 Barked: Sun Oct 30, '11 2:26pm PST |
 | |  | | Dogs are not wolves, and the information you have on wolves is incorrect anyway. Wild wolves live in family units. The the "alphas" are nothing more than the parents. The old studies of wolves you are referencing are based on captive packs - which is akin to basing normal human behavior on what you see in refugee camps.
The major changes in domesticating dogs came about because dogs do NOT hunt in packs. They can and sometimes will cooperate to make a kill, but primarily they are scavengers and hunters of small prey (mice, rabbits, etc).
Dog training is science, and classes and titles earned 20 years ago mean squat. I find long-time trainers who don't keep up on research to be some of the worst, quite honestly. I was training 13 years ago too. Almost nothing is the same. That's why reputable organizations like the CPDT require re-certification every 5 years.
But, if these things are terribly are important to you, I have been working with dogs for 13 years. I have three Huskies of my own. Ember is one of 29 registered Flyball Huskies in the Nation (compared to over 5000 Border Collies). Prior to that I had a dangerous Beagle mix. I have left home and lived full time for two years in a house for rescue dogs, all with serious behavioral problems, to help with rehab and hopefully placement (breeds included Mastiffs, Rotties, Huskies, Malamutes, Aussies, Malinois, Pit Bulls, Corgis, Carin Terrier). I have been pet sitting professionally for over 3 years, living with everything from puppies to working dogs to special needs dogs. I have worked in daycare for over 12 years (dogs are all out together, all day). I have been working under an aggression specialist for the past 7 or so years. I began with a top trainer in the area who taught me the ins and outs of choke chains and alpha rolls (I can flip an Irish Wolfhound like nobody's business) and I have currently given all that up to click/treat dogs out of major reactivity/aggression issues. There's a reason for that. |  |  | |  |
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