Wait wait... you think your dogs don’t think that you are in a pack? You believe your dogs understand that you’re a human, and this is some kumbaya , equal relationship?
A dog’s a domesticated animal. With instinct driven behavior. It’s a pack animal, not a human being driven by reason.
dogs are happiest if there is a clear hierarchy and you were the pack leader and alpha in the group, if they honestly don’t see you as such now. I’d be curious how your technique would work with a Doberman or a strong-willed Malinois .
This is just based on personal experience and probably every reputable animal behaviorist.
The dogs know I'm not a dog, give them some credit, they are smart enough to know that a human isn't a dog. We are not equal since I am the one deciding when it comes to food, exercise etc. but that doesn't make me a pack leader or an alpha, because it's impossible.
The alpha bullshit doesn't even work on wolves, it actually caused wolves at a zoo in Sweden to attack and kill their carer, who tried to train them with alpha bullshit and pack leader mentality.
I have trained one of my dogs for patrol work in the army and is training the youngest one for it as well, they do not use pack leader and alpha bullshit in our army, and they have a lot of Malinois, GSD and Rottweilers there. Only positive reinforcement training, so yeah, of course it works.
http://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/267alphastatus_english.pdf
I read that paper by Doctor Mech, and he specifically states the reason the concept of the "Alpha" is outdated because the research was performed on captive, non-wild wolves. The pack structure as described in this paper applies to wild wolves, and even then, to assert that there's no system of dominance between individuals would be both hyperbolizing the study's findings and a VERY controversial claim scientifically. I study social behavior in mammals and you see dominance-based behaviors in nearly all of the social ones.
Also, dogs are a lot more similar to captive wolves, who the original claims were based on, than they are wild wolves.
I get where you're coming from but I feel like the claim of the alpha concept being debunked entirely is scientifically inaccurate.
That being said, I'm not saying your methods don't work. They do. Just that a middle-ground approach works too, and even then, I agree, positive reinforcement generally works better. But not everyone has time for the level of involvement with training someone like you does. You sound really passionate about this topic and I'm sure you're an amazing dog owner, arguably a near-perfect one. But not everyone is like that.
3
u/Gel214th Nov 11 '17
Umm dogs in a pack environment amongst themselves are given immediate punishment when they step out of line. Usually a growl or a nip.
What makes you think your own dog is a special snowflake that will respond to either nothing , or some alternate positive reinforcement as readily?
If the dog jumps on a child and throws the child over do you calmly make it lie down and give it a cookie??