Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Dominance Theory VS Leadership in Dog Training Posted: 17 Dec 2009 02:40 PM PST There is an increasingly noisy debate going on between two schools on the subject of learning and training in dogs. In one corner we have veterinary behavior specialists and humane organizations and in the other we have a very popular TV personality and his devotees. Sounds kind of like a classic David and Goliath story to me. The TV personality advocates the notion of Dominance and establishing yourself as the alpha dog in your household. The veterinary behaviorists advocate reinforcement of desirable behavior coupled with avoiding inadvertently reinforcing undesirable behavior. If you've read my stuff on behavior you know I'm in the vet's camp on this one.   Here's why.   Dominance theory suggests that dogs behave badly out of a desire to achieve higher rank in some form of social structure. Achieving higher rank allows the dominant animal access to scarce resources like food and shelter and helps ensure successful reproduction. Establishing dominance may involve the use of fear or coersion when applied to our relationships with our pets. This thinking is out of date and relies too heavily on observation of artificial behavior in captive wolves. Newer research on wild wolf packs has changed our understanding of social interaction and pack behavior and has redefined the notion of alpha male and female.    And let's face it, since when is there much of a struggle over scarce resources in most of our homes? We may struggle to gain access to the remote control, but we don't really need to assert dominance over our dogs so we get first shot at the pot roast.   Besides that, who wants a relationship with their dog, spouse, boss or anyone else for the matter, that is based on fear and intimidation? Granted, we see those relationships every day, but is that really what we want ?   Veterinary behaviorists and advocates of reward based training propose that we focus on consistently rewarding good behavior and not reinforcing bad behavior. For instance, if your dog goes nuts when the doorbell rings and this bothers you and your potential guest, what is the first reaction many of us have?   It is to rush over to the dog, grab him and try to soothe him. In any case, his reaction to the knock on the door solicits a reaction on our part that inadvertently reinforces the dog's annoying behavior. Even what we would perceive as punishment in this instance, may be seen as reinforcement by the dog.    Punishment does not address the fundamental behavior issue, either. You may succeed in "correcting" the problem but you may risk provoking an aggressive reaction from your pet.   Think of it from your own perspective. What is your work environment like? Does your boss yell and scream at you when you make a mistake? If so, do you live in fear of making a mistake? Do you adopt passive aggressive behavior as a result ? Or, do you get rewarded financially or publicly among your peers, for good work? If so, do you spend most of your time thinking about how you can make that happen again?   I hate to be anthropomorphic about this, but this analogy is much more in keeping with our current thinking on animal behavior. Wild wolf packs are much more like highly functioning human groups where cooperation and mutual respect contribute to success. Think about the environment at Microsoft, Apple and Google for instance. Then think about the Untied States Senate. You get the idea.   I'll close with the AVSVB and their recommendations on how to choose a trainer. I think they have the right idea.

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