Why ‘Pack Theory’ Won’t Work For Your Dog
Welcome my fellow animal lovers, this post is all about taking up-to-date information on canine behaviour and applying it to the way we treat/train our dogs. Anyone heard of pack theory? Been told or believe that you need to be 'top dog' in your house to ensure you are the dominant one as this is how you get a well behaved dog? Ever been told " you need to be firmer with him"? If any of these apply to you (or even if they don't, but you're interested to know more about this concept) then read on because I'm going to explain how dominance has no place in our dog's lives or training methods.
The dog, man’s best friend, the animal that made its way into our homes and into our hearts. They did this 15,000 years ago and since then have been working their doggy magic and making us just a little bit crazy about them. Looking at an animal’s ancestry can help explain behaviour, however the dog’s family tree is often misunderstood.
The myth:
Dogs are descended from wolves (therefore wolves and dogs must behave in the same way).
Myth Buster:
Dogs are not descended from wolves. They shared an ancestor BUT our pampered pooches did not evolve from the modern wolf we know today, meaning they behave differently. One BIG difference: whilst wolves form packs, dogs do not. So if stray dogs on the street don’t form packs, where there is a dominant leader, what do they form? They form more complex social groups WITHOUT a dominant male or female. What does this mean for us as pet owners? It means that if we are trying to train our pooches by trying to be ‘top dog’ then we’re doing it wrong! If you want to know more about training, what works, what doesn’t, the most effective way of training and the kindest then click here for Modern Training 101 (Coming Soon!).
Why is this relevant to training? Well to start with it sets you off on the wrong foot with your dog. Ever respected the teacher that scolds you? No. So why will your dog respect, and love, someone who scolds them? ‘Pack theory’ is outdated and, quite frankly, often unnecessarily cruel. Your dog is not something to be dominated, particularly if you want that friendly and biddable star dog you hoped for. I want a bond with my dog, I want him to love me, to see me like family, the same way I see him and one huge step towards a great relationship with your dog is through good training with reward-based methods. Training should be fun for you AND your dog, so please leave those harsh methods at the door and instead check out how easy and effective positive reward-based training can be with my Food VS. Punishment post (Coming soon!)
If you’re still needing more reasons why a dominant tactic is one to avoid, this is it... Even if you don’t mean to intentionally hurt your dog and believe you are doing good by getting that perfect heel with a choke chain and sharp yank, here’s why you should stop… Dogs are like us, they all have different personalities and characteristics. Some are shy whilst others are bold, some are easily excited and others naturally calmer. This means that some dogs will take dominance or punishment based training harder than others. This doesn’t mean that ‘if your dog can take a good telling off’ it’s fine to train them this way, but rather that for some dogs, training using harsh methods may get you the result you want but it will come with a price. Training as ‘pack leader’ can lead to the development of behavioural problems stemming from fear which is caused by this training method. So you may have managed to train a sit/ stay/ heel/ recall but now you have a fearful and reactive dog. There are several studies that support positive reward training over punishment based training. Dog’s perform better and more reliably, not to mention the much stronger bond between pet and owner it creates. Good training can achieve amazing results and bad training, well, do you need any more convincing?
So by now I hope that everyone reading is a believer in the power of those tasty dog treats and fun toys. Now you know how best to go about teaching your dog new tricks, remember to check back for other posts about training and fun training tutorials. I really want to share these modern, effective and ethical training methods with you as there are SO many benefits to training in this way. So tune back in for the next blog posts that will contain all the tips you need to know to have a successful relationship with your best friend!