I so want to read these deleted posts Did they have lots of swear words? Anyway: Frosty12, you are not getting "conflicting" advice. You are getting advice here from people who understand modern dog training and why your relationship with your dog is so important - and how fear-based training methods can damage that relationship. If you ever get "conflicting advice", please look to the science and research to know what to follow. And I can assure you that there is zero science or research to support anything your vet is saying. Vets receive zero training (almost) in behaviour. Do you want to follow the advice of someone who is completely unqualified in canine behaviour, or do you want to follow science-based research? I deal all the time with people who have followed advice like that you've been given, and now have EVEN MORE behavioural problems to deal with. Their dog started growling and biting them when he was pinned down, so now they have aggression towards people to fix and a fear of human hands. Honestly, it really makes me mad that your vet thinks she can tell you crap like this. Please have a read of these links, for your dog's sake: https://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die https://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/ https://www.coddledcreatures.net/Debunking.pdf https://www.dogsmith.com/debunking-the-dominence-myth-in-dog-training/ (a whole list of reading, here) Dogs do what works: Do we believe that a dog is playbiting their own because they want to 'dominate' their owner? Or because they want to play with their owner in the way they would with another dog? Honestly, it's not rocket-science to see that this dominance thing is a load of crap. If you want to see a truly 'dominance based' society, look at human culture. Our culture is full of organisations with someone at the top and then hierarchies all the way down. We have the military, we have schools and universities, the church, politics - heck, even football associations, sports clubs, girl guides.... etc etc etc - almost every time a group of people come together, they have to have a hierarchy for some inexplicable reason to do with humanity. Dogs are a different species. The whole dominance thing, is what happens when human society projects ITS OWN structures onto another species. Please get another vet. I don't care how good she is as a physical vet at diagnosing physical problems: Vets should know their limits and should not give advice above what they are trained and qualified to provide. She is welcome to believe whatever she wants in private, but she should not be passing on advice to her clients when she is not qualified to do so and when it is dangerous advice.
