Canine Harmony - Dog Training Academy

Canine Harmony Dog Training Academy believes that every human-canine relationship should be built on love, trust and respect. If the human does not respect the dog and its abilities, then the dog will learn to resent the owner. If the dog does not respect the authority of the human, then the human will become frustrated and unhappy with the dog's behavior.

When we first invited wolves into our lives, we took on the responsibility of feeding and of working in harmony with our wild neighbours. When we domesticated and began selectively breeding wolves into domestic dogs, we took on even more responsibility and we are now solely responsible for their physical and emotional health.

Our homes became their dens. Our yards became their territory. We became the creators of their food. We took away their ability to hunt and now we are responsible with providing them with well-balanced and nutritious meals. We took them out of their forests and their plains and now our homes are their dens. Because we are solely responsible for their well-being, we must assume the leadership role in their lives. In a wild wolf pack, there is always an Alpha Wolf, the strong and benevolent leader, who takes care of the pack, protects the pack from outside invasions, makes sure the pack is fed and provides the pack with a happy life and a solid future. This is now our job. We must be the Alpha Wolf to our domesticated friends. Even though you may not think that a Toy Poodle, a Cocker Spaniel or a Newfoundland has very much wolf left in it, you would be surprised. All of their modern behaviours come from their wild ancestors. When your Chihuahua growls at the door when the mail carrier arrives, he is fulfilling his role of guarding his pack from strangers. This is a Wolf behaviour. When your Labrador Retriever eats all the food in your pantry and then beaches himself on your couch, fat and happy, he is gourging on food that might not be there tomorrow. This is a Wolf behaviour. All of these behaviors are genetically implanted in our domestic dogs and we must learn to redirect, shape, harness and accept these behaviors so that both human and canine can live in harmony.

As Edward Hoagland, an American Naturalist writer, once said, "In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog."