We DID PITT BULLS BEFORE!

[baldguy]

134. Who is Alexandra Semyonova?

What are her academic credentials? What degrees does she have? She describes herself on her website as an "animal behaviorist". Elsewhere, she claims to be a psychologist. Do you have any idea of what peer-reviewed papers she has published?

The fact is, she has no academic credentials or degrees. She has not published any papers for peer review. And her big book "The 100 Silliest Things People Say about Dogs" is a self-published work from a vanity press. Her major premise seems to be that dogs only operate normally within an extreme, rigid dominance hierarchy (aka "Alpha Theory&quot - except for Pit Bulls, who don't respond to or accept dominance. Therefore, they're not "normal" dogs. Of course, this is simply circular reasoning and there isn't a more pure strain of bullshit to be had anywhere.

There is not a single recent, credible study or paper defending dominance hierarchies and/or alpha theory. Anywhere. Semyonova even disputes her own premise in a blog entry on her own website:

“This study shows that the existence of the phenomenon "dominance" is questionable, but that in any case "dominance" does not operate as a principle in the social organization of domestic dogs. Dominance hierarchies do not exist and are in fact impossible to construct without entering the realm of human projection and fantasy.” -- The Social Organization of the Domestic Dog

Here are some of the things real scientists & canine professionals are saying about it:

http://www.dogster.com/forums/Behavior_and_Training/thread/553729

“Writers who refer to dominance and alpha behaviour in dog training are basing their message on outdated and now disproved theory (Steinker, 2007a). “ -- The Alpha Theory: based on a misguided premise - Debra Millikan, Chief Trainer of Canine Behaviour School in Adelaide

“Both he [Dr. Peter Neville] and Dr. John Wright believe in anthropomorphism when discussing the emotional states of dogs. His theory was that to change aggression, you must change the emotional state of the dog to do so, and release stress through activity. He does not accept that there are many true dominant dogs (if any) and therefore (in his opinion) the canine/human hierarchy is really a myth.” -- Training Bytes aggression symposium at the University of Guelph -- comment by Linda Hamilton

“It won't be hard to get the wolf pack mentality to go by the board simply because we don't think many of the experts ever really believed it. It is through social play behavior that animals learn from one another. Further, it is fun to play with our dogs even if none of us learn anything. It will certainly make more sense to the dog than to be tumbled onto its back and growled at by a human.” -- A Talk with Ray Coppinger, PhD & Lorna Coppinger

“However, scientists believe that a dogs do not have a sense of self so it could be more accurate to say that it behaves with no inhibition and it is uninhibited behaviour that we interpret as dominant behaviour. Owners often describe a belief that their dog is trying to increase its status over them. This would require that their dog has a capacity for forward planning and to know how its behaviour affects the feelings and thoughts of others, which we believe they are not capable of. So the notion that the dog behaves with lesser or greater inhibition according to who it is interacting with and the value of the resource in question may be a better way of describing what is going on.” -- Canine Dominance Revisited -- David Appleby MSc CCAB

“There is strictly no such thing [human-dog hierarchy] - people are predominantly parent figures to their dogs, not pack leaders in hierchical arrangements and there is a wealth of science from evolutionary biologists such as Professor Ray Coppinger to substantiate that view” -- Interview with Dr. Peter Neville

“The most significant problem with viewing dog-human relationships in the context of social dominance is that it implies and promotes an adversarial relationship between the two. It sets up a win-lose scenario, that actually ends up in a lose-lose scenario (as most win-lose scenarios do). It is incompatible with cooperation by its very nature, cooperation being something you need to promote an effective bond and training environment.” -- What’s Wrong with Dominance Theory & Aversives -- James O'Heare

“Dog trainers have commonly accepted a model of training based on a supposed emulation of the behaviors of wolves, particularly Alpha wolves. Central to this model is the notion of “dominance”. This model is conceptually flawed in that it rests on some serious misconceptions about wolf behavior as well as serious misconceptions about the interactions between dogs and humans.” -- Moving Beyond The Dominance Myth -- Morgan Spector

““Alpha” wolves (now called “breeders” by most wolf biologists) do not train other members of the pack. Current wolf studies have also shown that they are not always the leading animals when wolves travel, nor do they always lead in hunting or eat first when a kill is made.” -- Some Thoughts on Letting go of the Dominance Paradigm -- Beth Duman

“dominant and submissive behaviors aren’t what they seem: they’re more rightly called threatening and non-threatening postures. And they aren’t inherited traits in dogs and wolves, nor are they part of the pack instinct’s non-existent hierarchical structure; they’re simply communicative postures that express a dog’s inner anxiety.” -- Is Your Dog Dominant, or Just Feeling Anxious? -- Lee Charles Kelley

“Dominance theory is so muddled that it often contradicts itself. For example, if a "dominant dog" is acting aggressively and the solution is through "calm-assertive" energy which makes the human the "dominant pack leader," wouldn't a dominant dog act calm-assertive instead of aggressive?” -- The Dog Whisperer Controversy -- Lisa Mullinax CPDT

“Labeling a high-ranking wolf alpha emphasizes its rank in a dominance hierarchy. However, in natural wolf packs, the alpha male or female are merely the breeding animals, the parents of the pack, and dominance contests with other wolves are rare, if they exist at all. During my 13 summers observing the Ellesmere Island pack, I saw none. Thus, calling a wolf an alpha is usually no more appropriate than referring to a human parent or a doe deer as an alpha. Any parent is dominant to its young offspring, so "alpha" adds no information. " -- Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1196-1203; Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs -- L. David Mech, Senior Scientist, Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey

“First, because it does not seem to occur in the wild, this article suggests the strong dominance hierarchy that has been described for wolves may be a by-product of captivity. If true, it implies that social behavior—even in wolves—may be a product more of environmental circumstances and contingencies than an instinctive directive. Second, because feral dogs do not exhibit the classic wolf-pack structure, the validity of the canid, social dominance hierarchy again comes into question.” -- Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science; Volume 7, Issue 4, 2004, A Fresh Look at the Wolf-Pack Theory of Companion-Animal Dog Social Behavior -- Wendy van Kerkhove

The sad fact is that there's so much really really good information out there, and there's no need to taken in by the insane anti-Pit Bull propagandistic bullshit.