1. The Concept of the Alpha Dog
One of the most widely embraced and relished concepts in the realm of pet dogs are that of dominance.
Dogs are essentially pack animals and quite naturally they have retained some of their pack instincts despite thousands of years of domestication.
One of these retained instincts involves the concept of the alpha dog or the pack leader.
In the absence of human intervention, every pack necessarily has a pack leader, usually a male although not always, who is obeyed by every member of this pack. The pack leader is also known as the dominant or alpha dog and he usually makes the decisions on behalf of the pack.
In the wild, the alpha dog will normally be in prime physical condition compared to the rest of the pack since he (or she) will get to eat first and eat the best portions of any prey that the pack might have caught.
The alpha dog will also always get to sleep at the highest vantage point so that he can keep a lookout over the pack’s territory and the adjoining areas making it easy for them to sense threats if any; the responsibility of alerting the pack in the wake of danger and being aggressive to strangers is a role that all dogs / members of the pack fulfill (through barking, etc) though.
Certainly dominance is a very common phenomenon exhibited by almost every social animal - pigs to humans have hierarchies, or ‘dominance’. Dogs are social animals and are no exception to this rule. The reason for social hierarchies in the wild is obvious – hierarchies help maintain the peace.
Fighting usually is a drain of energy and chances are that a species will not survive if there is a great deal of combat amongst its members. Just about every dog behavior ranging from leash pulling to herding breeds nipping and humping to submissive urination can be attributed to dominance.
The Truth about Dominance
Most people seem to be under the misconception that dogs are all out to try and become the leader, and will compulsively try to overthrow the current leader at every turn. This is far from reality though!
Hierarchies evolved primarily to keep the peace in a pack or herd; it is interesting that people believe aggressiveness and violence from dogs are signs of them possessing ‘alpha’ tendencies. It is in fact the middle ranking dogs that are most likely to exhibit aggression since the top and bottom rankers have little call for it.
A true dominant dog is confident enough in his strength and leadership that he very rarely feels the need to prove it every now and then.
Most of your dog’s behavior is governed by one of the following two aspects:
- Natural Instinct
This would include hunting (frequently showing itself in the form of cat chasing), fear responses of ‘fight or flight’, herding breeds nipping as well as puppies mouthing.
These behaviors are not driven by a status struggle, instead are traits that are carried over from dogs’ wild ancestors and / or traits that humans have selectively bred for in order to enable the dog perform a specific task such as herding or hunting.
- Training / Nurture
What is referred to here is conditioning and not formal obedience training. Your dog is more likely to behave in a manner that gets him ‘what he wants’ and these set of behaviors tend to be repeated because the dog seems to develop a high degree of comfort and self-gratification by doing so.
For instance, if your dog pulls on the leash when taken out on a walk and you continue to let the dog drag you along (which is ‘what they want’ in this case) they are likely to continue to pull on the leash until formally trained not to do so.
Being the Alpha
It is very important that you install yourself as the alpha dog right from the start of your relationship with your pet dog if you would like to be obeyed; this position must also be continuously enforced using a variety of techniques.
Most of these tactics may seem relatively subtle but they will mean a lot to your dog and the best methods to enforce your authority must be chosen based on your dog’s individual temperament.
While not being a task-master when it comes to controlling your dog, if a dog is given leeway to do certain things by one person and not by another then he will get confused as to what the appropriate behavior is. Dogs respond best to a binary mode of operation – either it’s permissible or not.
It is best to enforce your (and your families) position as being superior in the pack to your dog; then there is a good chance that your dog will not try to raise his place in the ranking system. The tendency to resist this is a totally natural thing for him but you must ensure he does not succeed subtly.
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