Sorry IB I think these are outdated methods based on rank reduction.

Sorry to disagree again Ib but I find the whole idea of eating a cream cracker next to my dog while my dog eats it's dinner quite ludicrous
I put my dogs dinner down and leave her to eat in peace. My dog also eats before me at an earlier time and is in her bed sleeping when I have my meal.

I did a 20 hour study of Wolves at Whipsnade. There, when the food was thrown into the compound, the 'Alpha' male took each piece of food and, for want of a better description, handed it out. He kept the last piece to go over the fence.

The pups, who were around the 19 week mark, were accommodated by all the wolves in the pack and not one grumbled at giving up their own food for the pups to gnaw on.

In captivity, wolves behave differently to wolves in the wild and each captive pack behaves differently to each other. Domestic dogs behave totally different to either.

There is a lot of misconception about the benefits of studying wolves then relating it to domestic dog behaviour.

There was a very good programme on BBC recently where Gordon Buchanan went to observe Arctic Wolves it was fascinating and he was with them for weeks.
There was almost no animosity between pack members only with rival packs.

When the cubs were tiny they stayed in the den and food was brought to them.It could be small rodents caught nearby and fed straight to them of Moose caught and killed some distance away and brought back . As the cubs grew they went along on the hunt and if there was a kill shared it with the adults.

Ok if u say so . . .Im not an authority, I guess u are

Ok then, I stand corrected

Hi Ib no I am not an 'expert' on wolves but I love them and think they have been greatly misunderstood by many.

Alpha needn't be in quotes here. Wild wolf packs have alphas (and many claim our dogs have retained much of this). Also, not all wolf packs are the same. I do not like comparing captive wolves to wolves in their natural habitat, undisturbed by humans. They are different, same as how or dogs, influenced by us are often different together than packs of stray dogs. Needles to say, captive wolves would be far less aggressive than wild wolves. With everyone knowing there are no challengers or shortages of food, it makes sense that intelligent animals like wolves would learn to eat very peaceably.

I really take any trainer with a grain of salt. Unless they've met my dogs personally...someone like Cesar would bully Sophie and Callie might send him running for his life...film crew too. I think we can pull helpful techniques out of just about any trainer's work. But following their plan across the board can often be a mistake.

Myra I was not talking about captive wolves but wolves on Ellesmere Island in Canada. It was surprising how different the characters in one pack were, some quite shy others bold and playful but all very gentle and loyal to each other.
The pack is only as strong as the weakest member and they need each other for survival.
Therefore it is essential that pups are helped to grow strong even if the adults have to miss a meal