Apparently Ben may need to be put down

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I took Oscar (my mums dog) and little Robert (puppy I sit for) to the park yesterday, I had walked Ben early in the morning so he was at home. I came across the Labrador that Ben had attacked as described in my post entitled 'Guilt'. It has been a long time since that happened but I felt like I should ask how the dog is. The owner said he was fine and it all healed well but took quite a while. He then went onto say that Ben may have to be put down because he is clearly a 'dominant' dog. He said that he had a 'dominant' dog once and he ended up having it put to sleep at 6 years old, because it attacked his wife. He didn't go into detail about the attack or whether she was injured or anything. He advised me to make sure I walk through doors first before Ben and to make sure he has his dinner after I have eaten mine. I did not have the energy to stand there and explain that Ben is not dominating anyone, not me nor another dog. Ben's reactivity is based on a fear of other dogs, and the only way he knows how to protect himself is to 'get in there first' so to speak. The owner is an older gentleman and clearly does not know how outdated his views are in relation to dog behaviour. His Labrador is clearly well looked after and is a lovely friendly dog, so perhaps it doesn't matter what his views about dominance are, but I just felt sad for his previous dog that was put to sleep so young because he was deemed as 'dominant'. Yes the dog apparently attacked his wife, but we don't know what his wife did or what the situation was. Perhaps I should have asked questions about it, but I just knew there would not have been much point as this man is totally set in his ways about dog ownership.

I have come across other dog owners that seem to think that letting their dogs on the sofa or the bed will mean that they aren't 'Alpha' or 'Top Dog'. They think their dog should have to wait till they have eaten before the dog gets their food. Some dog owners think this way because unfortunately their are still trainers out there that believe in this outdated theory, that you need to be the pack leader, the alpha in the house. And if you are not 'Top Dog' then your dog will have behavioural problems and will know it can dominate you. Dogs do not think like this, dogs learn from positive and negative experiences. Your dog should want to please you because he/she is rewarded with praise, a treat or a toy. Remember my post about the trainers I have seen and the gun dog trainer who thought that throttling Ben with a slip lead would make him behave? This trainer is another who believes that the human should be the dominant one and the dog should be submissive towards the human and in turn will behave. The dog may behave, but only because he/she is utterly petrified. I do not want my dog to be scared of me, what would be the point in that? And maybe that dog that was put to sleep attacked the wife because it has been mistreated and one day it just snapped....

Should you wish to read more about dominance and why it's the incorrect way to look at a dogs behaviour have a look at these links;

http://www.dogwelfarecampaign.org/why-not-dominance.php

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/14_12/features/Alpha-Dogs_20416-1.html