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Location: East Midlands, UK
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,775
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Originally Posted by
JanieM
***creeps in****
I don't think heel work to music is a silly trick. It's handler and dog working together and having fun plus it makes the dog use it's brain and Ithink they have great fun doing it. It's not something I will be doing (not classes near here) as we have just started with agility but I think it's more than just teaching tricks.
Sorry if this has already been covered, I must have missed it
. When people talk about pack theory and technique what do they actually mean? What is the technique.
To me I think of alpha rolling, jabbing the neck, going through doors first, ignoring dog until they are calm, only giving attention when you want and calling the dog to you, not giving attention when the dog wants it and stuff like that.
I'm probably wrong in thinking that so please correct me. It's interesting to know as I think everyone has a different idea of what they mean by pack leadership.
It's a theory we bought into with our last dog and it went really wrong.
***creeps back out***
hi Janie !! You don't need to creep here ! this is the NICE Dogsey thread that allows people to have differing views, which they can discuss and debate without getting nasty and falling out ! We are trying to go for the record of the nicest and longest Dogsey thread !
There is far far more to being a good pack leader than alpha rolling, pinning and jabbing ! I think the downside of the Dog Whisperer programme is that of time limitation. If we actually saw every second of the filming of CM with each dog, we would see far less of the so-called alpha stuff of mimicing the bite of the bitch, and more reward for the correct behaviour. That said, I will try and succinctly describe what I consider to be good Pack leader behaviour, good Alpha Female behaviour.
Firstly, my dog is allowed on my bed by invitation, he is allowed to walk in front of me through doors and down stairs, he is not an automaton, he is allowed to be a dog first and foremost. This is not makes up a good alpha, or Pack leader as I prefer. This is what I do.
I reward my dog's good behaviour and balance with praise. When he is being demanding - leaping up and down, and round and round in excitement before we go out for a walk, nothing happens until he is calm. He knows this, I don't even have to tell him to sit down. I just turn away, sit down and don't make eye contact with him. He instantly calms and sits, waiting for me to put the lead on or to open the door. He then gets his praise. When I open the gate onto the field, he is allowed to rush out and run free, have a pee, whatever he wants to do, whilst i get the gate shut and off we go. If we see other dogs approaching, I call him to me and keep him under control whilst I see who it is. If it is someone we know, he's allowed to go and say hello, if it's a stranger I keep him calm whilst we establish if the other dog is friendly, I never put him on the lead as it isn't necessary. 9 times out of 10 the two dogs have a game and a good time doing doggy things whilst the owners chat, whether they be strangers or not. When we walk off, I praise Tai again for being a good boy.
You see the pattern emerging? Good balanced behaviour is rewarded, bad behaviour (such as rushing across to say hello to another dog) would be criticised, and no praise would be forthcoming. This is what a good Pack leader should do. If a dog is constantly saturated with praise, or negative feelings like sympathy, or reassurance ("there, there"), then the praise means nothing any longer.
Tai is an entire male, and like all entire males, doesn't always appreciate other males trying to being dominant. He won't ever bite, but he can kick off and we have a "Pistols at Dawn" scrap where its all sound and fury but nothing else. Even if is justified and it is he who was attacked, I do not allow such behaviour and will call him off immediately, sometimes the other dog will pursue him, but I ignore him and concentrate on Tai, blocking him from the other dog, keeping him focussed on me, maintaining eye contact with him and making him sit down. This works every time, even when the other dog is leaping around trying to get at him, I just block that dog with my body and keep focussed on Tai. In other words, I protect him from attack by an unbalanced dog - this makes me alpha female in his eyes. I hve been praised many times by owners for my calmness and authority in such situations.
I could ramble on for ever Janie, but this is a taster of what I think it means to be a good Pack leader, a good Alpha female.
Incidentally, the CM nudge doesn't work on Tai, so I never use that, no point if it doesn't work. If he doesn't respond to a command, I get his attention and his eye contact and force him to obey because I AM alpha female and he knows it !! You can also see him shrugging his shoulders and saying "oh well, if you're gonna do all that dog whisperer stuff on me, then I'll have to obey I suppose !"