I like to back up the things I say and the beliefs I express on this website with information from actual professional trainers. Trainer Jeff Silverman wrote a great post on one of my favorite websites which in passing talks about the dangers of getting advice and not doing your own research:
A Great Day to be a Dog Trainer
There's a lot to this post, and it's a great read, but I wanted to quote the paragraph that relates to what I've been talking about recently.
In reviewing Sasha's history I’d learned that a few simple things were doing a lot to provoke Sasha’s aggression. Sasha’s family, following advice from friends and the internet, had been responding to Sasha’s growls either with “alpha rolls” (forcing the dog over on her back and staring into her face until she “submits”) or by grabbing her mouth, holding it closed, and sternly saying “No!” They had also been allowing Sasha to continue coming to the door when guests arrived, holding her collar and scolding her for barking. This predictably increased Sasha’s nervousness and her aggressive behavior. They also had an electric fence with the boundary running right alongside the sidewalk, where Sasha regularly practiced aggressive displays towards passing pedestrians. I see many dogs who – after a few months of such frustration – burst through the boundary to bite someone, even though they had never demonstrated aggression before an electric fence was installed. Sasha’s problems had definitely been created by her owners.
Interesting, huh? If you look at online dog forums for questions about how to deal with aggression you will see many people answer with advice promoting alpha rolls and this very physical human aggressive "no" that causes stress for the dog and eventually more dog aggression. It's sad and ironic that people looking for help dealing with dog aggression on internet forums almost always get the worst advice possible.
What is the right advice then?
Hey Aaron, that’s a great question. There are a lot of people who for profit or ignorance are handing out the wrong advice. There are even dog trainers from all different viewpoints, so even that’s not a totally safe way to go. So it is tricky, and the only way is to learn yourself.
I personally talk about dogstardaily.com because these people, who are professional trainers, use positive non-hurtful methods and are very successful at it.
I think if people knew that non-angry, non-hurtful training was an option, they would probably choose it. But they will have to hear about it first and learn about it second.