Amichien® Bonding

Jan Fennell’s method of Amichien® Bonding is based on how dogs communicate with each other within their pack. This is a method of communication and understanding that humans have lost over the millions of years since man and dog’s partnership first began.

Just like humans, dogs are pack animals but their pack is no longer limited to just dogs. With domestication a ‘pack’ can be one person and their dog, or a whole family.

Today the world we live in is often confusing for us, so it’s completely bewildering for dogs. Although we may think they understand the human environment they now live in, they simply don’t. Dogs are still operating as their ancestors did thousands of years ago – surviving as a pack, with an unwavering set of rules for pack life. The key rule of the pack is that there MUST be a leader or alpha.

The alpha shoulders all of the responsibility for the rest of the pack: it provides food, it keeps them safe from danger and ensures that the pack survives. Because we have forgotten how to communicate effectively dog owners frequently give their dogs the wrong signals, and this leads the dog into believing that it, and not the owner, is the leader of their pack – even if they don’t want the job! Pack rules are so engrained in a dog’s psyche that they will take on the responsibility of alpha simply because they believe that the pack cannot function without one. Dogs have no understanding of the human world that they live in and therefore many cannot cope with the immense stress that their alpha role causes them. A dog in this position can display a range of behaviours including aggression, severe anxiety and obsessive and destructive behaviour to name just a few.

Amichien® Bonding empowers owners to relieve their dogs of the huge burden of the alpha position. It is not a conventional dog training method that must be worked on for 10 or 15 minutes a day – it is a way of life. It is based on four key areas and when consistently implemented together they provide a powerful message for the dog. Each one is simple, non-confrontational and gadget free. There is no place for aggression or force in Amichien® Bonding. By using this method a dog, of its own free will, will elect its owner as the pack alpha and the dog will be free of the burden of the alpha position.