Praising Paws

If you have a dog or dogs.... READ THIS NOW. Read it, learn from it.... stop the alpha dog stupidness.

DEBUNKING DOMINANCE - THE ALPHA DOG THEORY
The Alpha theory is one of the most widely believed untruths about dogs, yet some people still insist on religiously following this disproven, outdated and very harmful practice of showing their dog who's boss by being the dominant alpha. Celebrity dog trainers, one in particular, who unfortunately has a huge following, certainly doesn’t help in dispelling the notion that we need to dominate our dogs through fear, force and punishment to get them to respect us. Many TV shows and hundreds of books continually promote the disproven myth of alpha theory.
This theory originated in the 1930’s where captive wolves that had never met before were grouped together in an unnatural environment. Their behaviour was studied and observed and it was concluded that wolves fight for dominance in order to become the alpha of the pack. This study can be compared to taking a group of people who are all strangers, locking them in a room with a limited amount of food and other resources and then observing what happens. The results would certainly not be similar to what would be seen if people were allowed to interact in a natural environment.
Researchers that have studied wolf behaviour since then have all concluded that this study was incorrect and the original study was retracted as being false. Wolf packs are actually family groups, not dominant dictatorships that continually fight to maintain control and dominance.
Wolf behaviour theory aside, dogs are not wolves! Research shows that dogs and wolves genetically parted ways more than 100,000 years ago.
Dogs are not trying to dominate us and take over our family structure! Using outdated, disproven methods like punishment, fear, shock collars or similar as training tools will not create a dog that is mentally, emotionally or behaviourally stable. Focusing on modern, scientifically based, positive reinforcement, force free, reward-based methods is the way to gain respect, create bonds and form a healthy relationship with your dog.

TEACH YOUR DOG TO TRADE
Teaching dogs to trade one object for another is important to teach, prevents many problems and may even save you a trip to the vet or worse.
Think of it this way –
You are out walking with your dog when he picks up a dead rat. You shout and scream at him to drop it and try to grab it out of his mouth. The rat may have been poisoned. Many dogs will not give up their newly found treasure without a fight. A growl, a snarl, twisting away from you so you can’t get it, or an impromptu game of tug may follow. If you think about it from a dog’s perspective - I’ve just found this really exciting, deliciously smelly thing and now my owner wants to take it away from me. I’m not giving this up, I found it, it’s mine! Guarding what your dog sees as a resource (the dead rat), is a common and very natural behaviour for dogs and the reason they guard their resources are because they are afraid that someone or something will take it away and won’t give it back, like we humans usually do.
If a dog has been taught to trade, the scenario may go like this - You always carry really high value treats when out walking, like tiny pieces of biltong or something your dog finds irresistible. Your dog picks up the dead rat, instead of shouting, screaming and tugging, you quickly offer a bit of biltong to trade for the rat. This will usually result in your dog dropping the rat, taking the biltong and give you time to move away.
Trading can be applied to so many different situations. If your dog has your shoe or anything else that he shouldn’t have, a bone that is getting dangerously small that you need to take away, or even when he won’t bring the ball back, swop it for something more valuable to solve the problem in a calm, positive way.
That said, every dog is an individual and dog behaviour is unpredictable as I found out the hard way with Riley, my food obsessed Schnauzer. When out walking one day, he picked up a dead bird and I quickly produced some biltong in exchange. Not to be fooled by this, Riley quickly swallowed the bird in one gulp and then grabbed the biltong too!

Yes! Take the time.... some of the BEST pets are those you wouldn't normally look twice at....