Myths About Dog Training #1

There is so much information floating around regarding dog training that I thought it might be a good idea to put to rest some of those “old favorite” myths that  seem to circulate and never die out completely.

Myth #1:  Dogs are descendents of wolves and should be trained based on how wolf packs interact with each other.

First of all, dogs are not wolves and there are many differences between dog and wolf behavior….the biggest one being that dogs have been domesticated and live with humans!  This information on wolf behavior came from a study years ago and unfortunately has been used as our basis for “dealing” with dogs.   Several books on wolf behavior can be found by author Nicole Wilde if you are really interested in the differences.

As far as training our domesticated dogs is concerned, there is no room for “alpha rolls”, “physical force” or “needing to dominate” our dogs.   These methods make little sense to our pets and usually don’t end well. Let’s spread the word and help this myth die out, for the sake of pet dogs everywhere.