Dominance Theory

Don’t Throw Out The Puppy With The Bathwater!

Until a few years ago, most dog trainers believed that dogs lived in a rigid social structure, in which each animal was either dominant or subordinate to the other dogs – and to the humans – in the family. Many of the training methods used were based partly or entirely on this idea. This “dominance theory” evolved from some studies that had been done of wolves, who seemed to show just such a rigid social structure. Since dogs are wolf descendants, trainers thought it was logical to interperate all dog behavior along these “wolfy” lines, and to imitate the wolves’ behavior in our own interactions with pet dogs. This certainly seemed to make sense, especially since we also have extensive research showing the importance of dominance and submission in several other species of animals…including humans! Dog trainers taught that humans had to “be the boss”, the alpha, the pack leader, or else successful training could not occur, and peaceful dog-and-human family life would unravel into chaos and aggression.

Recently, however, new research has been done, and the old research has been re-examined, and many scientists and trainers have now come to a very different conclusion.

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~ by alexandramorgan on September 3, 2009.