06/13/2026
One thing that seems to impress the general public, and give them the impression that someone ‘knows what they are doing in dog training’, is when an advert for a dog trainer mentions ‘Was a K9 or military dog handler’.
Now, I know a few previous K9 handlers who are brilliant, innovative, influential and highly accomplished trainers.
But they are seemingly *exceptions* who do not adhere to the typical training or handling that most K9 handlers do or are taught. Sadly.
In fact, 2 of them have to mop up the messes in police departments caused by terrible, ignorant training, in various countries across the globe!
This is local to me. Am I surprised? Sadly no.
Alpha rolls are based on fallacy and lore. If they are still being performed on a dog in the name of training, then the person probably thinks a rock is the best tool for slicing bread or sawing wood as well.
It IS that ancient and ignorant.
The alpha roll (and the broader "Alpha Theory" or Dominance Theory) trace back to the 1970s, stemming from early studies on captive, non familial, wolf groups (not really true wolf ‘packs’/families). Biologist L. David Mech first popularized the terms "alpha male" and "alpha female" to describe the dominant leaders of these packs who were thought to maintain control through aggression and physical posturing.
Here Dr. Mech himself goes on record and corrects this original writings : https://youtu.be/tNtFgdwTsbU
I have quite a few ‘Previous K9 handlers’ around where I live, some with multi-million dollar facilities, boasting ties with one of BF Skinners students.
That school decided putting a shock collar on a scared, reactive 7 month old 10lb reactive dog was a great idea for training. The pup was shocked when it barked at a male stranger. In no surprise to most of us, its reactivity and then fearful aggressive responses worsened- elevating to actually biting.
Yesterday a client told me that as she called around locally to interview trainers, one told her he was a balanced trainer who uses Koehler methods.
One of the many methods Koehler used was to take a ‘disobedient dogs’ head and hold it completely under water until the dog felt that it was drowning (usually as punishment in a water filled hole the dog had dug themselves- how creative, right?). If you’re curious, yes, this could cause emotional and physical trauma like water intoxication…or drowning.
In summary, don’t simply believe that a military or police handler knows what the heck they are doing when it comes to dog training.
Are there some out there who do? Sure thing! I hope it increases - for all our sakes, but mostly the dogs.
They deserve better for laying their lives on the line each day.
And the general public deserve more highly trained handlers and dogs, more trustworthy, and the truth about what is on our streets and how they are being trained.
They also deserve the truth - don’t believe that someone knows what the heck they are doing being an ex-handler- and you might not want to place your dog (or trust) in their hands to train!
