Dog Behavior Blog

Myths About Dominance

Note from Con Slobodchikoff: This is a guest post by Dr. Suzanne Hetts, who is an applied animal behavior specialist certified by the Animal Behavior Society. Her website is: www.animalbehaviorassociates.com.

A client told us she had recently read that she needed to spit in her dog’s food to show him who was boss.  The theory was that if a dog eats food with another’s saliva on it, he is acknowledging his subordinate role in the relationship.  Another client has a dog that is anxious at doggie day care and attempts to dig out.  She was told this is because her dog is worried about her because she isn’t a good “pack leader” and the dog was trying to get to her to take care of her.

The myths get worse.  We talked to a family who was told by their trainer that they and their 12 year old son had to “hump” their dog in order to establish their dominance over him. So they spent half an hour with the trainer chasing the dog around the backyard trying to mount him.  Now the dog won’t come when called and doesn’t want to have much to do with them.  Is anyone surprised?  And why would anyone agree to do this?

All of these explanations for dog behavior are from the MSU school.  This is not Michigan or Mississippi State University, but from people who Make Stuff Up.  We have no clue where these ideas came from - they certainly didn’t come from the scientific literature!

Many dog trainers have claimed that the “dominance” or “pack theories” of dog behavior are based on scientific studies of wolves and dogs, and therefore this legitimizes their explanations of dog behavior towards people.  Most of us would agree that scientific explanations should carry more weight than non-scientific ones, but only if they accurately reflect what is really known about the particular phenomenon. 

Virtually all the popular explanations of dominance behavior distort what is really known about wolf and dog behavior.  In fact, Dr. David Mech who is the senior biologist with the U.S. Interior Department and has studied wolves for over 40 years, has published articles in Wolf Magazine and video interviews on You Tube clarifying the misconceptions surrounding the term “alpha wolf”. (Watch the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtFgdwTsbU).

Dr. Mech reminds us that he was mostly responsible for the term “alpha wolf”, which he used in a widely circulated scientific article in the 1970s.  However, as he says, science has progressed quite a bit from that time, and it’s just too bad that a certain segment of the dog training community hasn’t followed along.

The preferred terminology now is “breeding” male and female.  Dr. Mech likens a wolf pack to a human family.  The role of the parents (a term he is quite comfortable with in addition to "breeding”) is to teach and guide the youngsters in the ways of the world and how to survive.  The parents are not “bullies”, which is what people sometimes become when they use confrontational, intimidation tactics with their dogs based on so-called “dominance techniques”.  And rather than constantly vying for “dominance”, the wolf pups are predisposed to acquiesce and follow their parents and older siblings – just like our dogs that, after 15,000 years of domestication are predisposed to acquiesce to and follow us.  All they need is just a bit of consistent guidance about what behaviors we want from them, and to have reasonable boundaries established for their behaviors.  There is no need to be heavy handed and deprive our dogs of privileges such as access to toys, the opportunity to share our beds (if that’s what we want!), and to ask us for what they want using appropriate behaviors.

Because social dominance hierarchies are based on the outcomes of direct competitions, in order for these interactions to be relevant to social status, the proponents of these ideas are assuming that - being ahead on walks, going through doorways, eating before we do, and playing tug games - dogs are viewing as competitive interactions.  There is an abundance of evidence that this assumption is simply not true.  Let’s take just one example.

Why do dogs want to be ahead on walks?  Because they are motivated to, and capable of, moving faster than we do!  Have you ever known a dog to turn around and threaten his owner when she tried to move faster and catch up to him?  Silly, isn’t it.  Our dogs would be happy campers if they could get us to move faster on walks.

Don’t confuse having control over your dog with social dominance.  Control and dominance are not the same things.  We’ve barely scratched the surface of “dominance” myths.  Very bad things have happened to dogs in the name of “establishing dominance”.  Rather than thinking of ourselves as “pack leaders” a much better way to develop mutually beneficial relationships with our dogs is to view our roles as a mix between a best friend and a parent.  Learn more about how best to function in these roles by subscribing to our free newsletter at www.AnimalBehaviorAssociates.com/blog.

Dogs Can Recognize The Faces Of Other Dogs

When my dog Raja sees a strange dog, he has a very predictable response. His body tenses, he becomes rigid, and he stands very still, looking at the dog. As a puppy, he was abused by other dogs and even now, years later, he still has trust issues with dogs that he doesn’t know.

However, when he sees a dog he knows, even if a year or more has passed, his tail starts to wag and he confidently goes up to the other dog as they happily start on dog-greeting protocols.

I have often wondered how he recognizes and remembers the dogs he knows. Is it their smell? Is it their general size and shape? Is it the color of their coat?

While all of these factors probably play a role, a new study shows that dogs can recognize the faces of other dogs (Racca, A. et al. 2009. Discrimination of human and dog faces and inversion responses in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Animal Cognition, DOI 10.1007/s10071-009-0303-3).

The authors of the study used a technique called Visual Paired Comparison. In this technique, an animal is shown two images projected on screens, one to the right of the animal and the other to the left. Experimenters measure the amount of time that the animal spends looking at each image. If the animal has no preference, she would spend an equal amount of time looking at either image. However, if the animal has a distinct preference for one image over another, she would spend more time looking at that image.

In the dog face study, the experimenters showed 7 adult dogs (1 miniature Dachshund, 2 Lurchers, and 4 mixed-breeds) paired pictures of an unfamiliar dog face and a familiar one.

The dogs spent significantly more time looking at the familiar dog face. This means that dogs not only recognize individual dog faces, but also prefer to look at familiar faces rather than strange ones.

In this respect, dogs are not alone. Increasingly, studies are finding that lots of other animals can recognize individual faces within their own species. So far, this list includes animals as diverse as chimpanzees, monkeys, sheep, cows, budgerigars, and paper wasps.

We humans often like to look at a friendly face. It seems that other animals like to do that too.

--Con Slobodchikoff

Teaching Dogs A Group Name

When you are living with a group of dogs in your home, sometimes it’s the little things that can make the difference between a fun amount of craziness and too much of it.

 

One of the recommendations I always make to clients living with a multiple dog household is to use a group name to refer to all of the dogs at once. It just makes sense to be able to get the attention of all your dogs with a single word rather than having to say each of their names in turn. Sometimes speed is of the essence and the faster you can get everyone’s attention, the better.

The following is an excerpt from the book Feeling Outnumbered: How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-dog Household which I co-wrote with Patricia McConnell:

“If you have lots of dogs, it’s helpful to be able to get all of your dogs’ attention at once. Teach all of your dogs a group name such as “dogs” or “shepherds” or use the term “goof balls” or “bozos” if you want to (yet another reason why having lots of dogs can be fun!) Teach each dog to pay attention when you say “dogs” by saying it and then giving a treat to every dog who looks at you. Having a group designation for all your dogs is just as handy as it is to call your children for dinner by saying, Kids, Dinnertime!” rather than “Brian. . ., Evan. . ., Taylor. . .,Dinnertime!” You might even find it helpful to have group names for different categories of your dogs. You can decide what subcategories will be helpful in your household, but don’t underestimate your dogs’ abilities to understand group names.”

If you have some dogs who like to play ball outside, you can name that group “Ball Players” and use this name to get them, and only them, to come with you to go to the park. If the other canine members of your household prefer to get their exercise through walks or runs, you can use a name to get them ready when it’s time to leash up and go.

 

One of the most common situations in which people with multiple dogs use group names is to tell one group of dogs to kennel up before work. The dogs that are not in the group are those who can be trusted not to hurt the house or themselves when the people head off to work.

 

Another situation in which group names are useful is on a working farm. A person can say, “Border collies” to get the attention of the herding dogs who are going to go to work, while the dogs with other responsibilities don’t need to respond.

 

--Karen London