Woof! Horizon guide to dogs

Dollardog

I just wondered if anyone had watched this program on BBC4.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cqrvs/Woof!_A_Horizon_Guide_to_Dogs/

It touch a bit on the programme about pedigree dogs, but I found it very interesting about how man's relationship with dogs had evolved, wolves and the pack theory and how training methods have changed over the years.

SnowyOwl_2

I saw a good chunk of it at around 3.00am when I couldn't sleep. The bit that struck me most was how "knowledge" of dog behaviour was based on study of wolves kept in captivity, which because was an unnatural environment led to inaccurate conclusions as the wolves were unable to behave as they would in the wild. More recent thinking has reevaluated wolf and therefore dog behaviour, and this in turn is leading a change from dominance based dog training to reward based dog training. Looking at Barbara Woodhouse sharply pulling on dogs' leads to persuade them to do what she wanted them to do really made me grimace.

Dollardog

Yes, I remember Barbara Woodhouse when she was around and how people used to make fun of her SITT!! with the emphasis on the TT!!

SnowyOwl_2

And how she used to shout Walkies and every dog in the land would suddenly jump up and stand by the door, lol.

CFC

I felt sorry for the poor foxes in that experiment

Blackjack_Davy

I saw it and... I wasn't impressed. It was programme about dogs made by dog lovers/dog people for dog lovers/dog people, it's basic premise was that all the theories about dogs being basically a wolf in the house are wrong and dogs are really just sweet, lovable, harmless creatures really... yeah, well tell that to the people who have to deal with the stray dog problem in Moscow that roam around in packs and other Russian cities, theres scarcely a cat left alive in Moscow that isn't an indoor cat not to mention a lack of wildlife in general. Harmless they are not.

If the programme had a been a light hearted programme for dog lovers that would have been fine but attaching the "Horizon" label to it implied it was a serious hard headed scientific programme, which it wasn't IMO. If this an example of how the BBC intends to dumb down science programmes in future, well, I fear for it.