Teaching Your Dog Behavior Techniques Is 'Worthless'

 

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Magee said that for their own safety sometimes you have to be forceful but the key is you have to do it so the dog doesn't know it's you squirting the lemon using a remote control.

She added, "Sometimes my husband gets in the dog bed to enforce himself as leader of the pack and it lets the dogs know who is in charge."

Not everyone agrees with the study's findings. Dog behaviorist and obedience trainer Stan Rawlinson told ABC News that while he agrees in part with the study, he disagrees that dogs do not show dominate behavior.

Rawlinson also said that academics are slow to suggest alternatives usually because they don't know any. He thinks that many dog trainers have been "getting it wrong."

"They have been incorrect in their methods and beliefs for many years but they have not kept up with new ideas and techniques. In many cases, they are what I call one-trick ponies."

He added, "The problem with the people who advocate the Alpha and rank reduction route, is either they do not understand or they choose to ignore the fact that behavioral problems in dogs often have wide and differing backgrounds. Pack dynamics only involves approximately 15 percent of the cases that I have to treat."