Canine Behavior

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One of the most detrimental pieces of misinformation in the world of dog training is the belief that "alpha theory", or dominance training, is an effective and appropriate way to shape canine behavior. "Alpha theory" originated from research conducted on captive wolves by Rudolph Schenkel (popularized by David Mech's 1968 book), but it was extremely short-sighted and inappropriate to extrapolate this data to domestic dog training. In fact, Mech has spent the later part of his career studying wild wolves in order to make up for the damage "alpha theory" has done to the world of domestic dog ownership and training, and he has repeatedly asked his publisher to stop publishing the book (but to no avail). 

The Research

Schenkel's 1947 study investigated the relationship dynamics in a group of captive wolves who had been captured in the wild from various different territories. He observed the wolves fighting over resources and inferred that a normal wolf pack dynamic consists of a dominance hierarchy in which a dominant "alpha" male (or mating pair) controls resources by winning fights. When fighting over resources, the loser would defer to the winner, and the winner would get whatever resource they were fighting over.

Why the Research Does Not Translate To Dog Ownership

First, dogs are not wolves, and it is naive to assume that any and every study on wolf behavior would translate seamlessly to the domestic dog. Dogs tend to be generally less aggressive with humans and with each other than wolves are, and they live in a very different social setting. Also, dogs do not view humans the same as other canine members of the pack—we are not dogs, and our dogs know and understand that.

Second, studying captive wolves cannot even be extrapolated to typical wolf behavior, because they live in a very different setting in the wild. A wild wolf pack is very similar to a human family unit—it typically consists of a mating pair, their most recent litter of pups, and whichever pups from previous litters have yet to go off and start their own pack. Wolves are social animals who care for their young, so it would not make sense for the "alpha" to fight with other wolves in the pack (their offspring) over resources, because this would pose too great a risk of injury and interfere with the pack's survival. If any wolf packs did behave in this way, they would probably be outcompeted by more cooperative families of wolves and die off.

Third, when dogs and wolves do compete for resources, it typically happens peacefully, and "dominance" in dogs is fluid, meaning that different resources hold different value to different dogs. If Dog A really loves toys and Dog B really loves food, Dog A might defer to Dog B in a (peaceful) conflict over food whereas Dog B defers to Dog A when toys are involved. Anytime you see dogs fight over a resource (rather than peacefully defer), you are witnessing resource guarding. Resource guarding—like other forms of aggression—is an anxiety-based reaction, and it is produced by dogs when the availability of a treasured resource (food, toys, bed, human provider, etc.) is threatened by a human or another canine, usually as a result of scarcity or a history of deprivation/neglect.

What Happens When People Use Dominance Training?

Many people mistakenly believe that dominance training is acceptable because it works—or at least, it appears to work, especially when Cesar Milan does it on TV. Dominance training instills fear in your dog to convince it to obey you, resulting in learned helplessness and behavioral suppression. This suppression of behavior creates the illusion that your dog is learning (i.e., the dog stops doing the unwanted behavior), but the stressors that precipitate the behavior are still present, resulting in pent up stress which often leads to aggressive behavior. If you need evidence of the fact that force training turns dogs into ticking time bombs, Cesar Milan is famous for that as well. He has been sued by a Florida woman after a dog he trained attacked her, and he has been sued after his own dog attacked a gymnast and killed Queen Latifah's dog.

"But I know lots of people who use dominance training, and their dogs haven't attacked anybody."

Dominance training punishes unwanted behaviors by making the dog feel uncomfortable and helpless as a consequence of the behavior. If the unwanted behavior is voluntary, the dog will learn that it is not allowed to do anything that it wants, but if the behavior is reactive, the dog will learn that expressing its fear of a situation (growling, snarling, etc.) is not allowed but it will still feel the same level of fear and anxiety when put in the same situation. If the fear induced by the situation becomes severe enough, the dog will shift from helplessness to desperation and act out aggressively, often skipping the growl and going straight to a bite. If the dog never encounters a situation in which it is so severely scared, it will never "snap" and attack someone, but it will still go through its life feeling helpless and miserable.

"If dominance training is so dangerous and ineffective, why do so many professional trainers use it?"

Unfortunately, dog training is completely unregulated—literally anybody can call themselves a professional dog trainer, regardless of their knowledge and experience (or lack thereof). Because of this, it is extremely important that you look into whomever you plan to hire as a dog trainer, and make sure they have a thorough understanding of the science behind dog training as well as practical experience applying that science. The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) offers a certification for dog trainers provided that they pass the certification exam (demonstrating that they understand the science behind dog training) and log hundreds of hours of training experience under the supervision of an already certified professional trainer (applying the science). On their website, you can learn about dog training and behavior, and you can use their search function to find a certified trainer near you. Not all ethical trainers are certified, and certified trainers vary in their understanding of and experience with canine behavior, but if you need a trainer and are outside our service area, the CCPDT is an excellent place to start.

"Without dominance training, how do I control my dog's behavior?"

The only one who can control your dog's behavior is your dog, and the only behavior you will ever have control of is your own. In order to get your dog to behave desirably in any and all situations, you need to figure out how to motivate your dog to do what you want it to do (rather than punish undesirable behaviors and hope the dog magically figures out what it should do instead). All dogs (and other trainable animals, including humans) benefit most from positive reinforcement, so there is absolutely no reason to ever use dominance or force as a primary method of training.