Vet to back modern, positive dog training

A small animal veterinary surgeon and social media influencer recently spoke out against outmoded training advice for dog owners that insists they become the pack leader or alpha.

Dr Ben Simpson-Vernon called the approach outdated and debunked its effectiveness. He said that the dominance theory was founded on research from the 1940s, performed on unrelated captive wolves that were forced to live in a zoo together. He stated that in the wild, wolf packs work as parent-led natural family units and do not aggressively fight for control like the animals in the study. More importantly, he stated domestic dogs are not wolves.

He explained that attempts to assert dominance over a dog does not embed a sense of hierarchy in the animal but can instil fear instead. If a dog is threatened, but is unable to hide or take flight, it switches to fight mode as a survival reaction. He added that when dogs display behaviour like growling, they rarely trying to dominate people, but are driven by anxiety, fear or unclear communication.

The veterinary surgeon, who graduated with a distinction from the University of Cambridge, recommended that owners in need of support should approach modern trainers and canine behaviourists who base their council on scientific evidence and focus on positive reinforcement training.

Today, positive reinforcement is considered among the most scientifically advised and effective approaches to training a reactive dog who is barking, freezing or lunging due to anxiety, fear or overstimulation.

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