Many of my clients come to me confused about how to train their dogs. It’s not only the fact that they don’t know how to apply the training themselves but mainly they are unsure about crossing the invisible humane line when starting to do so. This is either because they have watched or read something written by the positive reinforcement only school – where even the ‘word’ No is too negative for a dog to handle, or they may have even heard of the opposite extreme of dog training that warrants that your dog must be terrified of you to become submissive, subservient and obey. In theory both of these views are laughable and anyone with an inkling of common sense knows it. People are just unsure where else to go next.

The problem in our understanding begins if and when we begin to humanize our dog. Dogs are animals not humans. They are not and never will be that incredibly annoying title of fur-babies – they are not babies and they are not human, so please drop it people! If we do not understand the difference between animals and humans then we are in trouble. In fact we are probably an animal ourselves in that case. It is surprising just how many people think that we are simply animals and there is no difference between us and them. It often occurs to me when I am driving along the motorway what would happen if a bunch of chimpanzees where driving the cars in that moment instead. A catastrophe on a biblical scale no doubt.

The issue at hand is whether we can work and improve or even eradicate dog’s behavioural issues using positive only methods, such as food rewards, as many suggest but none can actually prove. Yes, food is a great motivator for dogs and yes I use food as a positive reinforcement tool myself as a ‘trainer’, rather a lot. But as a method to overcome a dog’s emotional response to something that it is fearful of or wants to annihilate, I think not. Even just saying it the concept sounds ridiculous. I mean how many Mars bars would we have to eat to stop being fearful of somebody following us on a dark night? Or to stop you hurting someone because you like doing that type of thing? Exactly!

In the animal world it is always best to look towards nature to discover the solution to the problem that we have and then apply that in a way that we can communicate precisely. If we observe dog behaviour and see how they rectify aggression in other dogs we can learn a lot from that. For sure they don’t pull out a bag of treats to pacify the aggressor or something similar. Nor do they pander and sooth the them. Nor do they walk away in the hope that next time they might feel less angry. All of what most trainers and behaviourist pedal as a way to rectify this type of problem. What actually happens in truth is a battle occurs. A more ‘confident’ (not aggressive) dog will challenge the aggressor. They have a stand-off. The aggressor will try to attack but gets defeated over and over again, not by mindless violence but in a balanced way. Put in their place so to speak. Effective and direct communication. Not angry not scared but calm confidence by the dominant dog, over and over until the antagonist gives in, and that is the key – they must give up immature position and let go. When that happens the aggressions goes with it, and then the best bit happens – they start to play together. What appears to be negativity in the end leads to harmony!

For more information, please refer to my Aggressive Dog Package page, or call The Dog Wizard on 07926 911825. If you prefer, complete my Online Contact Form and I will get back to you as soon as possible.