum mounting in the positive direction was stymied. “In the last ten to fifteen years it’s become, ‘don’t ever say ‘No’ to your dog don’t ever punish dogs,’” says Babette Haggerty, who is carrying on her father’s dominance-based teaching at Haggerty’s School for Dogs in Manhattan. He believes the source of most bad behavior, especially owner-directed aggression, is mistrust and recommends rebuilding a dog’s trust by “making sure that the dog understands that all good things in life come only and obviously from you.” To get those things - whether food or basic attention - the dog must learn to please you first.īut others see these techniques as little more than pampering borne out of lax and inappropriate attitudes toward pets that have recently come into vogue. Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts University, is one of the leading proponents of positive training methods. A tug-of-war continues today between dog trainers practicing predominantly positive reinforcement and those using punishment-based techniques. ![]() In the 1980s, around the same time that our understanding of wolves began to change, positive dog-training methods slowly emerged from the fringes and grew in popularity. When they mature and find a mate they are at the top.” In other words, wolves don't need to play the “alpha” game to win. “They don’t have to fight to get to the top. “In the wild it works just like it does in the human family,” says Mech. ![]() And what he’s found is far from the domineering behavior popularized by Millan. Mech has been studying wolves for 50 years now, yet only over the past decade has he gotten a clear picture of these animals in their natural habitats. But as Dave Mech, an expert on wolf behavior at the University of Minnesota, points out, the early wolf research - much of it his own - was done on animals living in captivity. He advises humans to take on this position themselves, forcefully if necessary, to keep the dog in a submissive role.ĭog trainers whose practices are grounded in these concepts, such as the late Bill Koehler and Captain Arthur Haggerty, have dominated the business for most of the past half-century. These were called “alphas.” Millan contends that a dog displaying aggression is trying to establish dominance and attain alpha status, much like its ancestors. ![]() In the 1960s, researchers observed that wolves formed large packs in which certain individuals beat out others to earn “top dog” status. Millan’s concept of dominance is based on an old understanding of the behavior of wolves.
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