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Dog Training Philosophies: Medical Model, Behavioral Model and Knee-Jerk Reactions

Most of our dog pet owners are not aware that there are different philosophies/approaches to “training” a dog and more so how to approach solving behavior problems.   There are two main veins of approach even though I titled with three; two of them go together. Medical Model see “problem behavior” as if it’s a disease.   The “trainer”, “counselor” or “veterinary behaviorist” may take a history of your dog and come up with a diagnosis for the behavior and label it something like “dominance aggression”. This approach focuses too heavily on the “symptoms” presented and do little to address …  Continue reading →