Dominance - beacondogtraining Blog

Problem Behaviours

Why You Shouldn't Say "I Can Take A Bone Off My Dog"

Madeleine Ross, CPDT-KA, November 8 2018

As with many aspects of dog training, when teaching a “give” cue it’s important to consider not just the end result (does the dog drop the item from their mouth) but also the dog’s emotional state. The reason that this is so important when teaching give is that creating a negative association with surrendering valuable items to a human is one of th...

Problem Behaviours

Why Dogs Resource Guard

Madeleine Ross, CPDT-KA, November 8 2018

There is a lot of misinformation floating around the dog owning community regarding resource guarding. You’ve probably heard one or both of the following: “If your puppy growls at you over a bone, you can’t let them “win” and must take it off them” “Dogs that guard things are trying to be dominant – you must show them who’s boss”

Reactive Dogs

Why You Should Never Punish A Growling Dog

Madeleine Ross, CPDT-KA, November 8 2018

Famous animal behaviourist Ian Dunbar says that punishing a dog for growling is like removing the ticker from a time bomb. Dogs use growling as a way of letting you know that they are stressed or upset. If you punish a dog for growling, you run the risk that they will avoid the early warning procedure and go straight for a bite the next time that...

Canine Behavioural Science

No Such Thing As An Alpha Dog

Madeleine Ross, CPDT-KA, November 8 2018

The concept has been so universally accepted by our culture that telling somebody “there’s no such thing as an alpha in dog training” is met with a knee jerk reaction of denial. Most dog owners hear that statement with the same kind of scepticism they’d feel if they were told the Earth was flat or fire was cold.