Alpha and Dominance Myths
Ever hear a dog trainer say "You have to be the pack leader" or "You are the alpha"? Ever wonder where they get that idea from? Or how they do their training based on these ideas? Let's talk about Alpha and dominance in the world of dog training.
Alpha
The Alpha approach is when the trainer or owner talks about being the highest-ranking being in the house, including animals. Some of their training methods focus on teaching the dog its "place" in the household, and that it has to obey you because you are the alpha, the one in charge.
Some of these trainers will do things such as:
- Alpha rolls
- Anything that puts pressure around the dog's neck, to mimic the mother's bite
- and other techniques we will discuss later
Other viewpoints in this method explain that if you allow your dog the same luxuries you experience (sleeping on the bed, getting on furniture, going through doors first...etc) then it has the potential to "disrespect" you as the "alpha" and take your place. Thus, not following cues, or having behavioral issues.
Why is Alpha so popular? It must work since it's all over social media and tv?
Well, no. Things you see on TV and social media are good for views. That's it.
Take Cesar Millan for example, his show is great for TV. You see very controversial behaviors from both the people and the dogs. You get to see dogs "attack" people, and it makes for good TV. Now, I'm not talking bad about Cesar, just stating his methods make for good "action" on tv.
We will talk expand on this topic later.
Where did Alpha come from?
Wolves have an alpha in the pack and dogs are a descendent of wolves so they must follow the same rules, right?
Not entirely true.
History lesson!
Animal Behaviorist, Rudolph Schenkel, introduced the Alpha concept around the early 1940s. His original paper titled: Expressions Studies on Wolves, is what started the idea of Alpha dog training methods.
He studied groups of CAPTIVE wolves at a zoo. His goal was to determine the social construct of the wolf packs.
Alpha came from his observation that the wolf with the most resources, fear, and authority was in charge because all other wolves were forced to obey. One major issue with this study was that the wolves were captive and not in their natural environment. Most of the wolves that were in captivity came from different packs in the wild, therefore, having a confusing social dynamic between them.
Fast forward to the 1960s, when wildlife biologist David Mech decided to continue Schenkel's research. Mech wrote a book in 1968 titled: The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species. In his book, he talks about how the Alpha was the "winner" of the dominance contest. The alpha was able to obtain all the resources through dominance and fear.
Now Mech has a better understanding of the social dynamics of wolves and their pack. He publicly disagreed with his findings back in the 60s and has discovered a "new" more accurate social dynamic amongst wolves.
After years of observing wolf packs in their natural habitat, Mech concluded that the alpha wolf is simply just the "breeding male" or "breeding female". The pack is then led by the male or female parent, the rest of the pack are just their pups. So Mech disproved his earlier findings to shed some light on the dynamics of wolf packs.
Modern dogs are not wolves
Now modern-day dogs are being compared to their ancestors. When modern dogs, can jump from house to house, from one family to the next, it seems almost caveman-like to think we can apply wolf dynamics to dogs.
Just like with any field of study, there's always new research, new ideas, and new experiments that get adapted to the modern world. We apply that newly learn information to our best practices, so why wouldn't we do the same with dog training?
There are still trainers out there that believe in the alpha/ dominance method of training. Some of those trainers even know their training style is outdated. In my opinion, it might be difficult for some of them to change their business models after so many years of practice. What are they going to say? "My methods were outdated, I have turned over a new leaf."? Probably not. That makes them appear less credible. I'm sure their methods produce some results, so in their mind, why fix what isn't broken?
Again, this is just my opinion on why I think alpha trainers still exist today, even though time and time again the original research has proven to be misinformed.
Alpha dog on TV
Why would they show these types of training methods on TV if they are outdated? There has to be some merit.
Let's refer back to the Cesar Millan method, it makes for a good show. You don't intend to watch a reality tv show that's too much like everyday life, it would be boring to watch. No drama, no action, no suspense. BORING!
The same goes with dog training tv shows.
Let's look at positive reinforcement training.
The dog gets rewarded for what you ask, you don't stress the dog out or push it past its capabilities. The dog doesn't become aggressive or fearful and does everything right! Wheres the drama? Wheres the mailman fearing for his life? The dog fight? Well, this is training done in real life, how it normally is. You'll get bored watching it on tv because nothing exciting happens. That doesn't mean it's wrong. Most educational media we watch can tend to be a bit boring.
Some popular phrases:
Alpha:
If you are not the alpha then your dog will be and take control of your life.
What they meant to say:
If you don't establish clear boundaries with your dog, they won't understand what's expected of them.
Alpha:
If you allow your dog to go out of the door first, then he thinks he is alpha.
What they meant to say:
If you allow your dog to go out of the door without a clear direction, then dangerous things can happen after they escape.
Alpha:
You have to eat first and then feed your dog last, this is to establish you are the alpha and control the food.
What they meant to say:
Allowing your dog to eat whenever they want, can be missed opportunities for training. Use the food for training instead of giving them a free meal. Your dog will have more fun that way.
I hope this shed some light on the misinformation that can happen in the dog training profession. My goal is to give you the knowledge you need to have a good, harmonious life with your dog!
