Is the 'Alpha' training method wrong or right?

Okay, so considering we'll be taking on a new puppy soon me and my family have been reading a lot on training, a lot os this consists of clonficting information on this domination and alpha theory. Is this the road to take or should we ignore it all together? Opinions and advice please!

you will get lots of opinions

how will you feel pinning your pup to the floor by the neck?

how will you feel rewarding it and playing it when it does it right?

I know thats something I would not feel comfortable doing and will not be doing so. Possible I should clarify, is it important to step outside before your dog? Or make sure he walks behind/beside you? etc.

No those things don't make a dog an alpha nor he's trying to dominate you. Dogs pull to get somewhere quickly, not to prove you they are the boss.
Saying that, you do need to teach dog manners, so when you open a door he won't just bolt and run off, and it's much nicer for you to walk on a loose leash - it doesn't matter if the dog is in front of you as long as the leash is loose.

I'm not convinced by it - definitely not for us.

Thankyou for clarifying Its hard to know which direction to take when your just starting out!

I`d be tempted to avoid any method that assumes your dog thinks like a human - i.e. wants to `be the boss` or understands complicated reasoning like ` if Mum eats first it means I`m a subservient wolf `
There are some great puppy books out there but even then, your pup (and you!) is unique. There will be good days and difficult ones, and there is no `manual` or guru with all the answers (no matter how hard they try to persuade you otherwise).
Common sense and kindness usually carries the day - I hope you have fun together.

the alpha methods are quite old school now, positive training methods are loads more effective anyway. just remember to give your dog some rules and boundaries and be consistent plus lots of praise, excercise and mental stimulation

Hi Jessica and welcome to Dogsey
I wonder where you have been 'reading a lot on training' could it be from the local library by any chance, they usually have training books dating back to the arc some of them written by monks .

The dominance/alpha theory has been put to bed by the more enlightened and up to date trainers, behaviourist and dog owners helped along with the latest research for example the paper produced by the University of Bristol entitled '‘Dominance in domestic dogs – useful construct or bad habit? by John W. S. Bradshaw, Emily J. Blackwell, Rachel A. Casey.
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2009/6361.html and people like Alexandra Semyonova in the States.

If you want a really good book for a first time puppy owner I would recommend a little booklet written by two APDT trainers who use only positive reinforcement training. It costs only £4 and will get you off to a good start.
'The Fast Track Puppy Survival Kit ' by Lynn Fleet and Helen Roberts...
http://www.dog-games.co.uk/shop/dog-...vival-kit.html

Another good book for dog owners is 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson which contains a mixture of understanding dogs and training methods.

Glad you are taking the time to learn and ask

I would find a good training class that uses positive training

As for 'methods'
Basicaly you decide what rules you want and train for them

Do you want your dog to wait at the door - it dosent make them boss if you dont but it makes it easier to get the keys sorted out
Do you want to eat first?? It dosent make the dog think you are the boss but with a puppy it means you are eating 5 times a day

Put simply dogs try things, if something nice happens they do it again, if something bad happens then they dont do it again

If you reward the things you like your dog will be happy and use its brain, you will gain more understanding of the fun individual you have

If you punish the things you dont like then you will spend your days looking for your pup doing the wrong thing. Your pup will be less happy to try new things incase something bad happens

EIther method works but I prefer a happy dog who isnt afraid to make mistakes - far more fun