Written by The IAABC Editing Team (effective July 13, 2021) Dominance is a concept we frequently encounter in discussions of companion animal behavior. Many pet owners believe that the most important thing they can do to ensure their animal behaves appropriately is to establish themselves as “dominant,” “the alpha mare,” or “the flock leader.” When …
Tag: dominance
What does an aggressive dog look like, some examples? What do we look for when evaluating an aggressive dog?
What does an aggressive dog look like, some examples? What do we look for when evaluating an aggressive dog? The origins of ethology are deeply rooted in the works of Charles Darwin. In his book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872/1965), he “described and catalogued” the most common social displays exhibited …
Say NO! To punitive training, dog whispering and outdated behaviour therapy
Punitive dog training, coercive whispering, and outdated behaviour therapy: What might it be doing to YOUR DOG! There are still huge numbers of ‘stamp and jerk’ dog trainers and ‘whisperers’ at large with their choke chains, spiked collars, shock collars, rape alarms, correction sticks and bullying attitudes who haven’t chosen to move on into the humane, modern age of dog training. ASK WHY? of those trainers who still want to be cruel to your dog by training with punishment, correcting jerks and coercion when kind training methods are so much better, and are so very widely known and applied all over the world these days?
Spoiling dogs, is it really good for them?
There is a lot written about spoiling dogs and how it makes us feel and how harmful sometimes it is for dogs, but the media skirts around writing or talking about the negative consequences, it creates for both owner and dog. Why, I think the media and dog-related industry, feel they may be hurt if too much were said about real issues concerning dog welfare, and it simply wouldn’t fill in, for those happy moments needed for news airtime. I believe, if this is the case, it is a misnomer, actually more dogs would benefit if their owners understood how they influence their dog’s behavior, and it does not have anything to do with training or spoiling necessarily!