but some of her methods work wonders. Particularly the ignoring thing. It's hard but it works - but I actually don't agree that it's because of alpha behaviours. That could be part of it, but I feel more that it's because of the pay-off/opportunistic nature of dogs.
Yes, I agree.
Jan: Ignore your dog when he's whining for attention because an alpha wolf will ignore another and you need to act like an alpha to make your dog secure.
Scientific learning theory: Ignore your dog when he whines for attention because that way you're not providing a reinforcer for unwanted behavior and because of behavioral law, that behavior will extinguish without a reinforcer. The dog will learn what works and what doesn't and will know what to do, thereby being secure.
Jan: Eat a cracker before you give your dog his food because alpha wolves eat first and then distribute the food. (actually, this is not necessarily true. The alpha very often brings food to the mom and pups first) But even if it were true, she's saying to pretend you're the alpha wolf and so if your dog sees you eating first, he'll respect you as the leader and won't jump up and knock the bowl out of your hand because subordinate wolves don't jump up on alpha wolves and knock bowls out of their paws.
Scientific learning theory: Control your dog's resources. Ask for a sit first before giving him his meal so he learns manners (to wait) and doesn't knock the bowl out of your hand and spill the food all over the floor. The payoff or
reinforcer for his sitting nicely and waiting will be his food. So that behavior of sitting politely will be repeated if he's reinforced for it with food because behaviors which have a payoff are much more likely to be repeated. (law)
Those parallels unfortunately don't continue with all behavior. There are many times where she relates something to pack behavior and it's just not relevant to our domestic dogs. Or she'll compare some behavior to dominance where it isn't dominance at all.
No, she seems like a really kind person and she really loves dogs. I shouldn't have said I don't like her. I mean that I don't like her philosophy where she ties everything to pack behavior and again, like Cesar, pack behaviors which in many cases have been misunderstood. The dominance panacea is way over done IMO. And like Cesar, trying to get humans to pretend like they're dogs or wolves. Eat a cracker first before you feed your dog. Go out doors first. It's nothing but teaching manners, teaching the dog to wait. That's where I see la la land. Again, every conceivable behavior is chalked up to pack theory or some convoluted, obscure reason like dominance. I like her better than Cesar because she does not seem to promote force, flooding, bullying, physical punishment, intimidation etc.
Cesar:
When your dog whines, poke him with two fingers into the neck and say "Cheh" because that's what alphas do because they're dominant. And we can't have a whining dog because that means he's staging a take over. He's being dominant. Poor Cesar. He just really doesn't get it about domestic dogs.
Anyhow, I think people lose out when they are taken around the long, convoluted road to behaviorism. They get hung up on a huge array of irrelevant stumbling blocks.
First of all, dogs aren't wolves living out in the woods. Dogs have evolved into something very different and they've evolved to live with humans. And domestic dogs, according to more recent data are more directly descended from a solitary, not a pack animal, albeit they certainly have some instincts left, of course. However, I do not believe they are in a pack with us in the true sense of a packing animal. There is no need. Of course they need a leader, rules, boundaries or they wouldn't co-habitate with us very well. It's
how we go about teaching them that is the main difference.
