Dominance fact or fiction

..... by Barry Eaton, ive been waiting nearly 6 weeks for this book and it finally arrived thismorning, i was just wondering if anyone else had read it, and if so what they thought about it?

Dominance is something ive had my doubts about since we got kiera, as she came to me with issues (i love a challenge, 10 1/2 stone dog with issues ) The best bit was she was being dominant with females (of the human variety).

Now kiera is about as dominant as my left foot! She had been displaying learnt behaviour... not dominance, i think ppl put all kinds of behaviour down to being dominant, too quickly.

Ive got to pick my son up from school now but i'll finish this when i get back at some point, but id like ppls opinions on dominance and what they actually percieve dominance to be

Emma

i agree, i think its learnt behaviour. Like people say ur dog is being dominant if they go thru the door b4 u, but really they dont understand the rules.

well at least someone else knows where im coming from and im not going completely mad!
Thanks jenny!

I'm undecided, I read jan Fennells book with interest, and some of it did seem to make sense. To be fair I have not read the book you have mentioned, but i have heard that too much emphasise is placed on the 'Dominance' theory..........so am gonna sit on the fence on this on


libs

Ive read jan fennels book and i really liked it although i have had a serious slating for doing so from another site......but who cares eh!
Liberty if you get the chance, honestly read this book, it kind of throws a whole new light on the subject!!

I will definitely read this book, having read ms fennells and taken a few ideas from it, and discarded a few.It'S always interesting to read anything about dog behaviour though, so thanks!!

Its a difficult book to come by candie, its only 21 pages long (which i have to admit i was quite disapointed with that after waiting so long for it) But it is very informative and definately gets you thinking.....

ISBN 0 9533039 1 8 so u can find it.

I orderd it from amazon nearly 2 months ago and only just recieved it thismorning. The bloke who has wrote it has a diploma in companion animal behaviour, is a member of the association of pet dog trainers, and is a tutor for the animal care college for courses on canine training, behaviour, and psychology,
so he should know what he is talking about lol

Emma
the best bit os it only cost £4 !! hehe

I have not read the book but presume it is referring to dog-human dominance.

I tend to think that we are too quick to ascribe the label 'dominant'. It is a convenient, fashionable, blanket term that is frequently used inappropriately to explain the cause of too many types of unwanted behaviour from puppy mouthing, lead pulling, etc. through to fear-biting. Dominance is not usually the cause of problem behaviour, but is the effect of poor training, lack of socialization, etc. It is therefore likely to be a learned response rather than an inherent characteristic.

I believe that the dominance theory, as I understand it, has merit when applied to interactions between dogs, but I am very sceptical when it is applied to the relationships between dogs and people. I fail to see how any dog can dominate a human unless it is permitted to do so. A dog needs leadership. It needs to be shown the acceptable boundaries and to have confidence in its owner. If we fail the dog in this regard then confusion and conflict occur.

Ok, gonna say this.

I believe that 95% of all so called "dominance" cases are learned. And I don't think that most dogs are truely dominant. Just they don't know the rules, and we want to have something other than our mistakes to blame.

BUT.....

I have known very dominant dogs, and I own a dominant dog (Tamino). So shall we say, I'm not looking at the picture with rose tinted glasses.

All in all, I totally agree with SB.

If you buy it direct from Barry, it'll probably arrive quicker.

http://www.dog-dominance.co.uk/

Marion