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The Dog Pack
03/08/10 12:44 , Categories: Dog Behavior A great deal has been written about dogs as descendants of wolves. For many, it seems popular in today's culture to focus on this heritage and discuss dog behavior in relation to pack behavior. Recently, I read a comment on a trainer's list that caught my eye. To paraphrase, one trainer stated that those working with dogs using pack mentality/hierarchy may be effective in spite of their approach - not because of it.
While dogs may have descended from wolves, they are not wolves. They are domestic animals, and over the past 10k years have evolved in ways that should be respected and appreciated. One key difference is the dog's desire to work and be with humans. This important trait no doubt developed gradually over time. Early transitional animals (pre-dogs) likely found it easier to scavenge food from humans vs hunting. Over time they became more comfortable sharing space and interacting with humans. Our ancestors benefited as friendlier dogs eventually helped with work and provided alert/protection.
Because pack discussions often focus on concepts of dominance and submission, I have always been a bit uncomfortable with this terminology when applied to dogs. Dogs are pre-wired to work with humans, and such outlooks diminish a predisposition for a strong partnership. While leadership and structure (also pack components) are important, dominance and submission is usually counter-productive IMO. In fact, I would argue it misses a key element of what makes dogs the wonderful companions into which they have evolved.
1 comment
Hi,I'm going to be a new dog owner soon and I've been researching dog training to try and figure out what I need to do to make sure my small dog doesn't become one of the bratty, yappy dogs my Aunt keeps.
This idea about the evolutionary psychology of dogs seems to be the foundation of a lot of "dominance/traditional" training. Despite providing a different theoretical framework for training dogs than other methods, a lot of the same techniques are used so maybe the underlying theory isn't all that important as long as the desired behavior is achieved.
Anyways, I was getting off track there. I've read some articles saying that the dominance framework is incorrect because it was based on early research that observed wolves in captivity as opposed to their natural environment. That the captive environment that didn't allow disgruntled wolves to just up and leave the pack is what contributed to the levels of aggression seen.
What I read said in the wild there's not much aggression, pack leaders don't regularly engage in physical dominance of other members. Their explanation for that observation sounded pretty plausible to me. Basically, in the wild aggression requires a greater expenditure of energy for fighting and for healing. Constant aggression is expensive to maintain, while benevolent rule is easier.
And apparently dogs are even less structured when on their own than wolves. Wolves hunt, dogs scavenge. Dogs will get together in loose groups, but its a fluid group with comings and goings and not much stability.
So I'm trying to understand what all this means for training. I don't think I need to always eat first or walk through doors first (though I do think it would be best to train my dog to wait till I'm out the door so as not to get stepped on), but at the same time those following behavioral/operant training seem completely uninterested in understanding their psychology. Their behavior just becomes a set of inputs and outputs.
Anyways, good site. I wish more people took the time to educate their dogs. If they really wanted something hands off they should get a cat.
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