Quote:
Originally Posted by cassingermany
but I educated myself about it from several different sources and had figured this is what was going on even before I read up on it.
|
I think where we got antsy was when you mentioned several posts back about reading from websites - as Criosphynx mentioned websites tend to be terrible sources of scholarly information. The articles that some of us suggested to you are written by animal behaviorists (some people call themselves "behaviorists" unfairly, to be a true behaviorist you must be a vet and then take additional training) and Ph.D research scientists who have also several books on dogs and dog training. The reason we are making our assertions against "dominant" humping is because of the work of those authors. Have a look at the credentials of the people who are writing the articles you are reading. Are they research scientists or have they "been working with dogs for 20 years." I do believe that experience is an excellent teacher, but experience and empirical evidence are two very different things. Many 'dominance' exercises (i.e., eating before your dog, never letting your dog on the furniture, always going first) have been tested in laboratories under controlled conditions with hundreds of animals and have been proven to have absolutely no effect on dog behavior - other than altering the dog's expectation in those situations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cassingermany
So I let her do it instead of going with my instincts and sure enough, Lily wasn't allowed near the dog bowls when she was eating even though they had separate bowls among other things like even getting near the couch. Lots of growling and several nips and yips (yipping on lilys part). She's calmed down a lot since stopping all behavior and lily is free to drink out of the same water bowl now at the same time.
|
The problem with "dominance" theory is that it is a superstitious belief. We see correlations of behavior and conclude that 'dominance' was the problem when we think that we changed one thing and the rest fell into place. But correlation does not equal causation. You mention many of Anna's undesirable behaviors extinguishing once you started re-directing her humping, but my guess is that you were also re-directing the other undesirable behaviors you saw (maybe you are saying this with "all behavior," sorry, i wasn't sure
). Regardless, dogs do what works. When those behaviors stopped being rewarding (she stopped getting access to resources when she behaved badly) she stopped exhibiting them. Not because you "demoted" her socially.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cassingermany
At the end of the day, we are dealing with it in calm terms. Everyone is adjusting and all of us are quite happy which is all anyone can ask for.
|
Absolutely. No one is questioning your bond or expertise with your dogs. You sound like you are doing a great job