Social Dominance Theory? Not a sound theory.

A dog is not a wolf, and vice versa. They share a common ancestor, but they are two distinct species. Dogs went through a process called domestication, wolves did not. Why are we still looking at wolves to define dogs’ behavior? It is an old habit difficult to get rid of that gives us security and, therefore, sticks with us even if wrong.

The main reason why we think that way is because we wrongly assume that whenever dogs show aggression toward us, it is simply because they try to dominate us and if we do not accept their “superiority” they will fight us to the death, as supposedly wolves would do. Well, this is very far from the truth.   

Let’s start by dispelling this myth introduced in 1947 by Rudolph Schenkel (“Expression studies on wolves – Captivity Observations”), an ethologist that first studied the behavior of captive wolves. The wolves he studied were not related; they came from different zoos and forced to share the same enclosure. Therefore, they had to fight to establish a hierarchy in that particular environment. Schenkel himself wrote that what he observed may have been biased because his subjects were living in a non-natural environment. In his study he also quoted a book written by his colleagues, Young and Goldman (“The wolves of North America - 1944) in which they presupposed that wolves in the wild lived in small groups comparable to family units. The most fascinating thing about this theory is that they were right.

Dave Mech, a researcher that started observing wolves in the wild since 1958, and his colleagues around the world support this theory. He is the man responsible for the coinaging of the term “Alpha Wolf”. He regrets it and blames himself now (please, watch his video on youtube: “Alpha” wolf?http://youtu.be/tNtFgdwTsbU ), because since Schenkel, a lot of research has been done that proved that wolf ‘packs are family units composed mainly of a breeding pair (the “alphas”) and their offspring. Younger wolves naturally look at their parents for directions and help them to take care of the puppies. In such a scenario fighting is quite out of the question, because the integrity of the pack is critical for its survival. Fighting for supremacy or, worse, killing each other to get the higher rank would not make any sense (an unecessary waste of time and energy) especially when you have to kill a prey bigger than you in order to feed everybody.  Conflicts are usually solved with non-injurious ritualistic behavior or displays (i.e. stares, snarls, growls, and snaps).      

As I stated at the beginning, dogs are not wolves and vice versa. Dogs are a domesticated species. In the Convention on Biological Diversity, a domesticated species is defined as a "species in which the evolutionary process has been influenced by humans to meet their needs." Therefore, a defining characteristic of domestication is artificial selection by humans. Human beings through domestication selected more and more docile subjects over the centuries to make them easier to work with. It would have not made any sense to prefer the more aggressive ones over the docile ones.  Domestication goes along with neoteny or the retention in the adults of infantile physical traits. Selection not only influenced physical traits, but social behaviors as well. If we really want to make a comparison with wolves: adult dogs’ behavior is more similar to that of juvenile wolves. As a matter of fact dogs play all their lives, while wolves limit play to puppyhood.   

Here is my question:  even if wolves are not so aggressive, why should dogs, which are the result of an artificial selection made by human beings, be so? Why select subjects ready to fight against us to death? Usually it is quite the reverse: dogs want to please us. It follows that if a dog is showing aggression toward us, the motivations are not rooted in a strong desire to dominate us. The main motivations for aggressive dogs are fear and anxiety, mostly due to lack of socialization during the so-called sensitive period of socialization that in dogs starts when they are 3 weeks old and ends when they are 3-4 months old. Some other reasons for aggression are medically and genetic caused which is why it is so wrong to physically reprimand our dogs. Other than being painful, it will only exacerbate their fear and/or anxiety and this should not be our goal. It can be dangerous for both the punisher and the dog; in this scenario the dog may assault the attacker (the owner) to protect herself. The dog also learns that aggression may have positive outcomes (keeping the “noxious things” away from her) and therefore it will be reinforced and used as a typical strategy to defend herself whenever she feels that need.  Please note, the adjectives “dominant” and “aggressive” are not synonymous. The first one simply defines a relationship, while the second a personal trait; they are not interchangeable. Therefore, an aggressive dog is not necessarily dominant.

In fact, there is absolutely no need to use Alpha rolls or pinning a dog to the ground (a very extremely unnatural behavior; subordinate wolves or dogs present their bellies voluntarily to the dominant subject), grabbing and shacking them by their scruffs like their moms would do, growling at them or even staring at them. First of all we are not dogs so we will never be able to replicate those behaviors correctly , and second, all of these techniques will teach your dog to be scared of you and not to respect you because there are seen as random attacks on her, therefore she will do whatever it takes to defend herself from you. There is nothing that could not be learned by simply pairing it with rewards and fun time spent with the owners. Not only this will reinforce the bond but any dog will retain all these behavior patterns longer.

It would be extremely useful to learn to read your dog’s body language to better understand her; dogs communicate with us constantly, but we tend to ignore them or we wrongly interpret what they are trying to say. The following example explains the previous statement: a hug is seen as a threat by dogs, and this explains why they may bite us even if it is a benign gesture.  The use of sound learning principles (i.e. both classical and operant conditioning) is the only acceptable way to change our dogs’ “unacceptable behavior” and to train them. Dogs, as any other species, learn through associations (classical conditioning) and through the consequences of their actions (operant conditioning). Reinforcing the wanted behaviors with rewards (positive reinforcement: food, praise, attention), and ignoring the undesirable ones (negative punishment: not paying attention)  is the best way to correct and redirect our dogs.  As D. D. Eisenhower once said “You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That’s assault, not leadership”. I could not agree more; this may apply to dogs as well.  

If I can help with this or any other behavior related condition, please call Long Island Veterinary Specialists today. 516-501-1700 or visit www.LIVS.org