New (to me) survey: Dog aggression and owner aggression

I posted not long ago about how Alpha rolling was both not my style and also not a safely recommended training technique. A study in 2009 by the University of Pennsylvania veterinary researchers linked an exacerbation of aggressive dog behavior with punitive and confrontational training techniques, entitled "Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors" by Meghan E. Herron, Frances S. Shofer and Ilana R. Reisner. Basically, if you're aggressive your dog will be too. Of course, Patricia McConnell beat me to posting about the study, but in a way, I'm glad. She's somebody I've heard of, read a lot, and am confident recommending her advice to people.

(Picture of Elka "paws up", taught through positive reinforcement techniques, to prevent this post from being a wall of text)

Rolling Thunder

We had severe thunderstorm warnings in my are today, and, for a little while, a Tornado Watch.  In light of what's been happening in the Midwest, the tornado thing  made me a little iffy (but it was a watch, not a warning, so that was good).  Otherwise, thunderstorms don't bother me, other than the occasional startle at how loud thunder can be.

Thunderstorms don't bother Elka in the slightest.  After she's done watching out the window (she'd really like to watch from the porch, which we do, sometimes), she typically snoozes through them.  The thunder doesn't make her jump, or pace, or bark, the lightning causes no anxiety.  She typically won't go potty in the rain is really the main hangup (well, that, and I don't take the dog out when there's lightning. Just common sense.)

Not all dogs (and owners) are as lucky as I am, that they can be so casual about storms.

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Obviously, I do my best to make Elka come off like the perfect dog.

Just as obviously, I want to seem like the ever patient and benevolent owner/trainer, who thinks rationally and reacts well, regardless of what the Doberman has decided she was going to do.

I don't want to completely dispel this myth, but I do want to talk about whining. Elka whines a lot. I think, perhaps, Dobermans whine a lot. She does her share of "talking", which is delightful and thoroughly encouraged. She barks every once in awhile, typically a single big, deep-chested alert, if she thinks somebody's screwing around outside and needs immediate attention. But she also whines.

If I'm upstair and she's downstairs, she'll whine. If I've left food on a plate and am not immediately eating it, she whines. If I'm in the bathroom, she whines. If she feels it's feeding time, she whines.

The phrase has occasionally been uttered "Elka, I don't think you're a Doberman. I think you're a Whineraner."