Amercan Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour
www.AVSBonline.org
Sent this out this week it on what their postion is on the use of dominace in training of dogs.
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonli...0statement.pdf
My favoitie part of the article is
"Will growling or trying to bite a dog or making a claw with your fingers mimic what a wolf does when he growls at or bites a subordinate? There are no studies on this. However, as an experiment, you might ask a friend who has been bitten by a dog whether poking him with your fingers bent in claw formation has an effect that’s similar to when he was bitten, or whether your growling or biting seems similarly ferocious. In general, we shouldn’t assume that our actions mimic those of a dog or a wolf. Rather, we should evaluate each of our interactions with our pets and observe their response to determine how the pet perceived it."
"Key points.
• Despite the fact that advances in behavior research have modified our understanding of social hierarchies in wolves, many animal trainers continue to base their training methods
on outdated perceptions of dominance theory. (Refer to Myths About Dominance and Wolf Behavior as It Relates to Dogs)
• Dominance is defined as a relationship between individual animals that is established
by force/aggression and submission, to determine who has priority access to multiple resources such as food, preferred resting spots, and mates (Bernstein 1981; Drews 1993). Most undesirable behaviors in our pets are not related to priority access to resources; rather, they are due to accidental rewarding of the undesirable behavior.
• The AVSAB recommends that veterinarians
not refer clients to trainers or behavior consultants who coach and advocate dominance
hierarchy theory and the subsequent confrontational training that follows from it.
• Instead, the AVSAB emphasizes that animal
training, behavior prevention strategies, and behavior modification programs should follow the scientifically based guidelines of positive reinforcement, operant conditioning,
classical conditioning, desensitization, and counter conditioning.
• The AVSAB recommends that veterinarians
identify and refer clients only to trainers and behavior consultants who understand the principles of learning theory and who focus on reinforcing desirable behaviors and removing the reinforcement for undesirable
behaviors."
JL