I'm a firm believer in 'What works.'
Sometimes my training methods are a bit unconventional.
And I have to agree with you about the self-confidence. Shoring up Macie's turned her a stiff-legged, head-hanging catatonic to throwing full body blocks on the big boys during play.
Course, Cass and Cole worked with her even better than we could, finally convincing her to take that last step and actually play with the Pack.
That first 'myth' about feral dogs not forming tight packs... That one I'm still mulling over. So many things determine the feasiblity of social organization: relatedness, distribution and abundance of food, etc. I wonder if there are conditions under which feral dogs
do associate more strongly...but of course, having coddled house dogs, it's not something I can test even anecdotally!