At BuckYou we love and care about all animals, and we support and encourage force free handling and training for all of them!
There is no need to ‘alpha roll’ (vomit) your dog, pretend to eat their food before they do, (gag) and they won’t take over the house and have full control of the TV remote if you allow them to go through doors before you or sit on the sofa!
The idea that dogs have a ‘pack mentality’ and need an ‘alpha’ or ‘leader’ is a very out of date concept.
The whole study which created that false belief was extremely flawed and lead to people for decades believing they had to dominate or be dominated by Fido.
The study originated in the 1970’s and was based on observations made of a group of wolves, who were unrelated, captured from different places… made to live in an enclosure together and compete for resources…
A true pack is made up of parents and offspring, not a group of strangers. A pack is a family group wherein there is support, security, safety. The parents take on leadership and guidance roles, the offspring learn and follow.
In the artificial pack, this natural dynamic did not exist. The wolves had no relationships, they only had their own needs to be concerned about so the stronger, braver wolves learned they could get what they wanted (great share of food, coveted sleeping spot) by making aggressive threats, while the wolves who were naturally more subservient learned they could avoid conflict by offering submissive behaviours towards the more aggressive wolves.
These wolves all lived under highly stressful and unnatural conditions which would exacerbate the extremes of their behaviour. This show of aggression and submission is what led researchers to wrongly believe that wolves (and therefore dogs) strive for position and control in a pack, that they seek to dominate and that a pack heirachy is made up of the most dominant wolves at the top, and least at the bottom.
As it turns out, all wrong.
Dogs are not wolves, but like wolves, dogs thrive in a cohesive, consistent family unit. We are not dogs or wolves, but we can be family.
Nowadays, more and more people are understanding that dominance and pack theory are utter bunk, and don’t want to choke their dogs or intimidate them and are turning to other methods.
The BuckYou teenyhound Skully has been trained using force free and modern methods, and if you are interested in this for your dog, then I can highly recommend you find an accredited force free trainer.
Lucky for you all, I know one, and she’s fabulous!
Emma Mclean is a Force Free Horse Trainer and coach (and my friend!).
She also offers force free training for dogs. This can be done in 1-2-1 sessions locally in Essex, UK or globally via video.
Emma has Pet Professionals Guild Acreditation as a multiple species Force Free Trainer and specialises in consent training.
Emma can be contacted on 07580054177
e.bloomfield1985@gmail.com
or via her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010992458476
