Of course, wolves in wild packs do exhibit dominance hierarchies, but that doesn’t necessarily mean domestic dogs do. In his book “Dog Sense,” behaviorist John Bradshaw describes a study that he and his colleagues conducted at a British sanctuary, which found that dogs showed no “inclination to form anything like a wolf pack, especially when they are left to their own devices” — that is, no hierarchy that determines who gets access to what and when they get it. Although Bradshaw acknowledges that dogs can be competitive, he rejects the premise — central to Millan-style thinking — that “the dog is driven to set up a dominance hierarchy wherever it finds itself,” holding instead that “the use of ‘dominance’ and ‘hierarchy’ to account for the behavior of pet dogs can no longer be justified.”Advertisement
When I asked Serpell about this last point, he called it “an interesting idea,” although he declined to endorse it directly. He did, however, tell me that he thinks “dogs recognize their owners as being the senior members of the group, so they defer to them naturally.” Bekoff, by contrast, rejected any such uniform interpretation of dog-human relations. “A human could say that it’s dominance, but I don’t view it that way,” he told me. As for using food to reward positive behavior, he said, “I never would think of that as dominance.”With restrictions lifting and schedules changing, both pets and humans are experiencing separation anxiety. (Video: Monica Rodman, Sarah Hashemi/The Washington Post)
The question, and it’s here that Wynne’s paper may prove most controversial, is whether, as he asserts, dogs recognize humans as dominant over them. Many of the studies Wynne reviews demonstrate how quickly dogs can attach themselves to humans, with at least one suggesting that they may do so more readily with our species than with their own. This is not, he argues, because dogs see us as fundamentally different from dogs, but because we interact with them differently, regularly providing them with food and hovering over them as we offer affection.
In a recent paper for the journal Frontiers in Psychology, Clive Wynne, a psychology professor and director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, goes further. He, too, starts from the premise that dog trainers — especially those who advocate “painful and regressive forms of animal training” — tend to misunderstand what dominance is. But in reviewing much of the scientific evidence, Wynne comes around to the conclusion that dogs almost certainly do perceive the humans in their lives as dominant. That doesn’t mean, as he makes clear, that we need to police or otherwise maintain our dominance over them. Instead, he suggests, dominance-based relations may be the inevitable consequence of the way dogs live with humans in even the most serene domestic settings.Advertisement
That doesn’t, as he stressed to me over the phone, mean that dogs view humans as dominant over them. As Jessica Pierce, a bioethicist at the University of Colorado and Bekoff’s “A Dog’s World” co-author, put it, “What happens when they’re interacting with each other is very different from what happens when they’re interacting with us.”
Common Signs of Dominant Behavior in Dogs
Dogs show dominance in a variety of ways, often leading to aggressive behaviors that could cause serious injuries to children or other pets. An important sign of dominant behavior in dogs involve aggression towards children and biting at the heels of children and other pets in an attempt to “herd” them. Any dog owner that notices aggressive behavior in their pet should seek our Dog Training in Fredericksburg to correct this behavior. Our Dog Training Classes offers training that can deal with aggressive behavior effectively and in a safe, controlled environment. Some other common signs of Dominant behavior include:
Another important sign of dominant behavior is the refusal to listen to their owners commands and respond by growling, jumping, barking, nipping, or other inappropriate behavior. Additionally, they commonly have a high level of food and toy aggression, also known as guarding. Causing them to growl, bite, or nip at other animals, children, or their owners when they get to close to the items they’re guarding.
The ‘dominance’ model for dog behaviour poses serious dog welfare problems. Dominance models may use aversive training techniques such as “alpha rolls”, staring the dog down or other confrontational methods and punishment which can cause fear, pain and distress to dogs. In addition, these methods generally do not address the underlying cause of the unwanted behaviour which is why they are often unsuccessful. In fact, dominance training methods are not scientifically proven to be effective.
Aversive methods may also increase the dog’s underlying fear and anxiety which can actually make the unwanted behaviour much worse. Aversive methods can also reduce the quality of the relationship between the owner and the dog and they can place the owner at serious risk of physical injury.
The RSPCA’s position is that dogs should be trained using programs that are designed to facilitate the development and maintenance of acceptable behaviours using natural instincts and positive reinforcement. Aversion therapy and physical punishment procedures must not be used in training programs because of the potential for cruelty. Please see AVA Reward-based training for more information.
When trying to change behaviour, try to think about the behaviours you would like your dog to perform and reward only for the responses that lead to those outcomes. This might include sitting rather than jumping on guests or chewing on a toy rather than your favourite pair of shoes. This approach revolves around positive reinforcement- i.e. rewarding behaviour that we like. Rewards can be food, toys or verbal praise. Basically, anything your dog will ‘work’ for.
Conversely, we also need to ensure that rewards for unwanted behaviour are removed. So, keep those shoes out of reach and try wherever possible to avoid any situations or triggers for unwanted behaviours.
Watch me battle a dominant Alaska Malamute
In recent years there has been resurgence in popularity of dog training methods that espouse “dominance” models of dog behaviour. Dominance models suggest that wolves live in hierarchical packs with the alpha wolf at the top and that dogs evolved from wolves and also live in hierarchical packs and see us (humans) as part of their pack. Dominance theory assumes that most unwanted behaviour such as aggression is due to the dog trying to be ‘dominant’ or wanting to be the alpha dog in the pack. Therefore, dominance theory suggests, that the way to solve many behavioural problems such as aggression is to establish dominance as pack leader over the dog.
However, many of these assumptions are erroneous and are often harmful to dogs and the human-animal bond. A lot of initial research about wolf behaviour was conducted by studying captive wolves. This is because wild wolves tend to avoid humans and were difficult to study. It was these studies that generated the idea of ‘packs’ with the alpha male and female breeding pair at the top of the hierarchical structure. However in this false environment wolves could not disperse and escape from confrontation with other wolves, so relationships developed that are not necessarily reflected in more natural wolf groups. More recent studies of natural wolf groups show that they tend to live in families. The group usually consists of Mum and Dad, the current litter, and possible juveniles from one or two previous litters. Dominance contests in such packs are rare and the breeding pair is able to maintain group harmony without aggression.
Most scientists accept that dogs evolved from wolves or they had a common ancestor. However dogs are not wolves. They are different anatomically, physiologically and socially. The biggest difference between wolves and dogs is their ecological niche. Wolves, as a rule avoid humans whereas dogs have evolved to live near humans.
It is now widely recognised by animal behavioural specialists that dogs that use aggression towards humans or other dogs are not trying to be ‘dominant’. Rather, the aggression is usually the result of social confusion, frustration, fear, anxiety or learning. Dogs may use aggression as a means to control situations in which they feel frustrated, fearful or anxious. Some dogs are unable to navigate certain social and interactive demands placed upon them without showing aggression or reactivity. With repeated exposure to such situations dogs can learn that aggression ‘works’ and are more likely to use aggression to control similar situations in the future. If your dog is showing aggression, we suggest that you seek help from a veterinary behavioural specialist.
The ‘dominance’ model for dog behaviour poses serious dog welfare problems. Dominance models may use aversive training techniques such as “alpha rolls”, staring the dog down or other confrontational methods and punishment which can cause fear, pain and distress to dogs. In addition, these methods generally do not address the underlying cause of the unwanted behaviour which is why they are often unsuccessful. In fact, dominance training methods are not scientifically proven to be effective.
Aversive methods may also increase the dog’s underlying fear and anxiety which can actually make the unwanted behaviour much worse. Aversive methods can also reduce the quality of the relationship between the owner and the dog and they can place the owner at serious risk of physical injury.
When trying to change behaviour, try to think about the behaviours you would like your dog to perform and reward only for the responses that lead to those outcomes. This might include sitting rather than jumping on guests or chewing on a toy rather than your favourite pair of shoes. This approach revolves around positive reinforcement- i.e. rewarding behaviour that we like. Rewards can be food, toys or verbal praise. Basically, anything your dog will ‘work’ for.
Conversely, we also need to ensure that rewards for unwanted behaviour are removed. So, keep those shoes out of reach and try wherever possible to avoid any situations or triggers for unwanted behaviours.
The RSPCA’s position is that dogs should be trained using programs that are designed to facilitate the development and maintenance of acceptable behaviours using natural instincts and positive reinforcement. Aversion therapy and physical punishment procedures must not be used in training programs because of the potential for cruelty. Please see AVA Reward-based training for more information.