More dog park fun!

Yesterday I went to the dog park for a client. She was having problems with her small dog when at the dog park. While I stated my opinion again that I do not prefer dog parks because of the inability to control certain factors (like the other dogs owners) I went with her. According to her, the dog would snap when another dog came up. In evaluating the dog, I found that this little girl was very small, and did not really want bigger dogs noses in places they shouldn’t be. She was not aggressive, just simply requesting politeness from other dogs. This is not the point of this post however.

Leadership and dominance

I have been thinking a LOT about leadership and dominance theories in dogs lately. It seems to be one of the most hotly debating topics in the industry. You have trainers that seem to think that you are the leader of your pack if you can physically force the animal to his side, and others who are now saying that there is no such thing as dominance in a dog.