an interview of Rob Alleyne, by DVM "Dr Cat" of PetStreet

[leashedForLife]

I came across this clip when looking for info on Mr Alleyne, after a new-puppy owner posted that they'd be training their pup in classes offered [by him? / at his facility?].
It has an interesting premise - justifying punishment by painting reward-training as "permissive".


TITLE: Robert Alleyne on 'Puppy classes & "dog experts" -
an interview with DVM Catherine a-k-a Dr Cat, of PetStreet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_HibXpx5jA

Early on, she asks how he got into dog training & dog behavior; shortly thereafter, he & DVM Cat agree that in both their experience as animal pros over recent years, dogs are increasingly badly-behaved AND "increasingly aggressive" - allegedly, dogs bite more often, & it's implied that they also bite with less provocation.

Where are the stats to back this up? - I haven't seen them.

QUOTE, beginning at 1:35 -
"In the last 20 years, there's been a real move away from ever saying 'no', don't punish -- ppl, dogs, anything - U're supposed to ignore the wrong behavior, & only reward the right behavior.  
But what we forget is that dogs are naturally warning animals,  they're animals who do say, 'I don't like this, & i want U to stop it', & i think that the less U say that, the more U try to say to the dog that it's OK, this is not an animal [who] appreciates [that sentiment], so U can't say, 'if i'm really nice to U, U're supposed to be nice back'.
What the dog will often do is say, 'Well, U're just very weak, aren't U?, so I'll just do whatever i like -- If i run away, well, U just wait till i come back, & give me a biscuit.'
So what's the incentive to not run away?" [ends 2:14]

He's claiming that the supposed increase in dog-aggro is BECAUSE we supposedly act like weak chumps, & dogs take advantage of our perceived weakness.
I do not think dogs are Machiavellian plotters - dogs are smart, but they are not vindictive, don't form conspiracies, & don't arrange underground meetings thru coded messages on MeetUp-dot-com.

What do U think? - Are dogs more aggro now, do they bite "more than they used to"? -- & if so, when was that, when dogs bit less, or bit rarely?

 

[leashedForLife]

I also don't agree with Mr Alleyne & Dr Cat that dogs are any  'more aggressive' toward ppl than they were previously; I **do**  OTOH, think that humans are a lot less animal-savvy than they used to be, & I **do** think this contributes to ppl doing stoopid things that dogs will naturally dislike or resent.   IMO, back when we traveled by horse & carriage or steam train, ppl knew better than to do these irritating or intrusive acts, because the majority of folks lived on farms, with livestock & wildlife around them, easily observed every day.

Even many of the cosmopolitan city-dwellers of the 1860s / 1900s grew-up on farms, or had relatives on farms - & in the city, they saw horses daily; they were everywhere. Horses moved freight & trams & hansom cabs & the delivery carts & door-to-door sales wagons - the milkman, fish peddler, rag-&-bone cart, greengrocer, baker's van, the tinker to repair pots, all came by horse-drawn wagon. Dogs were also everywhere in cities of the Industrial Revolution - they ran free in the streets, stole food, fought, mated, were hit by carriages & kicked by passersby.

the Industrial Revolution began the process of separating us from other species; even domestic species such as chickens that practically everyone had, moved away from us, & became exotic.
Nowadays, pets - mostly dogs & cats, but other domestics & exotics, too - are the only animals most folk see often, & if they do not live with pets of their own, they do not know them well. A video on the web or a TV show is not seeing the animal in the flesh, watching --- as they react to U, to changing circs, to a startling event.

Are dogs more aggressive?  - Are ppl more ignorant of nonhumans? -- or are both true, or neither?
 - terry