Because all dogs spend their entire days just looking for signs of weakness in humans, so they can… do what? Psychologically manipulate us and mess with our heads? Practice telepathic mind control? Steal the keys to the car? The Theory Behind Dominance-Based Trainingĭominance-based training is based upon one simple school of thought: dominate your dog before he has the chance to dominate you. Eventually the results of Schenkel’s studies were disproved, but by then, the theory of dominance in dogs had become mainstream. They are, in fact, quite different species. But here’s the thing: dogs are not wolves. Unfortunately, the results of this research were then applied to domesticated dogs.
The tension and competition over resources causes aggressive fights, and some of the strongest wolves become “bullies” who maintain the group hierarchy through displays of aggression. When mature wolves are forced to live together for years at a time, unable to get away from each other, they experience a great deal of stress. Wolves in captivity behave very differently. When young wolves grow up, just like human children they eventually leave the pack to start families of their own. Rather than being competitive, the pack works together to hunt and care for the offspring, and there is very little aggression within the pack. Wild wolf packs usually consist of a mated pair and their offspring the pack may also include 2 or 3 other wolf families. The problem is, wolves in captivity behave very differently from wolves in the wild. The “winner” was the alpha wolf, who commanded the most respect and aggressively held everyone else in check. From his observations, Schenkel concluded that wolves were in constant competition to see who could outrank the others in the group’s social hierarchy. They May Appear Similar, But Dogs Are Not Wolvesĭominance theory is based on a study conducted in the 1930’s and 1940’s by a Swiss animal behaviorist named Rudolph Schenkel, who studied the behavior of wolves in captivity. The problem is, dominance theory (which has enjoyed an unfortunate resurgence over the last 10 years) is, at best, deeply flawed – and at worst, can actually do serious damage to our relationships with our dogs. Most dog parents have heard the lingo: alpha dog, pack leader, top dog, dominant, submissive.
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Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Ĭhances are pretty good that if you’ve ever shared life with a dog, somewhere along the way someone has instructed you about the importance of learning how to dominate your dog.Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window).Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window).Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window).Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window).Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window).Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window).Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window).
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