Dog Training: Pack Leader Methods
What Is the Science, If Any, Behind Pack Leader Techniques?
Two Wolves, Hanging Out
“In natural wolf packs, dominance contests with other wolves
are rare, if they exist at all. During my 13 summers observing the
Ellesmere Island pack, I saw none.” —L. David Mech
Little-Known Facts About Wolf Pack Behavior
Adolph Murie did the first studies of wolves living in their natural habitat, in what is now Denali National Park. In his book The Wolves of Mt. McKinley (1944) Murie wrote, “Because wolves rely mainly on large animals, the pack is an advantageous manner in which to hunt. A lone wolf would ordinarily have difficulty catching sheep, but several wolves working together can hunt sheep rather successfully.”
More recently, biologist Raymond Coppinger discussed pack formation, saying that “Packing behavior has been very over-rated in that people think that wolves pack and therefore one has to dominate their dog in order to train it. The logic there is just poor. First of all, not all wolves do pack and packing behavior seems to be a social construct depending on other variables, like prey size. So, in areas where prey might be garbage in the dump, you find wolves in very loose social arrangements. They have them, but they’re not a pack. I also have heard the statement that wolves pack and coyotes don’t, and that’s false. There are many papers out there on coyote packing behavior.” (Online discussion hosted by The Washington Post, 01/09/2004).
Dr. L. David Mech (pronounced Meech) of the University of Minnesota is without question the most knowledgeable wolf researcher in the world. When he studied the wolves on Ellesmere Island above the Arctic Circle in Canada for 13 years (between 1987 and 1999), he found something that hadn’t been part of the scientific canon up to that point: during that 13-year period there were no displays of dominance between pack members. None.
“Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs has been conducted on wolves in captivity. These captive packs were usually composed of an assortment of wolves from various sources placed together and allowed to breed at will. With such assemblages ... dominance labels were probably appropriate. In nature, however, the wolf pack is not such an assemblage. Rather, it is usually a family [which] consists of a pair of breeders and their young offspring. …” (“Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor in wolf packs,” Canadian Journal of Zoology, 1999.)
“Attempting to apply information about the behavior of assemblages of unrelated captive wolves to the familial structure of natural packs has resulted in considerable confusion. The concept of the alpha wolf as a ‘top dog’ ruling a group of similar-aged compatriots is particularly misleading.” (Ibid.)
Here are some facts about wild wolf packs:
No wolf always walks ahead of the rest of the pack.
No wolf always eats before other members of the pack.
No wolf always goes through an opening before other wolves.
No wolf is always dominant over all other in all situations.
7 Simple Reasons Dominance Training Makes No Sense
While David Mech saw no dominance displays in the 13 summers he studied the wolves of Ellesmere Island he did see the wolves go hunting on a regular basis (they had to eat) and he saw them engage in affiliative behaviors (they had to rest and hang out between hunts). So in those 13 years the wolves exhibited zero observable dominance displays, but went on hundreds of hunting expeditions and spent thousands upon thousands of hours sleeping together, playing, cuddling, and grooming each other.
So here are the 3 basic types of behavior found in any wild wolf pack:
dominance displays (rare),
group hunting (fairly common), and
emotional bonding (pervasive).
Beyond the fact that dominant and submissive behaviors are much rarer in wolf packs than was previously thought, there are 7 major flaws with the idea that dogs can and should be trained by trainers and owners acting as the dog’s “pack leader.”
1) Alpha Wolves Don’t Train Other Wolves or Help Solve Their Behavior Problems
No matter how intelligent a wolf pack’s “leaders (or breeding pair)” may be, and how much time they supposedly spend imposing dominance on other members of the pack, they never spend any time training other wolves to sit, stay, heel, lie down on command, or come when called.
Also, wolves who’ve been seriously injured while hunting, or who’ve lost a loved one, often experience deep emotional trauma, even PTSD. And just as pack leaders can’t do anything to help other wolves move beyond such issues, dominance trainers can’t make these traumas go away by dominating an emotionally troubled dog. And since all behavior problems in dogs are caused by either an underlying physical condition (which is rare) or by traumatic events, being “dominated” is the last thing these dogs need. They need someone who understands what they’re going through, and who can help heal their wounded emotions.
2) Possession is 9/10ths of the Law
Dominance is currently defined as controlling access to important resources such as food, sexual partners, and the best place to sleep. And yet according to evolutionary biologist, Marc Bekoff, in even the most rigid wolf hierarchies, “possession is 9/10ths of the law.” If an inferior wolf has a bone, he gets to keep it. There may be a bit of growling and showing of teeth from dominant wolves, but they rarely push the issue beyond that. And by the way, if they’re not in control of the resource that means they’re not really dominant, at least not at that particular moment; whoever has possession of the bone is dominant at that point. This also means that when dominance trainers make an issue of taking bones and food and toys away from dogs to show them who’s alpha, they aren’t acting in accordance with actual wolf pack behavior.
3) There Is No Pecking Order at Meal Time
The most important resource for wolves is the energy they get from eating the flesh of large prey animals. But when wolves kill a moose, bison or an elk, every pack member feasts at the same time. There is no “pecking order,” no waiting till the alphas eat first. In some cases, the alpha male eats last! (This is usually because he’s done most of the hard work, so he has to rest and catch his breath before eating.) In fact, sometimes a mama or papa wolf will “correct” the behavior of an adolescent wolf who tries to prevent one of his siblings from eating near him.
4) Dogs Don’t Form Packs
Dominance trainers say that dogs are pack animals, and that they have an “instinct” to follow and obey their pack leader. But as Coppinger has pointed out, pack formation is directly related to a wolf’s need to hunt large prey. And domesticated dogs—even those who’ve become feralized—are incapable of hunting large prey. They’re inept at it. And if they don’t hunt large prey, they’re not a pack. And if they’re not a pack, where does the mythical instinct to follow a “pack leader” come from?
5) Humans Are Vertical, Wolves Are Horizontal
The spatial dynamic between two wolves operates on the horizontal plane, as seen in the illustration above. This means that no matter how much taller a dominant wolf is than his packmate, the spatial relationship is always the same. On the other hand, animals like elk, moose, and bison, intersect the horizon with a vertical axis of symmetry. This means that wolves have to look up to make eye contact with their prey. Since human beings also have a vertical axis of symmetry, dogs have to look up to make eye contact with us. So in fact, dogs would be more likely see us as prey animals than as “pack” members.
In fact, it’s this same feeling of attraction that wolves have to prey animals that their ancestors, and the ancestors of domesticated dogs may have had toward us. But instead of hunting us, our dogs’ ancestors hunted with us. That’s where the canine/human bond began.
6) The Reverse Alpha Roll Increases Obedience
One of the most important tools dominance trainers have is “the alpha roll,” which mimics the way a dominant wolf supposedly pins a subordinate, preventing him from moving. About 20 years ago I saw a documentary on wolves. A male and female wolf had their first litter of wolf pups, and once the youngsters were old enough, the papa wolf led them outside for their first excursion.
At first the pups were excited to be on their first expedition with papa, but as they got further and further away from the den you could see their enthusiasm start to wane. Then, just at the point where they seemed to want to run back to be with mama, the papa wolf stopped, got low to the ground, in a stalking stance, and stared at his pups.
“Oh no!” they seemed to be thinking. “We’ve heard about this! This is where the papa wolf kills all his puppies!”
But before they could go into a complete panic, and scatter hurriedly back to the den, the papa wolf rolled over on his back, inviting his pups to jump on top of him, which they did quite happily, and quite ferociously, attacking him from all sides.
After seeing this, I wondered what would happen if I imitated the papa wolf’s behavior with my dog, an adult un-neutered male Dalmatian named Freddie. I got down on my hands and knees and started batting softly at Freddie’s head and shoulders, doing my best to imitate normal play initiation behaviors. At first Freddie didn’t know what was going on, but soon he got into the game. And as soon as he did, I rolled over on my back in a submissive posture.
Freddie loved it!
Since I was acting “submissive” toward my dog, and letting him be “alpha,” according to dominance theory that should have created behavior problems, lack of obedience, disinterest in obeying the commands I’d taught him, etc. But I found out later that evening—when we went on our last walk—that it had the opposite effect. It made him more obedient, and 10 times quicker to obey me than he had been before.
I then tried it with several dogs I was training at the time, and I always got the same result. Acting “submissive” made the dogs more obedient not to mention much quicker to obey. Now I wouldn’t try this with just any dog off the street. Nor do I recommend you try it with a dog you don’t know. But the fact that it can make dogs more obedient shows another crack—and, I think it’s a pretty big one—, in dominance theory.
7) Dominance Is Species Specific
A wolf can only establish his superior rank and status over members of his own pack. He can’t dominate members of other packs. It’s called “social dominance” for a reason. In fact, dominance, if it exists, can only take place between members of the same species. For instance, a wolf can’t dominate a deer, a duck, or a dog trainer. By the same token, since dog trainers and dog owners aren’t the same species as dogs, they can’t possibly dominate the family pet. Intimidation, punishment, and physical force do not = dominance. Applying these techniques may change a dog’s behavior momentarily, but they have nothing to do with dominance or “pack mentality.”
How Dogs Really Learn: Attraction & Resistance, Tension & Release
Hopefully these examples will give you a clearer picture as to why the idea of dominance training for dogs makes no sense.
If not, here’s an idea of how dogs really learn, which is related to how wolves hunt. And remember, hunting activities are far more common than dominance displays in wild wolves. Plus, the pack style of hunting requires intense group harmony and cooperation, which are the polar opposites of dominance and submission.
In order for each individual wolf to have the courage and ferocity necessary to kill an animal 10 times its size, each member of the pack has to have a strong feeling of attraction for its prey. I’m not talking about sexual attraction, but wanting to connect physically to the prey animal.
For instance, in the chase aspect of hunting, when wolves are racing toward a moose or elk, they don’t look much different than a group of dogs playing a game of chase. There’s an easy, almost relaxed feel to their movements. It’s only when the prey is trapped and begins thrashing its hooves or brandishing its antlers that the wolves’ teeth “come out.” That’s because the feeling of attraction is suddenly flipped over into feelings of fear and resistance.
In dog behavior this feeling of attraction is seen in the way dogs rush to the door when we come home, how they pull toward other dogs they like on the street, and how they play chase with each other. Resistance is seen in how they come to us more slowly when we scold them, etc.
We could also look at the way wolves hunt as being based on feelings of tension and release. Tension arises from hunger, which triggers feelings of attraction to prey. When the wolf is finally able to go in for the kill, and rip the prey animal’s hide with his teeth, it provides an immensely satisfying feeling of release. That’s why police and detection dogs are always trained through biting games like tug and fetch. Those games provide the dog with an inceredibly pleasurable release from tension.
So feelings of attraction & resistance and tension & release—not dominance & submission—are the real reasons dogs learn to obey.
LCK
“Life Is an Adventure—Where Will Your Dog Take You?”
