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The only dog book you will ever need
9 years ago
The Other End of the Leash by Patricia B. McConnell
It's genuinely the only book about dogs you will ever need to truely understand how dogs are wired.
It's a great book for starters and long-time dog owners alike. I had dogs all my life and I still learned so much new stuff from reading it, and it's backed by research and scientific studies.
It's genuinely the only book about dogs you will ever need to truely understand how dogs are wired.
It's a great book for starters and long-time dog owners alike. I had dogs all my life and I still learned so much new stuff from reading it, and it's backed by research and scientific studies.
Also somewhere watchable for free is the documentary "The Secret Life of Dogs", it's really really good, if you haven't wathced it yet, please look into it!
I understand why he got so popular and the whole industry behind him, driving his success, but I really wished someone with a more profound knowledge of dog behaviour would have gotten the spotlight. If he at least would stay on top of research and discoveries, but instead he still rides debunked dominance theory and alpha rolls and does not seem very interessted in learning and improving his techniques.
Well, at least he made people realize they don't have to live with their dogs displaying unruly behaviour, so that's something.
Being based on research and science is certainly a good start, but it doesn't hurt to remember that the "alpha dog" concept favored by that guy with the tv show was also based on science and research--faulty research as was eventually revealed, and misapplied conclusions. Not picking on your suggestion, just advocating a healthy bit of skepticism.
Frankly, dogs were the most understudied animal for a long, long time... scientists and biologists just never deemed them worthy of any serious studies as they just kind of existed next to humans. I'm happy those times have changed, and so much knowledge is surfacing because of it!
As for the whole alpha dog theory... I would say it was not all for naught, because it is true that animals (humans included) in an enclosure form a pecking order to cope living with one another when ressources are limited (it's especially true for prisons). So it's not like it can't be applied at all, but it just does not apply to a regular dog/owner relationship since usually ressources are not limited to a point where anyone would have to fight for survival with their dogs over it
But yeah, research has to start somewhere and can be a bit clumsy at first. And any training method that works will continue to work as effectively as it ever did before, it just might not be as effective as a newer method. Dominance training was the standard when I was growing up, so I understand that mindset, even if it often seemed unnecessarily harsh to me. I was glad to see it fading away in favor of Karen Pryor's methods, and disappointed to see it return to the forefront as some mystical "dog whispering." I pretty much view it as a tool in the training toolbox, if not the one I prefer to reach for first. But, say, stray dog threatening mine while we're out on a walk? Oh yeah, I'll use that tool.
I was also rather pleased to run across this, which goes along with observations I'd made on the mutability of pack hierarchy:
http://nonlineardogs.com/
Oh thank you! I'll look into that link~