I’m so glad you found this entry. I hope you read all the comments and also found other sites online about this subject.

I highly recommend that you find a different trainer. Look for a trainer who uses primarily positive training methods. The alpha roll has it’s place, but not with a puppy. In my opinion, ANY trainer who would immediately roll a dog without getting to know it first, doesn’t know what he’s doing. Also, the idea of doing it for a prescribed amount of time a certain number of times per day is ridiculous. Pete Campione, who I have a LOT of respect for as a trainer, made it very clear to me that the key to a correct alpha roll is the release. What your trainer told you to do is the exact opposite.

A good place to start looking for a trainer is the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers.

Good luck with Mosby! I’d love to hear about your progress.

My husband and I have a 3 month old Wheaton Terrier. He nips and “bites” which I basically thought was a “puppy thing” When we went to training last night, the trainer was appalled when Mosby nipped at us and immediately employed the Alpha Roll. He is a strong advocate of this method and has instructed us to each do it twice a day for 5 minutes to let Mostly know who is the “Alpha”. It seems so heartless…what are your thoughts?

Thanks…Sonie and Doug Horstman Spostylvania, VA

Michelle – I know you’ve worked really hard to learn and adjust since Shimi came into your life. I’m sure he knows and loves you all the more for doing it.

I can’t imagine a situation where I would ever use – or approve of a trainer using – the alpha roll with a dog of mine, but at least I’ve learned that it is has valid uses, depending on the dog in question. That’s probably the more important point… not only does a person need to understand the psychology behind the roll and the technique to do it properly but you also have to really understand the individual dog before you can decide whether it is called for or not.

This reminds me of when I took karate. I have an awesome teacher who taught us to only use it to protect/defend and also as soon as you could – run like hell. Then he moved and the replacement teacher was a douche. He said “when they’re down, keep ‘em down!” and I quit – months away from being a black belt… and yes, that bugs me… but at the same time how could I believe that?!? Why would I want to actually seriously injure someone just out of showing I could? and why would I ever aggressively scare the crap out of my dog?

If my dog got into a fight, which I’ve broken many up in my time at the shelter and dog daycare – You split them, you take yours away if you can, and ask the owner of the others to sep theirs too… so that you can either walk your dog out of there or just distract them and check for any cuts. Of course, sometimes you have to tackle a dog… but that’s another story for another time.