Do people realize the dogs and their behavior is very complex and many great books have been written o this?

Question

Asking simple and often "childish" questions here will never give you a proper broad picture of a "dog as species".
This board is ill equiped for dealing with MESSED up dogs.
Dogs whose "owners" never bothered to study their pals properly. Educate yourself and try to UNDERSTAND your dogs as complex animals.

Answer 1

Actually, I think dogs are pretty simple to understand, it's just that they are different from us and some people can't get that. Everything dogs do has to do with pack mentality which makes it very easy to figure out why they do what they do, people just don't want to bother to educate themselves on the matter. They think it's just easier to 'rub their dogs nose in it" or 'tap them on the snout' whenever they do something wrong. Afterall, "dogs mess up just to piss us off", right?
If only people would bother to do some research, but let's face it, that doesn't happen very often. They just want an easy answer to the problems, it doesn't really have to be the right one.

Answer 2

I don't even think most of the people who post here realise that their dogs have minds that are different from those of humans'.

Unfortunately, none of them are ever going to read this question. I don't know why this is, but for some reason, every other person who asks a question here already has an answer in mind and blows up in self-defense when people give them the answer they don't want to hear.

'The Dog Whisperer' should also be taken with a pinch of salt - your dog is not a dominance freak, trying to "take control" of you at any given chance. You don't need to freak out and alpha roll your dog just because he walked through a door ahead of you. Call me a cynic, but I believe the success of Cesar Milan is based on the fact that people are too lazy to read actual books (non-fiction, OMG) and that people want a quick solution to training their pets (look, he cured that dog's aggression in 10 minutes!)

Answer 3

To be honest, I'm not too sure I like the approach "The Dog Whisperer" uses either. I think he's a little condescending towards the owners and he's too big on a one-size-fits-all approach. Not all people are alike and neither are the dogs. What works of one might not work for another. It would be better if this show did show some more of his less successful attempts. I can't believe his methods work every single time.

Answer 4

Yes there are tons of great books! yet i support the people who post here, at least they are trying. There are so many dog owners who totally ignore their pets its so sad. Hopefully the answers they get will lead to book reading and dog training classes. Some of the "Childish" questions may actually come from children.

Answer 5

But my dog only knows I love her when I feed her chocolates!!!

Actually, I've read some of these books you speak of, and I loved them. I'd have to add that I hope people will diversify their range of input - instead of just watching The Dog Whisperer, also read books about positive dog training, the Koehler method, etc, and figure out what makes sense. Read several books about dog behavior from different points of view - it's that complex.

Answer 6

No, people don't realize this...

Read

Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff

The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell

Two of my favs...I know there are many more books out there.

Answer 7

No, because nobody reads anymore. They just watch the "Dog Whisperer"

Answer 8

Unfortunately, people do not want to read books and actually learn something, all they want is a qiuck fix to their problems or validation for what they believe to be true.

Answer 9

amen