Thread: dog psychology books

Who's read what and what would be some good recommendations for understanding how,why,when

everybody like me and not read anything? Maybe ill have to wait for Ruff 's return for advice

You can have my study guide from my behavior class if I can find it but I think the majority of what's written on canine psychology is BS

Its an interesting subject and after a little research looking for a book I found some very interesting comments on the net .The guy Cesar Millan appears to be the man about town at the moment -I read some interesting things against his methodology .After work Ill see if I can find the stuff again

My impression of Cesar Millan is roughly the same of my impression of Ruff, there's probably some very good concepts there but he rarely puts any actual training information in what he writes and he's so full of himself it's off putting.

that maybe true , although I did read an interesting observation from Ruff on the other forum that motivated me to ask about a book on the subject matter -I think I would be a better trainer by understanding some of the ways a dog relates to things .In researching this a little some very interesting subject matter was raised about things I took for granted like pack mentality -like the wolf example often used and a socialized dog which isnt pack oriented and other dogs that act like scavengers and dont have a pack mentality but a very self centered one .Anyways tonight I will post some stuff I saw written for interest sake

Yeah just remember when reading there's a lot of bullshit and a bit of good stuff.

"Gundog sense and Sensibilty" - forgot who its by. Lent my copy to someone never to return, shame as it is long out of print..

One other by Whitney, can't remember the name of it. Something really obsure like "Dog Psychology"

Originally Posted by Pointer

"Gundog sense and Sensibilty" - forgot who its by. Lent my copy to someone never to return, shame as it is long out of print..

One other by Whitney, can't remember the name of it. Something really obsure like "Dog Psychology"

I got a copy of gundog sense and sensibility. New copy from a store in england if i remember correctly (bought offline)
Good book

Lucky, don't lend it to anyone!

I saw whitneys book -from the eighties or circa then .I will grab a copy of something as I am sure it can only make me better at what I enjoy .

here are a couple of interesting pieces to read -take it or leave it but I hope you enjoy them --wish I could write this stuff myself !!




By MARK DERR
Published: August 31, 2006

Miami Beach
Enlarge This Image
Jeffrey Decoster

WITH a compelling personal story as the illegal immigrant made good because of his uncanny ability to understand dogs, Cesar Millan has taken the world of canine behavior — or rather misbehavior — by storm. He has the top-rated program, “Dog Whisperer,” on the National Geographic Channel, a best-selling book and a devoted following, and he has been the subject of several glowing magazine articles.

He is even preparing to release his own “Illusion” collar and leash set, named for his wife and designed to better allow people to walk their dogs the “Cesar way” — at close heel, under strict control.

Essentially, National Geographic and Cesar Millan have cleverly repackaged and promoted a simplistic view of the dog’s social structure and constructed around it a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach to dog training. In Mr. Millan’s world, dog behavioral problems result from a failure of the human to be the “pack leader,” to dominate the dog (a wolf by any other name) completely.

While Mr. Millan rejects hitting and yelling at dogs during training, his confrontational methods include physical and psychological intimidation, like finger jabs, choke collars, extended sessions on a treadmill and what is called flooding, or overwhelming the animal with the thing it fears. Compared with some training devices still in use — whips and cattle prods, for example — these are mild, but combined with a lack of positive reinforcement or rewards, they place Mr. Millan firmly in a long tradition of punitive dog trainers.

Mr. Millan brings his pastiche of animal behaviorism and pop psychology into millions of homes a week. He’s a charming, one-man wrecking ball directed at 40 years of progress in understanding and shaping dog behavior and in developing nonpunitive, reward-based training programs, which have led to seeing each dog as an individual, to understand what motivates it, what frightens it and what its talents and limitations are. Building on strengths and working around and through weaknesses, these trainers and specialists in animal behavior often work wonders with their dogs, but it takes time.

Mr. Millan supposedly delivers fast results. His mantra is “exercise, discipline, affection,” where discipline means “rules, boundaries, limitations.” Rewards are absent and praise scarce, presumably because they will upset the state of calm submission Mr. Millan wants in his dogs. Corrections abound as animals are forced to submit or face their fear, even if doing so panics them.

Mr. Millan builds his philosophy from a simplistic conception of the dog’s “natural” pack, controlled by a dominant alpha animal (usually male). In his scheme, that leader is the human, which leads to the conclusion that all behavior problems in dogs derive from the failure of the owner or owners to dominate. (Conveniently, by this logic, if Mr. Millan’s intervention doesn’t produce lasting results, it is the owner’s fault.)

Women are the worst offenders in his world. In one of the outtakes included in the four-DVD set of the first season of “Dog Whisperer,” Mr. Millan explains that a woman is “the only species that is wired different from the rest.” And a “woman always applies affection before discipline,” he says. “Man applies discipline then affection, so we’re more psychological than emotional. All animals follow dominant leaders; they don’t follow lovable leaders.”

Mr. Millan’s sexism is laughable; his ethology is outdated.

The notion of the “alpha pack leader” dominating all other pack members is derived from studies of captive packs of unrelated wolves and thus bears no relationship to the social structure of natural packs, according to L. David Mech, one of the world’s leading wolf experts. In the wild, the alpha wolves are merely the breeding pair, and the pack is generally comprised of their juvenile offspring and pups.

“The typical wolf pack,” Dr. Mech wrote in The Canadian Journal of Zoology in 1999, “is a family, with the adult parents guiding the activities of a group in a division-of-labor system.” In a natural wolf pack, “dominance contests with other wolves are rare, if they exist at all,” he writes.

That’s a far cry from the dominance model that Mr. Millan attributes to the innate need of dogs by way of wolves.





Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

(Page 2 of 2)

Unlike their wolf forebears, dogs exist in human society. They have been selectively bred for 15,000 or more years to live with people. Studies have shown that almost from birth they are attentive to people, and that most are eager to please, given proper instruction and encouragement.

But sometimes the relationship goes very wrong, and it is time to call on a professional.

Aggression is perhaps the most significant of the behavioral problems that may afflict more than 20 percent of the nation’s 65 million dogs, because it can lead to injury and death. Mr. Millan often treats aggression by forcing the dog to exercise extensively on a treadmill, by asserting his authority over the dog by rolling it on its back in the “alpha rollover,” and through other forms of intimidation, including exposure to his pack of dogs.

Forcefully rolling a big dog on its back was once recommended as a way to establish dominance, but it is now recognized as a good way to get bitten. People are advised not to try it. In fact, many animal behaviorists believe that in the long run meeting aggression with aggression breeds more aggression.

More important, aggression often has underlying medical causes that might not be readily apparent — hip dysplasia or some other hidden physical ailment that causes the dog to bite out of pain; hereditary forms of sudden rage that require a medical history and genealogy to diagnose; inadequate blood flow to the brain or a congenital brain malformation that produces aggression and can only be uncovered through a medical examination. Veterinary behaviorists, having found that many aggressive dogs suffer from low levels of serotonin, have had success in treating such dogs with fluoxetine (the drug better known as Prozac).

Properly treating aggression, phobias, anxiety and fears from the start can literally save time and money. Mr. Millan’s quick fix might make for good television and might even produce lasting results in some cases. But it flies in the face of what professional animal behaviorists — either trained and certified veterinarians or ethologists — have learned about normal and abnormal behavior in dogs.
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Mark Derr is the author of “A Dog’s History of America: How Our Best Friend Explored, Conquered and Settled a Continent.”

THE DOG WHISPERER CONTROVERSY

With the popularity of The Dog Whisperer television show, books and products, the controversy over which methods are the most humane and effective ways to address behavior problems in dogs is dividing dog lovers all over the world.

While animal behaviorists, trainers and other dog professionals recognize that the show is exposing dog owners to the possibility that their dogs' behavior can be changed (and indeed, business is booming), the concern is that the show gives the false impression that behavior can be changed within a matter of hours and that the methods used are known to incite or increase aggressive behaviors.

This article will explore the controversial issues and will attempt to separate fact from marketing.

Wherever possible, additional links or book recommendations are provided as reference or to elaborate on the preceding issue. We strongly recommend those who disagree with this article read the links and/or books provided before contacting us.
"DOG PSYCHOLOGY": FLAWED FROM ITS FOUNDATION
On the show, all explanations given for dog behavior center around "dog psychology," which is defined as the dog being a pack animal that needs a pack leader. Unfortunately, this has little to nothing to do with actual dog behavior, but is based on common myths about wolf behavior.
Dominance: Wolves

This belief that dogs are pack animals that constantly battle for rank originated with studies of captive wolf packs in the 1940's and was later popularized by the Monks of New Skete in the 1970’s, which is what many trainers based their beliefs on for the next 20 years. These beliefs included the fear that dogs could physically harm us unless we "established our dominance." Methods such as alpha rolls and leash corrections were often recommended as a way for the dog owner to "establish dominance" over their dogs.
Alpha roll or omega roll? Closer observations of wolves over the last 40 years have shown that this infamous behavior is an act of submission, not dominance. A wolf voluntarily rolls on its back in a subordinate display. No contact is made, thus avoiding dangerous physical conflict.

However, there are problems with modeling dog training after these beliefs, including:

The early wolf studies were seriously flawed. First, the wolves were held in captivity and not in studied in their natural habitats. Second, the wolves had been captured from different wolf packs, creating a volatile and unnatural pack structure. Finally, the studies focused largely on hunting/feeding behavior, a small percentage of wolf behavior. None of these factors provided researchers with an accurate view of normal wolf behavior. According to one biologist, this study was akin to using the concentration camps of Germany and Poland to study natural human behavior.

More in-depth studies of wolves in their natural habitats over the last 50 years have since revealed that a wolf pack is made up of a family; the breeding pair who shares leadership, and their offspring (1), who stay with the pack until 2-3 years of age, when they start their own pack. Eventually, almost every wolf becomes an "alpha" if they survive long enough mate and breed.
Dominance: Dogs

Dogs are not tame wolves. The domestic dog evolved from primitive wolves approximately 14,000 years ago. Dogs exhibit behaviors that wolves do not, and do not display all the same behaviors that wolves do (2).

In Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin Behavior & Evolution, Ray and Lorna Coppinger write:

"Today, the popular dog press seems to feel that if dogs descended from wolves, they would have wolf qualities. But the natural selection model points out that the wolf qualities are severely modified. Dogs do not think like wolves, nor do they behave like them."

Observations of free-roaming dogs throughout the world reveal that dogs are social animals that are scavengers, not predators, and live much more solitary lives, as it does not benefit a scavenger to share limited resources with a large group of other animals. These dogs may form loosely knit groups, with animals joining and leaving randomly and frequently, a trait not seen in wolf packs.

Further, the domesticated forms of wild species will, as a general rule, revert back to their original form after being feral (wild) for a few generations. Dogs, of which there are many feral types throughout the world, have not reverted back to wolves either in appearance or behavior.
All of this evidence strongly discredits the romantic notion that dogs are watered-down versions of the wolf we know today. At best, dogs are watered down versions of wolf puppies, which are reliant on adult pack members to feed and protect them. In both dogs and wolves, puppies do not battle adults for rank or resources, nor do adults use violence to keep puppies under submission.

But don't just take our word for it. Watch this video from expert Adam Miklosi explaining why the dominance model is a flawed view of wolf and dog behavior:

Watch the full episode. See more Through a Dogs Eyes.
Bottom Line

Through a stroke of evolutionary luck, we are blessed with opposable thumbs, through which we have priority access and total control of everything that our dogs want, not to mention more sophisticated brains, which allow us to plan ahead.

By maintaining control everything the dog wants, including food, access and attention, and not giving them away for free or on demand, it is not necessary to get into power struggles with our dogs. We are already "dominant."


Related Articles

Dominance in Dogs
Why Won't Dominance Die?
Social Animals vs. Pack Animals
How to Do an Alpha Roll
The Dominance Controversy and Cesar Millan
Forget About Being Alpha
AVSAB statement on Dominance Theory PDF
What Ever Happened to the Term Alpha Wolf? PDF
Debunking the Dominance Myth PDF
Moving Beyond the Dominance Myth PDF
Beyond the Dominance Paradigm
Canine Dominance: Is the Concept of Alpha Dog Valid?

Advanced Reading

Alpha Status, Dominance and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs PDF
Wolf Pack Theory of Dog Social Behavior PDF
Attachment to humans: a comparative study on hand-reared
wolves and differently socialized dog puppies PDF
1 Leadership Behavior in Relation to Dominance and Reproductive Status in Gray Wolves
2 The Social Organization of the Domestic Dog: A Longitudinal Study of Domestic Canine Behavior and the Ontogeny of Canine Social Systems PDF
The Domestication of Social Cognition in Dogs (abstract) PDF

Recommended Books

The Other End of the Leash (basic)
Culture Clash (intermediate)
Dominance Theory and Dogs (advanced)

UNDERSTANDING AGGRESSION

According to the show’s website:

"Dogs become aggressive out of frustration and dominance. The frustration comes from a lack of exercise, and the dominance comes from a lack of calm-assertive leadership."

However, aggression is rarely caused by 'dominance'. Frustration due to lack of exercise may result in problem behaviors such as excessive barking and destruction and can contribute to existing problem behaviors, but it will not cause aggression.

So what causes aggression? Aggression is a response to something/someone the animal perceives as a threat. Aggression is used to protect the animal through the use of aggressive displays (growling, barking, tooth displays, etc.) or protect the animal through aggressive acts (biting).

Aggressive behavior is most frequently caused by fear due to various factors including, but not limited to:

Lack of proper and early socialization
Lack of training
Unskilled use of aversive methods/equipment
Traumatic experience
Genetic predisposition (poor breeding)

Medical issues can also be a cause of aggressive behavior in dogs. In the last ten years, dogs that came to us with reported aggression were diagnosed (by the dogs' veterinarians) with hypothyroidism, Cushing's Disease, mast cell cancer, urinary tract infections, hip and elbow dysplasia and more. This is why a professional trainer will refer dog owners to their veterinarian for blood work and other testing if illness or injury is suspected.

Some aggressive behaviors which do not have physical causes, but neurological, such as compulsive disorders. A popular internet video shows a dog attacking its own foot. This is a very good example of a compulsive behavior problem. Problems such as this would not be modified through exercise - in fact the dog in the video exhibited this behavior after returning from walks.

Aggression is also a natural behavior used to protect a resource the animal finds valuable including food, territory or offspring (and some will use aggression to win access to mates). Most members of the animal kingdom use aggressive displays to protect these resources. This can be seen in domestic dogs as food or object possession and territorial aggression (such as aggression towards mail carriers).

Whatever the cause, when aggressive displays are not recognized or punished (such as punishing a dog for growling without addressing the underlying cause), the animal is forced to escalate the threat to greater displays or resort to aggressive actions. Many of the dogs seen on the show are pushed to the point of escalation before their behavior is suppressed.

When a dog is pushed to the point that it reacts aggressively, the sympathetic nervous system, which controls what most people know as "fight/flight" response, becomes engaged in the brain. When this area of the brain is engaged, the dog's digestive system shuts down, as does the dog's capacity for learning.

This is why when we experience acute stress, such as fear (bear circling your tent), anxiety (a letter from the IRS) or trauma (grief), food doesn't seem remotely appealing and it is difficult to concentrate. This is why the belief that "food doesn't work with red zone/dominant dogs" is so prevalent in dog behavior mythology. When the dog is pushed to this point, the dog is in survival mode and no longer learning.

However, traumatic events do get remembered. So if the dog sees another dog, barks and then is jerked, kicked or shocked, the dog is not necessarily going to associate the "training" with its behavior, which is instinctive. It will very likely associate the aversive methods with the presence of the other dog, creating a more negative association.

In the cases of aggression towards humans, if the dog is punished for growling when the owner tries to take a bone away, the lesson the dog is learning is not necessarily that it has to "let" the owner take things away. In many cases, these dog learn that growling does not get the desired result, so they will later bite the owner without growling the next time the owner tries to take the bone. This is not an example of the dog becoming more "dominant" but a dog that is learning how to effectively communicate with humans.

Punishment often suppresses displays of aggression (barking, growling, lunging, etc.) but doesn't address the underlying cause of the behavior. In order to change the dog's behavior permanently, we have to change the dog's association to that situation through training and behavior modification.

To claim that dogs "become aggressive" due to dominance ignores the overwhelming amount of information about aggression. The explanation fits nicely into Millan's "Exercise. Discipline. Affection." mantra, but it doesn't hold up to even superficial scrutiny.
EXERCISE

On the television show, a great deal of importance is placed on exercise as a dog's primary need. Dogs do need exercise. The following is not an attempt to minimize the importance of regular exercise. However, most dog breeds were developed for particular work which requires both mental and physical exercise. Dogs need mental stimulation as much as physical exercise.

Mental stimulation, through training, tracking or other working activities satisfies a dog's need for both mental and physical exercise. Walking a dog on a short leash may be easier for the human, but gives the dog little aerobic exercise and does not allow the dog to gain mental stimulation from exploring his environment as he would with off-leash activities.

Mental stimulation exercises also satisfy the needs of dogs physically incapable of exercise due to arthritis, hip dysplasia or other health problems.

Forced Exercise, such as running a dog on a treadmill might satisfy a physical need to run, but does allow the dog to choose to run, nor does it provide mental stimulation, socialization or interaction with the owner. In the Federal Animal Welfare Act, treadmills are considered forced exercise and are not permitted as as a means of satisfying the exercise requirements for dogs in kennel facilities.

Treadmills still require time on the part of the owner, as a dog on a treadmill must be constantly supervised to prevent injury and the potential for abuse is high. There are other more satisfying activities such as walks, training and sports such as agility, Rally-O, herding, tracking or lure coursing available to dog owners through breed clubs and local training groups which can provide your dog with a physical and mental outlet that fits his breed.

Behavioral Fallout. Dogs that are reactive to dogs, people or other stimulus commonly found on walks can actually get worse with continued exposure. Would it reduce your stress levels to be chased by a bear? Of course not. Your survival instincts will kick in, sending your body into stress overdrive to keep you alive.

The dog's stress levels, including cortisol and adrenaline, are elevated with each walk and exposure to the triggering stimuli (person, animal or object). Not only do elevated levels of these hormones lead to behavior problems, but they undermine the immune response, leaving the dog more susceptible to illness.

This is why effective behavior modification programs start in low-stress environments, before gradually introducing the dog to increased levels of the person, animal or object that causes the aggressive behavior. Not necessarily entertaining television, but the results are long-lasting.
A Primary Need? Contrary to the claims made on the show, a dog's primary need for survival is not, in fact, exercise. If a dog were to spend all of its time and energy exercising, it would have nothing left for establishing and protecting territory, hunting/scavenging, or raising young. Exercise is accomplished through these actions, not instead of.

Ethological studies of wild animals have revealed that when all physiological criteria are met through food abundance, shelter and there is absence of predation animals will not "exercise". The conservation of energy is of utmost importance in wild animals and unnecessary expenditure is not a viable strategy. Therefore exercise happens as a result of animals satisfying other behavioral and physiological activities (e.g. foraging for food, socializing or seeking shelter

"Canine behavior." M.W. Fox. 1989 pp. 21-31

Training and other activities provide dogs with both the mental and physical stimulation necessary for their complete well-being. Well-trained dogs are also able to enjoy off-leash activities much more often, which provides them with adequate mental and physical exercise.

Additional Articles:

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Fetch?
Mental Entertainment for Your Dog
Lowering Arousal PDF
Play and Exercise In Dogs PDF
Animal Welfare Act: 9CFR3.8 PDF

DISCIPLINE AND AFFECTION: POSITIVE DOES NOT MEAN PERMISSIVE

With a greater understanding of behavior, today's behaviorists and trainers are now using positive methods to modify even the most extreme behaviors in dogs with great results. This includes dogs with severe aggression problems that may be facing euthanasia, or "red zone" dogs.

This does not mean, however, that the dog is not given boundaries, firm rules or is only responsive when treats are present. Positive training and behavior modification methods start with setting clear boundaries and controlling the resources in the dog's life, including affection and play, which are not given to the dog for free or on demand. This is done in a way that sets the owner up to succeed, so that they can control their attention, but still enjoy their dog's company and affection.

If dog owners don't set these rules and boundaries, they will be forced to rely on punishment, as they will have no other means to motivate their dogs. Many of these dog owners give the dog what it wants for free or on demand (i.e., becoming submissive) then punish the dog for assuming a "dominant" role. This is not a dog behavior problem, but a human behavior problem.
STRESS IN DOGS

One of the biggest concerns that the experts have with the television show is that many of the dogs show signs of significant stress, some even go to the point of biting the star of the show. While most people are able to recognize overt signs of stress such as barking, growling and baring teeth, dogs give numerous other subtle signals of stress before they resort to more impressive displays. Some of these subtle signals include:


Yawning
Increased respiration after little to no physical activity
Low or backward ear carriage
Repeated licking of the lips or nose
Increased and sudden shedding or dandruff
Low tail and body carriage
Tense and slow movement

If a dog is repeatedly exhibiting these signs during training, it is time to re-evaluate either the training methods, the environment, or the owner/trainer's behavior. Is the environment too stressful? Are the methods or equipment causing the dog pain? Is too much being demanded of the dog too soon?

We all need some stress to survive. Hunger is a form of stress. If we didn't feel hunger, we wouldn't eat. However, humane and dog-friendly methods don't just mean the absence of pain, it also means absence of undue stress. A dog that is stressed to the point of aggression, fear, or shutdown (learned helplessness) is physically unable to learn and any training attempted while the dog is in this state will be wasted.

Additional Reading

Body Language In Dogs
Canine Calming Signals
Calming Signals Gallery

Recommended Resources

Language of Dogs DVD

THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL

Are the dogs on the show truly rehabilitated? Rehabilitation suggests that the dog's behavior has been changed, that the dog is somehow cured of the problem behavior. And yet, the vast majority of the dogs featured on the show are still restrained by short, tight leashes or receive sustained aversive, such as leash corrections, finger jabs or held back by physical constraint, giving the illusion of control. Once those methods are removed, the dog resumes the behavior. This was evidenced when a dog named "Casanova" suddenly broke free from his pinch collar.

To understand why suppressed behavir is not the same as changed the behavior, one must learn the difference:

Behavior Modification is the process of permanently changing a dog's behavior by gradually exposing a dog (desensitization) to the triggering stimulus (dog, person, car, etc), then teaching an alternate behavior (counter-conditioning).

Just one example is a dog that shows aggression toward other dogs on walks would first be taught how to walk nicely on leash and pay attention to the owner when no dogs are around (it is not uncommon for these dogs to have poor leash skills), and then gradually expose him to other dogs while asking for the newly trained behaviors. Those behaviors are then rewarded and the proximity of the other dog is gradually increased. This process keeps the dog below the level at which they react (commonly referred to as the threshold) and gradually teaches the dog a more desirable response under stressful situations.

A dog with modified behavior willingly offers the alternate behavior, such as looking at the owner instead of lunging toward a strange dog, without a tight leash or physical restraint, allowing the owner to reward the more desirable behavior, rather than "correct" the undesired behavior.

Suppression is typically done through the use of force or flooding. Suppression of behavior stops the behavior in the moment, but requires the dog owner to constantly repeat the steps necessary over and over. Because so many dog owners want to know "What do I do when my dog..." this feels like a solution. However, it is not actually changing the underlying cause of the behavior and it requires the owner to constantly work to suppress problem behaviors.

Force includes punishment such as verbal corrections, leash corrections or jabbing a dog in the neck with your fingers. It can also include forcing "submission" by pushing a dog on its side or back.

While techniques such as this may immediately suppress the symptoms of the problem behavior (if it does not elicit an aggressive response which is often the case), the use of force can often make problems worse as the dog forms an association between the punishment and the trigger (the person, place or thing) that incites the aggressive or undesired behavior. In many cases, the frequency or form of punishment must be increased to maintain the suppression as the problem behavior often escalates over time.

Flooding. Flooding is prolonged and forced exposure to something that is or has become unpleasant. It includes pulling a fearful dog into a swimming pool or immersing a dog-reactive dog in an environment with numerous other dogs. If you are afraid of spiders, will it lessen your fear if I give you a massage with a pair of tarantulas?

When a dog is flooded, they can "shut down" from stress and won't exhibit any of the problem behaviors. This is not fixing the behavior, although it appears so to the untrained eye because the dog does not exhibit overt signs of aggression (although it will exhibit the more subtle signs of stress). A dog that is "shut down" or over-threshold is often not doing anything at all.

The primary difference between behavior modification and suppression is what happens when the dog is no longer restrained by the leash or physical aversives. In the example of the dog-aggressive dog, if the dog's behavior has been modified, then if the dog's collar breaks (as has happened on the show), the dog won't exhibit aggressive behavior, but will instead look to the owner, as the behavior modification program trained it to do.

True behavior modification is not always a fast process. Changing an established behavior can take considerable time and effort (look at humans who try every year to change diet, exercise routines and more), and while it certainly doesn't make for exciting television, the effects are more permanent than temporary suppression can achieve.

Additional Reading

American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior Statement on Punishment
Punishment: How Not To Do It

DOG PSYCHOLOGY OR POP PSYCHOLOGY?

Dog psychology or, more accurately, the study of animal behavior, is not a complete mystery that is left to the interpretation of a few individuals. While there are many areas in which our understanding is incomplete, there is a staggering amount of scientifically proven information available.

Additional Reading

Animal Trainer's Introduction to Operant and Classical Conditioning
What Were They Thinking? More Than We Knew
Clever Canines
Behavioral Science Turns to Dogs for Answers
Millennia of Human Contact Linked to Unusual Canine Cognition

Books

The Other End of the Leash
For the Love of a Dog
Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution
How Dogs Learn

CONCLUSION

Is exercise important? Absolutely! Do dogs need rules and boundaries? Certainly! Do humans need to stop equating dogs to humans and gain a greater understanding of dog behavior? Definitely! But how these goals are accomplished are of equal importance.

A basic understanding of canine behavior can give dog owners the knowledge they need to determine the right training methods for their dog and avoid those methods that offer new age explanations or pop psychology to sell old and potentially dangerous methods in a new package.

The fact that the very premise of the show has been proven to be false should be enough to make dog owners think twice before buying into the methods promoted. However, in our media-centric society, if it's on television, it must be true.

video link ---

http://video.pbs.org/video/1488005229

Originally Posted by el borracho

Its an interesting subject and after a little research looking for a book I found some very interesting comments on the net .The guy Cesar Millan appears to be the man about town at the moment -I read some interesting things against his methodology .After work Ill see if I can find the stuff again

Dog psychology...gee you are a tough teacher, El B...all this required reading you set for us is doing my head in...dog psychology...what psychology...all we need to know is that he has titanium teeth, loyalty like none other, a nose 50000 times more acute than humans, acute hearing, can howl, yodel like a banshee, you need a minimum of three on the bed to keep you warm in really cold weather, dog liver is toxic to humans (ask Mawson and co), the list goes on...they reckon we have been associated with the canine for some 20 odd thousand years, so really if we do not understand them now, we never will...Stephen Budiansky in his book The Truth About Dogs concludes with "lets face it: if dogs truly were human, they would be jerks. As dogs, they are wonderful".

Famous dog trainers such as the ilk of Millan are no more clever with dogs than most...but for two factors...he exercises a practical and logical commonsense and is not afraid of canines (and screening dogs make good makes good ratings). I have watched two episodes of the television series...it is not the DOGS he was sorting out, but the HUMANS.

C.W. Meisterfeld because of his gundog back ground

C.W. Meisterfeld (3/1929 – 5/2006) was a canine psychoanalyst/therapist/trainer whose dog training experiences (as a teenager) began in 1944 and he turned professional ten years later, in 1954. Meisterfeld was an A.K.C. licensed handler (retired) trainer for competitive Conformation-Obedience and Retriever trials. He bred German Shorthaired Pointers, Irish Setters, and Labrador Retrievers. A professional hunter guide at exclusive Upland Game hunting clubs and the pioneer of canine psychoanalysis and psychological dog training (1963), Meisterfeld taught canine behavioral psychology in California colleges and Universities. His philosophy of “Mutual Respect” and “Train Without Pain” has earned him the Canine Distinction Award for A.K.C. Obedience (1957) and National Retriever Championships for three consecutive years – 1962, 1963, and 1964 – with a perfect score of 500 points in 1962. Meisterfeld was the first canine psychoanalyst to be certified as an expert Witness in the judicial system of the United States (California’s Superior Court, 1982). Meisterfeld authored eight dog behavior/training books with four (4) presently in print.
C.W. Meisterfled brought his unique dog training philosophy and skills to Petaluma, Ca. as the ” Pioneer of Psychological Dog Training” where he established the School of Psychological Dog Training. In 1982 he was certified as a canine psychoanalyst/therapist and expert witness by the U.S. Judicial system. Among many achievements, he was awarded the A.K.C. Canine Distinction Award in 1957, the Writers Award for Excellence, authored many books and articles which are recognized throughout the world. William lived his life according to his philosophy: “Mutual Respect and Trust ” and was responsible for saving the lives of several thousand dogs who would have killed due to their behavior. His teaching goes beyond that of and for dogs. He knew that dogs behaved badly because of mistakes made by their owners and consequently, enriched the lives of human beings in the process of dog training.

Even more important, in over 45 years of Specializing in rehabilitation of aggressive dogs, biting dogs, problem dogs, many dogs were saved from death by these methods and returned to their happy owners as safe and well-mannered pets.


i picked up all his books off for about 4-5 each $ off amazon ...... i think his books are worth a read,,, you may or may not get some thing from them but if you get them cheap as i did they are a good tool to turn to at times