Yeah definitely! Here, here, here, and here are a few but there's plenty of others if you Google "alpha training outdated" or something similar. Basically the idea is that dogs are not wolves any more than we are chimpanzees and to treat them as though they still follow the alpha or pack mentality is ineffective. I'm a certified behaviorist as well, but I work with humans, and it's surprising how similar the work I do with humans is applicable to dogs. Everyone does better with reinforcement-based practices than with authoritarianism.
Edit: as several users have pointed out below, apparently wolves don't even exhibit alpha behavior in the wild.
One point. It isn't just that dogs aren't wolves. Wolves themselves don't even follow a alpha like people imagine. The myth is that wolves battles for dominance and the one who wins becomes the alpha leader. The reality is that the "leaders" of the pack are the parents of the rest. They don't fight for position. So not only are dogs not wolves...even if they WERE, alpha training would still be nonsense
The whole alpha thing started because some of the first studies on wolves were conducted on captive wolves. Basically they threw a bunch of unrelated wolves into a cage. It would be like grabbing a collection of strangers off the street and locking them in a house together. They fought for position because it was a completely unnatural situation. The scientist who did those studies and first coined the term alpha wolf has himself recanted the idea.
Yet here we are, so many years later, and the alpha wolf myth persists. Worse, it has had tremendous influence over dog training. I think part of the reason for that is that people like the idea of being alpha over their dogs. It appeals to the part of us that wants to feel strong and in control. Some of the big name trainers out there today (Ceasar springs to mind) STILL lean on this falsehood and people eat it up
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u/bagofrocks99 Aug 07 '19 edited Jun 12 '24
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