selectopaque answered Wednesday August 2 2006, 10:14 am: You already know my opinion on this subject. (I asked the question earlier about the Monks of New Skete)
I do not necessarily think that they are dog mistreaters, but I definatly don't think they're Great dog trainers.
They probably think that their methods are very helpful. But, I honestly believe that they are harmful in most situations.
You mentioned that they believe in these methods because that's what the mother dog or wild dogs would do to a misbehaving younger dog. But, that really isn't true. For the longest time, the monks of new skete have been talking about a method of rolling your dog over and staring it in the eye, or even growling at it. They're reasoning was because that is what the mother dog would do in the wild.
The truth is that there is no.. absolutely NO research showing that this is what wild dogs do. Like I said, this method will lead to a fearful dog.
In the dog world, staring, growling, hunching over another dog, etc are all considered aggressive behavior. If one dog does that to another dog, it's kind of like saying, "I don't like you, stay away or I will bite"
To have an owner do this to a dog will only tell the dog that the owner is dangerous. Some dogs will shy away and do as the owner says. People will then think that the method has worked and the dog will now listen to you because your "dominant" But it's only that the dog is afraid of you. Other dogs will not shy away, there are dogs who see their owner as dangerous and then think that they have to bite first before their owner bites them.
You asked what I would have said to the person who asked the question about their aggressive golden retriever, If you go back to the question, you will see that I already gave my answer. I would have added more about the aggression part, but felt that nallie sufficently answered that, and there wouldn't have been a whole lot more for me to add on that part.
Now, you mentioned "This form of discipline resembles how a mother dog disciplines her pups and is not inhumane!" I'm just saying that that isn't true. You will never see a mother dog rolling a puppy over and staring at it or growling (which is what the "NO!" is supposed to make up for)
You gave good points otherwise, such as never saying the dogs name when you discipline. I just think you need to re-think who you go to for training books. The Monks of New Skete might have a few good points, but I really feel that they have a few quite harmful training methods, and that makes it well worth it to stay away from their books. [ selectopaque's advice column | Ask selectopaque A Question ]
Attention: NOTHING on this site may be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without explicit consent (in writing) of the owner of said material, unless otherwise stated on the page where the content originated. Search engines are free to index and cache our content. Users who post their account names or personal information in their questions have no expectation of privacy beyond that point for anything they disclose. Questions are otherwise considered anonymous to the general public.