Doing some "homework" reading...
I haven't read LJ in about a week, but I thought I'd pop in to post some interesting reading links:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/my-puppy-my-self/201202/mea-culpa-mech-apology-bekoff
Dr. Bekoff apparently sent a copy of my post to Dr. Mech, who responded with the following: "A quick scan of the Kelley article reveals much misinformation attributed to me. This misinterpretation and total misinformation like Kelley's has plagued me for years now. I do not in any way reject the notion of dominance."
...
Since I consider myself a neo-Freudian dog trainer, and since young puppies do exhibit behaviors that could be viewed as dominant and submissive, behaviors that take place before the pup's brains are fully developed (meaning they're the products of unconscious urges, not rational thought processes), these labels may not be as anthropomorphic as I thought.
...
My first mistake was referring to the concept of dominance as a myth. That's a charged word, one that carries with it the implication that scientists who have dedicated their lives to understanding animal behavior are all operating under some kind of mass delusion. I deeply regret making that insinuation, however unintentionally. In recent years, it's become fairly common in the dog training world for some of us to talk about "the myth of dominance" in a somewhat cavalier way. What's generally meant by this is that the idea of dominating a dog, as the basis for a training system, isn't based on real science and can be harmful to the human-canine bond. [I certainly don't disagree with this!]
Other interesting links:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201202/social-dominance-is-not-myth-wolves-dogs-and-other-animals
You can download one of David Mech's latest articles here: http://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/1076
This entry was originally posted at http://goingferal.dreamwidth.org/5140.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/my-puppy-my-self/201202/mea-culpa-mech-apology-bekoff
Dr. Bekoff apparently sent a copy of my post to Dr. Mech, who responded with the following: "A quick scan of the Kelley article reveals much misinformation attributed to me. This misinterpretation and total misinformation like Kelley's has plagued me for years now. I do not in any way reject the notion of dominance."
...
Since I consider myself a neo-Freudian dog trainer, and since young puppies do exhibit behaviors that could be viewed as dominant and submissive, behaviors that take place before the pup's brains are fully developed (meaning they're the products of unconscious urges, not rational thought processes), these labels may not be as anthropomorphic as I thought.
...
My first mistake was referring to the concept of dominance as a myth. That's a charged word, one that carries with it the implication that scientists who have dedicated their lives to understanding animal behavior are all operating under some kind of mass delusion. I deeply regret making that insinuation, however unintentionally. In recent years, it's become fairly common in the dog training world for some of us to talk about "the myth of dominance" in a somewhat cavalier way. What's generally meant by this is that the idea of dominating a dog, as the basis for a training system, isn't based on real science and can be harmful to the human-canine bond. [I certainly don't disagree with this!]
Other interesting links:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201202/social-dominance-is-not-myth-wolves-dogs-and-other-animals
You can download one of David Mech's latest articles here: http://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/1076
This entry was originally posted at http://goingferal.dreamwidth.org/5140.html. Please comment there using OpenID.