Photo by Lassedesignen.
In this article in Dr. Palazzolo’s series on behavior, the vet will give you a brief leadership seminar to apply to your canine companions!
Dogs have lived side by side with humans for centuries. As companions, the goal is to provide dogs with appropriate guidance and leadership so that they learn the rules and customs of living in human society.
There are many dog-training books that still promote the myth that dogs do things because they want to “dominate” us. This “domination theory” has probably led to more abuse of dogs than any other reason. It has led people to believe that they must use physical force and aversive training techniques to train their dogs.
This belief comes from two sources. First, studies of wolves were used to learn more about dog behavior. Although the dominance theory explains a lot about pack hierarchy in a family of wolves, it does little to help us when it comes to understanding dogs’ place in the human family. Second, much of traditional dog training stems from the 1950s and is based on a militaristic training style that is founded upon teaching the dog “who the boss is” and compelling him or her to comply “or else.”
But simply put, dogs do what works. If jumping on you in greeting gets reinforced, then your dog will jump on you. If you let your dog in the house when he or she whines or barks at the back door, your dog will whine and bark at the back door. If your dog beats you through a doorway, your dog will keep beating you through doorways. The dog is not trying to dominate you when doing these things—the dog does these things because they work and he or she has not been taught alternative behaviors. The cardinal rule to remember in training dogs of any age is this: Reinforce the behavior you want, and remove reinforcement (voice, touch, eye contact) for behavior you don’t want. Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce!
Through our leadership and guidance, we can teach our dogs to defer to us when going through doorways, not to jump on visitors, and all the myriad other behaviors that will make your dog a welcome member of the family and the larger community in which he or she lives.
Our website will give you many examples of how to teach your dog to become a good member of society.