Your Dog is a Predator

I have been reading articles about “predatory drift” and I thought I would make a quick post about it. Predatory drift is when normal dog “play” crosses the line into predatory behavior.

Many things can trigger this such as:

1. Yelp

2. Over excitement

3. Pain

If dog’s are playing too rough and  and the smaller dog lets out a yelp, this could possibly trigger predatory instinct in the larger dog, they then see the smaller dog as prey. As you could imagine this could lead to injuries.

Predatory drift can be particularly dangerous in a dog park, when a yelp could trigger a whole pack of dogs to attack another. If your dog is playing too rough with another, especially if one of them is smaller, keep a close eye to make sure their playing doesn’t get out of hand.

You cannot mistake this predatory instinct as an aggressive behavior, it is not a conscious decision the dog is making, it is a primal instinct. All dog’s are predators by nature, it was a necessary survival tool before they became domesticated.

If you want to learn more about predatory drift, please look at the following two articles:

What is Predatory Drift on Dogtime.com

Dog play behavior and Predatory Drift by Gail T. Fisher

Also Jean Donaldson’s book Predation in Family Dogs is a great resource.

The Alpha Dog Training Myth

After reading the article Dog Training and the Myth of Alpha-Male Dominance from Time magazine, I thought it was a good time to express my views on this subject in the way of a numbered list.

1. How does Cesar Millan still have a show on National Geographic?

National Geographic seems to promote animal rights and humane treatment of animals, but do they really stand behind their own programming? Please do not take me for a crazed PETA activist, an organization I don’t want to be associated with. But there must be management or at least consultants that direct the executives at National Geographic on the trending of correct dog training. John Fahey (President & CEO of National Geographic), if your listening, and of course your not: Please review your programming!

2. Pat Miller, Patricia McConnell, Victoria Stilwell

These are some of the authorities on dog training that you SHOULD be listening to. Thank the lord that Victoria finally got a show on Animal Planet to teach the general public that positive dog training is the answer, and not alpha rolls and scruff shakes. Most modern trainers that believed in “Alpha Training” have at least enough dignity to say what they were doing was the wrong way, and that there are much better ways to go about training. The Monks of New Skete have published revised versions of their books explaining to their readers that there previous training methods were harsh and unnecessary. Even Ed Frawley from Leerburg Video & Kennel has stated that some of his previous beliefs, articles, and training videos are outdated. Almost all of his videos are now based on positive training.

3. The basis of Positive Dog Training

I have been doing a huge amount of research on positive dog training, it really has enveloped my whole life, and I love it! Some main points of positive training I have learned so far are:

• It is easier to train a dog what TO do, rather then what NOT to do.
• A good example of why positive punishment does not work: Say you come home from work and your dog just chewed up your favorite pair of shoes. You see your chewed up shoes as soon as you walk through the door, you are furious and start yelling. Your dog probably ate your shoes hours ago, and if you don’t catch the dog within 2 seconds of the misbehavior, the dog will just think your yelling at him because he greeted you at the door with a wagging tail. As you can see this could cause your dog to be quite confused.
• Positive reinforcement is the correct way of training. It’s easier, fun, and creates a strong bond with your canine companion.

Unfortunately our society has been absorbed in training beliefs that we must dominate our dogs. I hope the above authors/trainers and even myself can help to educate the public on the correct way.

I plan on posting a lot more about positive dog training, so please stay tuned!

Training Books

I am starting to do some more research on training books that I want to loosely follow… So far I have read:

The Art of Raising a Puppy – by Monks of New Skete

Bones Would Rain from the Sky – by Suzanne Clothier

I have been asking around and it seems like most people recommend the following:

The Power of Positive Dog Training – by Pat Miller

Schutzhund Obedience – Training in Drive – by Gottfried Dildei & Sheila Booth

Purely Positive Training – by Sheila Booth

I believe the next book I will start is Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller… I guess I have some time to decide, our pup wont be here for 2 more months! Does anyone have any suggestions?

If a dog’s prayers were answered…

This is the current book I am reading, one of the many in preparation for our new puppy. I am about half way through, and so far I am learning a ton about animal behavior and how to listen to and communicate with them.  I plan to give a full review once I am finished. This book has come highly recommended from many different sources, including the fine folks over at GSD.com