Tag: dominance


Who’s the Alpha Dog here?

Dogs Do Not Learn By Dominance And Submission

Many people believe that dogs learn by dominance and/or submission. This is an interesting theory that appeals to our sense of logic and the way nature appears to be ordered from the point of view of the human ego. Supposedly, dogs can learn to respect another individual through dominance. This presupposes that they can perceive another being’s point of view. Humans can indeed entertain others’ points of view, yet we know that no one learns to work effectively through the dominance/submissive model.
 
No matter how much employees respect their boss or how submissive they may act around him, they expect to be paid fairly. Not enough pay and the attraction turns to resentment and a poor working attitude. Since humans reject and resist such an approach whenever they experience it, how can we expect the dog, with his more limited view, to work on this basis?
 
Not only does dominating a dog make him resistant to cooperation, but dominance has nothing to do with the smooth operation of wolf society. While it may appear that the leader is the most dominant in a pack of wolves, and that the inferiors have a profound respect for this "alpha" wolf because he is so dominant, that is a surface misreading of their lives.
 
Supposedly, this dominant individual teaches the other members of the pack what their lesser stations are, bringing order and stability into the group. However, the reason this individual is superior is because, within the group mood, he is endowed with the most uninhibited temperament and perceives order when the others sense disorder.
 
This produces an emotional balance, a self-confidence level that makes him active and direct in his behavior when the others are reactive and indirect. This confidence is then broadcast through his body language and probably through an internal chemistry revealed when he eliminates.
 
Given the pack leader’s internal balance, he will experience the least amount of stress when passing on to less familiar ground, as negatives are smaller in his sense of order. In addition, the pack leader will feel the strongest compulsion to be first on any path that leads outward to the hunt as he acts in the most straightforward manner.
 
The inferiors will depend on the pack leader’s enthusiasm to draw them across a threshold that may have a stronger inhibiting effect on them. An individual doesn’t become superior by being dominant; the leader, to feel complete, needs the group behind him. Only by guiding the hunt does one becomes a leader.
Find out more in A Firm yet Gentle Guide.

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Use your Eye Power

Developing Your Leadership Through Eye Contact

Every wolf pack has a leader, also referred to as the alpha figure. This wolf, sometimes a male, sometimes a female, controls many aspects of pack life, including, to a degree, defecation and urination rights and spots. Dogs, of course, are directly descended from wolves and now live in human packs. Problems arise when an individual dog, either through his genetic makeup or improper training by his owner, comes to think of himself as the leader of the pack.
 
If your dog thinks that he is the leader, you are in trouble. How can you know? Usually if you have behavior problems with your dog, you are not considered the leader no matter how you think you are viewed by your pet.
 
One way to establish your leadership or “Alphahood” is to simply get your dog’s eye. You might think that your dog looks at you quite frequently, but take a moment to think about the terms. They are usually the dog’s. Does your dog look at you but only when he feels like it? That’s not eye contact. That is the dog looking at you because he wants something. You can establish eye contact on your terms by formalizing the look-at-me process.
 
Take your dog, on leash, and have him “Sit.” Hold a little upward tension on the lead and bend down and touch your dog’s muzzle and immediately bring your hand up to your eyes. At the same time, make a clicking sound and say something like, "Laddy, look up here at me right now."
 
Don’t just say the dog’s name or "Laddy, look." It won’t be enough to get the dog to lock eyes with you. What you’re aiming for is about three to four seconds of solid eye contact when the dog looks up at you with an attitude of "your wish is my command." Make sure that after you touch his muzzle and then your eyes that you straighten up right away so that the dog truly looks up at you and not you down at the dog.
 
Once you have the lock, end the moment with some light verbal (not physical) praise such as, "Good boy. Laddy!" Then turn and go about your business. Do not worry about leaving the dog sitting there wondering, "What was that all about?"
 
Your dog will soon realize that what it is about is “look at me when I ask you to look, watch me, get out of your own world and into mine.” This is a wonderful foundation for any puppy or older dog (especially if house-soiling is a problem) because the eye contact starts to overflow into his regular, daily life so that he looks at you from across a room. Then you can catch your dog’s eye more readily to direct him to not do something.

Also read Wherever You May Roam.

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