[Mick Trainer]

This is basically a revised version of the "Dominance explained" article I posted only about a month ago. I have reposted it again as I have made many changes especially the last 4 paragrapghs which I feel have greatly cleared up the situation. If you have already read the article then skip to the last 4 paragraphs, if not I hope you learn something from it.

Thanks to my good friend Nancy Estes who helped out with the editing of this peace by fixing my punctuation and spelling (hey, I'm a dog trainer not an english teacher :) )

Mick.

Dominance is a term used to describe a dog’s position within the pack hierarchy. “Dominance” is generally used by trainers and canine behaviorists to describe a dog that believes he/she occupies a high position within this pack hierarchy. The belief that the dog desires to hold such a position is based on the theory that dogs are direct descendants of the Grey Wolf and that dogs still carry a large amount of the genetic characteristics of the wolf, including a preference for a pack-based society. Within this system, wolves work as a team with a clear leader and clear positions and roles for each member of the pack from the top down. The top position in the pack is described as the “Alpha”. This is usually an Alpha Male, but not always. The pack structure then works down through the Beta members to the Omega member at the base. A wolf’s position in this hierarchy determines how dominant he/she is, and the ability he/she has to dictate behavior to other pack members.

In the Wolf Pack dominance plays an integral part in the survival of the pack. In the wild only the dominant (Alpha) pair will be allowed to mate, since the pack perceives that the strongest pair will have the strongest pups, which increases the chances of survival of these pups and, therefore, the continuance of the pack. (This is largely based on “Darwin’s” theory of evolution.) Dominance amongst wild canids is decided and maintained in many different ways, from full physical combat, to deciding who will eat first, or even who will walk through a gap first. The Alpha wolf is always the first to do such activities and dictates in which order the other pack members are allowed to follow. The position of Alpha wolf is not written in stone; if a pack member senses weakness in the dominant wolf then he or she will challenge to take that position. Anyone that has watched a documentary on wolves will have seen them having small scrapes over who will be first to eat. etc. You will see that these tussles rarely result in any damage done to one wolf or the other. Damage usually occurs only when two wolves have been having small dominance challenges for some time without a clear winner; then this fighting escalates to full-blown aggression to see who is the dominant wolf. At this point the wolves can cause great damage to each other. In the most severe cases one may actually be killed (though this is rare).

As I have stated before, dogs, like wolves, function best in a society where there is a clear hierarchy. In this society dogs will either have behavior dictated to them or will believe that they have the right to dictate behavior to others within the pack. Although dogs clearly do not see humans as other dogs, they cannot view our society as any different from their own and, therefore, need this pack hierarchy to thrive. Since dogs have no real form of verbal communication, a dog that wishes to dictate behavior to us or other pack members must do so through aggression. In the pack situation this aggression is a natural form of communication. In today’s society however, it is very important that dogs do not become aggressive toward human pack members. For this reason it is important that we become the “Alpha Dog” in the dog’s mind. There are many ways that this can and must be done; the easiest way is to do some basic obedience with your dog. If your dog will do some basic commands in all situations, first time, every time, then the dog is clearly subordinate to you.

The domestic dog, like the wolf, will continually test the dominance of the “Alpha dog” through a number of small tussles. By having an obedient dog and continuing to work such commands you realistically neutralize these constant challenges as you constantly show the your dog/s that you are still the dominant pack member. However, if the dog does not feel that your position as pack leader is secure then smaller tussles will ensue. In most cases these tussles will not be as obvious as they would be for their wild cousins. These tussles, at first, might simply be pushing through a door to get inside before the owner or jumping up on the owner when he or she comes home. Sometimes, however, the challenge is far more obvious. A dog may challenge for dominance by showing some physical aggression towards the owner. For example, if an owner tries to take a bone off the dog and the dog growls or bares his/her teeth, this is a direct challenge and must be taken very seriously. This form of aggression shows there is a problem with the dog’s perception of its relationship with the owner.

It is at this time that dominance becomes dangerous since, in the dog’s mind, it is reasonable to enforce its dominance or make a direct challenge to secure its position within the pack through aggression. As I have mentioned before, dominance does not always have to be enforced through aggression, or the Alpha position be clearly seen as up for grabs; this can be indicated by the smallest behaviors. One reason that we see so many dogs in our community that have bitten their owners due to the dog being dominant, is that in many cases the owners did not see the dog’s behavior as dominant. Dogs can sense that the Alpha position is not secure by simply successfully disobeying commands or rules that it knows. Further to this, if the dog perceives that rules are not dictated from above then it may feel that there is no strong Alpha at the present time and that he/she may take that position. For example, a dog that resists a command can, and in most cases is, exercising its dominance. The owner’s failure to see these small challenges as dominant behavior may result in the dog deciding at some point that it must defend or establish its dominance with aggression. This is when we hear that familiar catch cry of “the dog just snapped and bit me”. In almost all cases the dog has not snapped, rather the owner has failed to see the small challenges for dominance that the dog was making and thus is surprised when the dog attacks. It is very important however that an owner recognize the difference between resistance to a command and the dog’s failure to understand the required response. If a dog simply does not understand what is required, then it is impossible for it to be resistant and is more likely simply confused.

Dominance behavior starts as early as 3 weeks of age as pups start to fight amongst themselves to determine who is dominant and who will eat first. Dog-to-human dominance can start as early as 8 weeks of age, although some dogs will not start to challenge for dominance till much later; some who are low in Rank behavior never do. And dogs that are handled correctly from day one may fall into the “never” category. Dominance is not a behavior that is particular to one sex or the other. A bitch can be just as dominant as a male dog, although males generally are of a more dominant nature. However, a dog is only ever dominant due to the owner allowing it to be. Some dogs are extremely dominant by nature (true Alpha Dogs) and are as a general rule unacceptably high risk for the average owner and will be too strong for all but the most knowledgeable and committed of owners. Even though this is the case, even these dogs only dominate those that allow it.

Although there are breeds of dogs that are clearly more prone to dominance related behavioral problems (Rottweilers, American Pit Bull Terriers, etc.), there is no one breed, or even an individual dog, that lacks the ability to become dominant over its owner and consequently become aggressive towards the owner - if it is allowed to. A prime example of this is a friend of mine who owns a Jack Russell Terrier X bitch that he was given by some friends of his. His friends gave up the dog because she was exerting her dominance and becoming aggressive towards them. My friend, however, found that she was a very submissive dog by nature and was quickly turned around. The problem was simply that her previous owners had constantly let her break their commands and rules, and had constantly behaved in a way that showed them to be subordinate to the dog, thus she became dominant.

As I have stated before, the easiest way of avoiding dominance issues is to do some basic training with the dog. Training requires the dog to follow your commands, and that the dog to do as you tell him/her. In some instances you might need to enforce a command. By doing this you are taking control of the dog and dictating behavior to him or her. A well-trained dog that will follow your commands in all situations (without food to bribe the dog) is a dog that is subordinate to you. It is equally important that the dog can and will do the command in ALL SITUATIONS. A dog that will only do the required command when food is present and given as a reward can be just as, if not more, dominant than a dog that will do no commands at all. When the dog only obeys a command when food is on offer, the dog is stating “I only obey commands when I get something for it”. The dog is as much dictating behavior to the owner as the other way around. The dog must do the command before any praise is on offer. Once the command has been followed, then praise should be given; this includes food. One proven method for curing dominance behavior towards the owner is to make the dog perform an action before any contact, praise, food, etc., is given, making the dog earn everything that is important in its life. Since dogs are pack animals, interaction with that pack is very important to them.

It is much easier to avoid dominance related problems by doing some obedience with a puppy as young as 8 weeks of age. The reason for this is that it is far easier to make a puppy conform to you than it is for a fully-grown adult dog and it teaches the puppy that you are the leader and that following that leader is fulfilling to their lives. Once dominance by the owner has been established it is easy to keep this position with a continual use of some basic commands.

As I have stated before, some of the warning signs that a dog might be becoming dominant are not easy to read. The following is a list of some of the behaviors to look for: (1) the dog pushing the owner out of the way to get through a door; (2) the dog not moving to let the owner past when the owner wants to walk past the dog; (3) resistance to basic commands; (4) sleeping on the owner’s bed and refusing to get off (aggression may follow); (5) jumping up on the owner and hanging on with paws and refusing to let go; (6) no interest in the owner when training the dog; (7) continually cutting the owner off whilst trying to walk the dog; (8) pulling on the lead when walking the dog; (9) refusal to leave the house; (10) nudging for pats and attention; (11) refusal to give up bones toys, etc., when asked (aggression may follow); (12) food guarding/possessiveness of any sort. Or - any behavior that leads to aggression towards the members of the immediate family (pack).

I have mentioned above that a dog might show aggression towards its owner at times in an attempt to enforce or increase its level of dominance. This behavior in any form must not be tolerated. The above list is in no way totally conclusive, nor do all these behaviors indicate dominance in all situations. In almost all cases it is not necessary to discipline the dog physically; however, some form of discipline must be given to the dog to illustrate that this behavior will gain nothing and is not tolerated by you. I must state here, however, that if your dog becomes aggressive to you in any way and you are unsure of what to do, please just back away from the dog and contact a professional trainer so that advice can be given on the course of action to be taken to cure the dog of this problem.

If you are unsure of what to do in this situation, by confronting the dog physically you are not only putting yourself in danger but you may also be making the situation worse. There are ways this behavior can be fixed without you having to confront the dog physically.

I have heard many times that a dog will not become dominant to the owner if the owner controls its food supply. Although food plays an important part in pack hierarchy, simply by giving the dog food you are in no way asserting dominance over the dog. To assert dominance through food supply will take much work with the owner having to take food off the dog when it has started eating as well as many other direct challenges towards the dog. If not handled correctly this can be a very dangerous game to play.

Although dominance related behavioral problems can be very serious, I must state that all of these problems can be cured if the owner is prepared to work with the dog. Even a dog that has actually bitten its owner on several occasions can be fixed if time and a clear change in the dog/owner relationship can be committed to by the owner. The old adage that once a dog has bitten there is no hope for it is no longer true. The dog, as far as it is concerned, has attacked or bitten its owner for a valid reason. This belief is what must be changed. Over a number of years I have cured hundreds of dogs that have at some time bitten their owners. It must be noted that dominance problems will not improve without a change in what the owner is doing. These problems will always get worse if left unchecked.

Now, saying all this in regards to dominance and its relationship to canine behavior and aggression, it would be remiss of me to not also discuss when aggression towards the owner or the dog not following a command is not dominance based. Many, many people (trainers included) blame dominance for a whole swag of behaviors. It has become the catch cry of the industry and has been blamed for almost all behaviors at one time or another. It is simply not the case that every disobedient or aggressive behavior is directly caused by the dog trying to assert its dominance. In a large number of cases when a dog is disobedient or destructive, it is doing so not through dominance but through poor training by the owner, or the fact that it is just too young too understand what is expected of it. It is through this lack of training that many dogs are mistakenly diagnosed as dominant when they really are simply confused or do not know what response to give.

Further to this, often when a dog shows aggression towards its handler it may also simply be confused as to what outcome or action the owner wants. This form of behavior is usually brought on by the dog being trained in the early stages of learning through compulsion and not understanding what is expected of it, or how to make the negative stimulus (compulsion) stop. When a dog is confused as to what we want from it, it will throw out or offer many different behaviors in an attempt to determine which behavior we wish from it. When a dog is faced during this period with a Negative stimulus for not performing a function that it does not understand, it will offer many behaviors to try to make the negative stimulus stop. When it has exhausted all its perceived peaceful avenues (this can vary a lot depending upon the dog in question), it will show aggression to try to stop the stimulus. If this aggression successfully stops the negative stimulus, the dog will quickly learn that aggression toward the owner will deter the owner from continuing the behavior that it did not like. This can and will lead to a dog becoming dominant, as it dictates behavior to the owner, but should not be seen as a true dominance based aggression but more “confusion from a negative stimulus where aggression has caused the stimulus to stop.”

To avoid this, correct training based on sound learning principles should be followed. The most basic of which is that there are at least three stages to a dog learning any command (teaching, training and proofing phases). The first stage is the “Teaching Phase” where, as the name suggests, we teach the dog what we expect of it. One of the most common mistakes made by owners is to expect the dog to know what response is expected of it almost from birth without teaching such responses. This clearly is not the case. At this early stage of learning, motivational training should be used in its most basic form. It is incorrect to discipline a dog for a behavior it simply does not know to be incorrect or when it does not understand the correct behavior that is expected of it.

In conclusion, dominance is not a behavior that we as dog owners should fear, but rather a behavior that we must be aware of and attempt to prevent before it is allowed to get out of hand. The easiest way to do this is to create a relationship with the dog that it can understand, where its position is at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. This can be done through having a few basic commands that the dog must follow.

If you have any queries at all with regards to dominance, or any other matter raised in this article or any other questions you may have regarding canine behavior please feel free to contact me at anytime.