You are its master. It should do what you ask.
I saw that in a comment on a blog post elsewhere, and it got me all riled up.
Nope. He is my partner. He does what I ask because we love to work together.
Recently, I shared an article on Facebook that, to me, reflects exactly the spirit of that Maya Angelou quote, “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”
We are at a unique place in human history in which our understanding of animals is firmly rooted in science, in hard data, rather than a religious or agricultural or cultural understanding. We have canine cognition labs at major universities around the globe. We have fMRIs conducted on our dogs. We have chemical data taken from saliva and urine, and the empirical analyses of what those changes mean. We have pictures of dogs’ brains when they see and smell specific things. The list of data goes on and on and on.
Rightly so, that has changed our approach to animal training.
Right?
Well, not exactly.
If you glance through the comments on that article, the one that outlines tons of the science behind the behavioral approach that is not only humane but is also effective because it’s based in hard, scientific data, the comments are like, “Nuh uh.”
Hmpf.
How have we become a society that regards opinion more than data? (I’m not just talking about dog training, of course…) If you don’t want to train your dog in a particular way for any particular reason, why can’t we just say that? Why do we accept, “Well, MY OPINION is this, so I’m discounting the science, and I don’t believe you anyway because I trained my dog this other way and he was fine”?
If, in the face of data that shows not only how your dog’s brain is working while he’s working, and you still choose to train in another manner, then so be it. But we really, truly, seriously need to stop elevating opinion over data.
It’s to the detriment of our dogs.
It’s to the detriment of our relationship with our dogs.
“Master” is arrogant. I don’t want to be “master” of my dogs. I want to be partners. Even if the science weren’t there, shining a bright light down the path of change, doesn’t it feel like a more humane approach anyway? A kinder way of working together than dominance and mastery? Emmett and I had a long working relationship that was built on mutual respect and trust. End of story. For us, anyway.
We know better. So why do some continue to choose not to do better?
Discuss.
Dominating a dog?! Being the ‘master’ of a dog? My beloved Hershey must have come from a place where people thought like that. All it did was give her a terror of brooms it took two years of work to overcome, and a nervousness around men, even one’s she knows well.
Love that you posted this! I completely agree with you, but probably not for all the same reasons. I love the science of it and i believe in the science. But even if the science didn’t exist, I also believe in myself. I am against relationships that promote dominance, the idea that any one being in the relationship is the ‘master’. While I believe sometimes I lead, sometimes you lead, it is wholeheartedly a partnership. I also believe in reciprocity, I give sometimes, you give sometimes, it will never be 50/50 but balance exists when you are not always looking to receive. I have always taken this approach with the dogs. I pay the bills because I choose to, I let them live in comfort because I feel its the right thing to do. They don’t owe me anything. What they give me is immeasurable. And when training them, I also understand that I am training myself. I am training my family. The goal for the training has always been, this is beneficial for them/our situation, not… this is going to make my life so much easier (I mean if that is an added result, great!).
Living creatures continually evolve. Where we descended from is very different than where we are today. I can say with absolute certainty that none of my dogs sense they descended from wolves or a pack ! How would they ever know that? I barely know where I come from and I can read and have conversations. Wow, i typed a lot!
I don’t understand why people continue to see a dog as a possession in the 21st century, when we have enough science and anecdotal evidence to prove they are social creatures just like us. They look to us for affection, to solve puzzles, and to be our working partner. How could anyone pass that up? I love so much how they (and our relationship with them) make us better humans.
My husband claims that since we’ve had our Glock, I laugh and giggle more.
Not to make light of it, but I am definitely not the master of my dogs. I am their caretaker. Sometimes their slave. I don’t need them to work for me, they are my companions, my allies.
Sometimes, I think it’s a case of Stockholm Syndrome.
I don’t know why these theories about pack leadership & being a master keep lingering on despite what we’ve learned. I think some people are just stuck in their views, while others might not fully understand that one thing they read somewhere (an opinion) that stuck in their mind as being right might not have much data to back it up.
I know we’ve come along way in understanding out canine companions recently thanks to behavioral/cognitive science and I hope it continues to shed light on the misconceptions we’ve had in the past.
If science cannot convince people, then they just don’t want to be convinced. Some people have such a hard time letting go of the past and understanding that things have changed because we know more. I could not even imagine thinking of myself as my dogs’ master!
It’s that idiot that got TV time who greatly messed up the progression of positive obedience. As soon as someone talks about being the alpha dog we know what we’re dealing with. Wake up people! Great post!
Keep Calm & Bark On!
Murphy & Stanley
Hi! We love your blog and would love to get our dog balm into your hands for a review. (We make Walter’s Dog Balm, a paw & nose balm for dry dog nose & paws/elbows!)
How can we make this happen?
PS: Definitely agree on the partnership. We’re a pack-and they listen to me because they trust me as their “pack leader,” not because they fear me. Great post!
People always shape their view of the world to support what props up their ego. Heck, even my insistence that Honey is my partner confirms the view I want to have of myself more than my reliance on science for the truth.
That said, I’m sad for the person who made that comment. They’re missing out on a lot. Not just for their insistence on being “master.” But also for their belief that a dog is an “it.”
I’m even more sad for their dog.
I can’t even imagine being “master” – makes it sound like the 19th century when white, arrogant, plantation owners owned not only livestock but also other humans and treated them all equally horribly.
I had a friend once who would harshly order his dogs to move if they were laying on the floor in his way to another area of the house. It drove me nuts. Whatever happened to simple courtesy? It doesn’t take any more effort to walk around the dog than it does to insist that they move. He’d tell me his house was too small for that nonsense. Like Jan K. said, some people don’t want to be convinced. Personally, I’ll keep walking around my girls – and even apologizing when I accidentally step on them – especially as they get older and have a harder time getting up because of their arthritis.
I’m with you. There are much more humane ways to live with our dogs than being arrogant and discourteous toward them.
I think part of the reason this thinking persists is because there are people who claim to be experts who teach the master/dominant line of thinking. It was definitely eye-opening for me to read the drastically different viewpoints when I got my first canine friend. Thanks for sharing that link – I wasn’t even aware of the science on this topic.
We occasionally begin to believe that our dog, Glock, should be more people friendly and we interview a trainer or look for advice. He was our first dog as adults and as one trainer pointed out, we’re older parents. My father, who was the dog master when I was growing up, is a proponent of dominating through physical punishment. His advice, though not sought, was given anyway as he handed me a fly swatter to smack him with. Glock was barking at his dog that had snarled and snapped at him. I threw it at him — Dad that is. He has always prided himself on being able to intimidate dogs. With Glock, he’s met his match. Meanwhile, he mumbles under his breath about what he could do with him if he was his dog. Dad, not the dog, is passive aggressive when he’s not outright aggressive. We also didn’t agree on child rearing.
Glock – a Blue Heeler/German Shepherd and something mix – is intelligent, stubborn, energetic, loving, protective, and large. I would no sooner hit him with something than I would have hit our son and he turned out all right). Besides, Glock would probably grab it thinking it’s a toy and head for the hills. A trainer had an abbreviated discussion with us when I objected to his denigrating the idea that too many of us treat our dogs as companions and members of the family. Sorry, that’s what Glock is. Next.
We finally found advice from a trainer who believes in training dogs as family pets — not service, circus, or police dogs but dogs to play with and take walks without dragging its owner through the neighborhood. There is no dominance or corporal punishment involved. Instead, there is a lot of patience, repetition, and increased human confidence.