Looked at on a brief discussion s Alexandra Ortega (Dogs of Pegasus) and Anders Hallgren, transmitted on Morning studio (SVT Play) this morning. The conversation / debate about dog-rearing, and Alexandra Ortega belong to a school within the dog world that is considered the complete opposite of Anders Hallgren.
I never stop amazed at the sheer stupidity of people, when it comes to dog training. There are so many kinds of stupidity, in addition, that I become completely dull. Partly the stupidity that makes the dogs tricky, secondly, the stupidity that makes people excessively self-righteous and makes them believe that their truth is the only right one, partly the stupidity that makes people think that it is perfectly ok to threaten those who think and think differently than themselves.
My personal opinion is that the meatball method is generally straightforward, that it does not benefit much other than our own conscience, and that it is not enough all the way. It is also my very personal opinion that the meatball method (what is called positive methods at dog clubs and so on) is only about training a dog for specific things, while what is needed in many contexts is knowledge and insight into how to treat and handle a dog, not to mention, knows how to communicate with a dog in a way that is as close as possible to the dog's own communication.
A mistake that I think many do, and as Alexandra also points out in this clip, is to see leadership as a single thing – badly. Leadership can be exercised in many ways, and leadership is not by default a bad thing.
Ella was one of my closest and tightest relationships and my best friend, but it was still me who decided where we should go somewhere, when playing with the cats got too rough, how she would behave when it was mealtime or a walk, and I was the one who in various ways had to help her lower her energy level when she couldn't do it herself.
I will be incredible tired of people who automatically think leadership means anger and violence. The best thing you can do for yourself and your dog is not to get angry, not be violent, but still be the one in charge. Controlling your dog doesn't mean it can't be happy, try, and so on, without it having a grasp of what applies.
The gratifying with today's discussion between Anders Hallgren and Alexandra Ortega was that they seemed to agree fairly well that they probably really mean the same thing, but that the approaches differ. Personally, I am, which should appear with some clarity and sharpness, more focused on the philosophy Alexandra stands for, because I believe that Anders Hallgren only devotes himself to (max!) half of what is necessary to have a working relationship with your dog.
It should also added that while on the one hand I advocate clear communication in the form of directed energy, body language, mimicry and so on, then there is absolutely room for dog training – also. The day my new dog comes into my life I will use both parts, but the communication and the leadership is more important to me, and so it will remain.
So – to you as of some reason is convinced that leadership is bad; leadership does not mean that you have to behave like one shithead. Being human doesn't mean you have to be one either shithead. Update your knowledge of leadership, and realize that there are many ways to accomplish the same thing, and one does not exclude the other, and the third doesn't have to be bad either just because you don't do it yourself.