Your Dog is Not a Wolf

#AlphaDogTraining #ddogtrainingsaltlakecity Your Dog is Not a Wolf Published by Alpha Dog Training https://www.alpha-dog-training-slc.com/ (801) 910-1700

Forget about being a "pack leader" or thinking that treats will spoil your dog. Here are surprising truths about how to train your dog. Mistake: Dogs are domesticated wolves, so you need to establish yourself as pack leader Truth: Dogs are not wolves, but unique animals predisposed to learn very advanced concepts from human beings. We likely first selectively bred today’s domestic dogs at least 15,000 years ago to cohabitate with us, provide companionship, and perform certain tasks such as hunting, herding, or alerting us when a stranger is near. To ignore the human influence in the domestic dog reflects a failure to acknowledge why the modern dog even exists at all. Yet many mainstream dog trainers seem to completely disregard this central point in favor of using methods that undermine the intelligence of our dogs. Also, these trainers are basing their philosophy on an archaic understanding of wolf behavior that has been discredited by researchers who study wolves extensively. For instance, renowned wolf expert L. David Mech refuted the “alpha” wolf concept. When wolves are randomly placed in confinement together, they do fight for resources; however, that happens only when these animals are in a very unnatural environment. “Wolves in the wild—the wolves that our dogs descended from—get to the top of their pack merely by maturing, mating, and producing offspring,” says Mech. “In fact, leadership roles are simply parental roles. The pack is actually a family social structure, a lot like human families.” Any training ideology that relies on your being a “pack leader” or an “alpha” instead of a loving parent to your dog is fundamentally flawed from day one.