The pack leader myth...

After nearly two decades of working with dogs, we are still as passionate as ever about ensuring that the public and their dogs are given the best possible chance to maintain a happy and healthy relationship together. However, some common old-fashioned myths surrounding dogs not only make this challenging to achieve, but actually compromise dog welfare.
 
One such myth is that of the dog attempting to be ‘pack leader’ or trying to ‘dominate’ their owner.  
 
We have lost count of the number of genuinely caring and intelligent dog owners we have come across who innocently believe that their dog is challenging them to be ‘top dog’ or ‘alpha’, after hearing some seemingly credible dog person spouting this fiction as though it were fact.
 
The reality of this falsehood is that people are advised to ‘out-dominate’ their dog and bend him to their will using feats such as rolling the dog onto his back, staring him down, and eating before him.
 
This is such a sad, unsatisfying, and stressful situation for all involved. Worse still, some of the confrontational techniques employed actually increase the likelihood that the dog will display aggression - not as a ‘challenge’ towards their owner, but because of the pain and fear that these techniques create.
 
So where did this myth come from?
 
Well, many decades ago, studies were undertaken with wolves kept in captivity, which highlighted a 'linear hierarchy', fights for rank, resources, etc. By virtue of wolves and dogs being related, the assumption was made that their behaviour would be identical. Besides this incorrect assumption, the studies did not even offer a true reflection of wolf behaviour because they were based on unrelated wolves living in an environment so unnatural that it caused them to behave unnaturally and be in constant competition with each other.
 
True wolf behaviour has been seen in more recent studies looking at wolves in the wild. These show that the packs actually consist of related family units who rely on unity and cooperation, not conflict. The parents are the leaders, gently raising their offspring with no need to fight, or defend, the imaginary ‘alpha status’. ©