Says Who?!

Last night I spoke to the esteemed Ken McCort on my podcast, Regarding Rover.  It was a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief to hear him say that we should all relax, not just a little, and start being friends with our dogs instead of trying to be pack leaders.

I wanted to talk to Ken about this because there is so much misinformation, competing opinion and downright crap out there about dogs and how we should train them.  Some so-called experts drivel on about wolves and wolf pack behavior without so much as ever seeing an actual pack of wolves.  Instead, they repeat statements that have been repeated for years, without knowing where those statements came from or bothering to find out what has been learned since those statements were made.  The worst of them go on to elaborate, exaggerate and extrapolate these statements until they are nearly unrecognizable.

McCort, on the other hand, has worked closely with real, live wolves at Wolf Park, a non-profit education and research center in Battle Ground, IN, for many years.  He has also worked with many other canids and several other species.  Just as importantly, McCort has worked closely with others who are dedicated to scientific research and finding the truth through observation and experimentation.  This is VERY different from drawing an opinion from one’s personal experience.

I hope you’ll take the time to listen to what Ken McCort has to say about wolf behavior, the differences between dogs and wolves and what this all has to do with dog training.  Along with that, I also hope you’ll hear his message, and my plea, for those of who care about dogs to be careful and critical about where we get our information and how we pass that along.

You can listen to the podcast here:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/regardingrover/2009/11/03/Regarding-Rover--...

For more reliable information on wolves, visit:  www.wolfpark.org