1.Understanding Dominance inDomestic DogsPresented by: Tristan Flynn, CPDT-KA June 23rd 2012

2. Contents What is Dominance? (Misconceptions, Definition) Popularity and Origin of Dominance Dogs vs. Wolves Dog Social Structure Is Dominance a Personality Trait? Dealing with Dominance Behaviors in Dogs Sources / Additional Reading Conclusion / Final Questions 3. Dominance - MisconceptionsThe term Dominance has been twisted and no clearmeaning exists among the average dog owner.Dominance is not a behavior, it is an attempted explanationof behavior.Growling, biting, staring, mounting, etc. are real observablebehaviors.Generally, dominance is explained as a characteristic oraction.I have a dominant dog, or My dog is dominant with otherdogs 4. Dominance - MisconceptionsGeneral assumption of many average dog owners and trainers:1) Wolf research showed a clear linear hierarchy between pack members with the alpha wolf being at the top. The alpha wolf must remain strong and use force to maintain his position or risk losing it.2) Dogs are directly descended from wolves, so the same must be true of them3) Humans must be seen as the alpha to their dog, or risk misbehavior and disobedience. Eating and walking first, not allowing dogs on the bed, forcing submission are recommended as ways to show you are alpha.4) When dogs meet other dogs they assess rank and determine who will be dominant. Any fights or aggression are labeled dominance aggression 5. Definition of Dominance Definition of DominanceDominant behavior is a quantitative andquantifiable behavior displayed by an individualwith the function of gaining or maintainingtemporary access to a particular resource on aparticular occasion, versus a particularopponent, without either party incurring injury.Relationship isnt established until one individualconsistently defers. 6. What is DominanceDominant behavior is situational, individual and resource related.Dominance is a fluid relationship based on motivation. Ex: A starvingdog will not give up a bone as readily as before!Fact: Dominance is driven by environment and learning it is not set instone. High quality, clumped resources tend to create stricter socialhierarchies, while low quality, evenly disbursed resources tend tocreate looser social organizations. Which would describe house dogs?Dominance relationships are particularly important for social animalsthat need to cohabit and cooperate to survive. No animal wants toexpend energy constantly fighting for resources. Many animals mustcooperate in order to survive (wolf packs, family dogs)Each animal must make the decision how bad they want the resourcerelative to the other 7. What is DominanceA dominance relationship will be based on several factors:1) The motivation for the resource of each animal(Environment)2) Their history of how to control the resource (some useaggression, some sneak the resource) Learned behavior3) Their relationship with the animalThese factor will be re-evaluated in each situation and with eachanimal thus dominance is very fluid. Factors may howeverremain very similar over the course of a relationship 8. What is Dominance?Is this cat being Dominant? 9. What is Dominance?Is this dog being Dominant? 10. What is DominanceIn the previous examples: The cat was defending itself from an overly excited dog. The young puppy was jumping up because it was friendly and excited. It stole food because it could and had not been taught otherwise!Dominance, priority access to resources, played no part ineither example.Why is terminology so important?Without proper diagnosis, the solution may be flawed. In theseexamples the dominance of the animal absolved the owners ofblame for the behavior. 11. Popularity and origin Early wolf and dog publications such as King Solomans Ring(Lorenz), The Wolf (Mech) and How To Be Your Dogs BestFriend (Monks) advocated the need to Dominate your dog. Schenkels 1947 Expressions Studies on Wolves. is the studythat gave rise to the now outmoded notion of alpha wolves. Dominance allows for a simple and sexy explanation ofbehavior with a simple solution (You need to be moredominant!) Absolves owner of responsibility and justifies harsh or abusivetreatment in the name of training. Human social order has many strict linear hierarchies(Military, Countries, Church, Companies, Royalty, etc) 12. Popularity and Origin Science is in flux and many experts have recanted their earlierresearch. Dominance continues to be a central topic of TV dog trainersand shows since the concept is easy to explain. An unregulated dog training industry is very dangerous.James OHeare Wrote:I think it is intuitive for humans. We, as a species, are veryconcerned with who is winning and who is over or under who.Social dominance makes an intriguing narrative and humans arevery story oriented beings. It has drama. I think that is justbecause many people just dont take the interest in familiarizingthemselves with the boring principles of learning. 13. Popularity and Origin Confused Yet?A dog that growls when approached near her food bowl mightbe labeled dominant. Then if you ask the owner why the doggrowls, shell answer, Because shes dominant. So the labelbecomes a pseudo-explanation for the behaviour.Dominance theory is so muddled that it often contradicts itself.For example, if a "dominant dog" is acting aggressively and thesolution is through "calm-assertive" energy which makes thehuman the "dominant pack leader," wouldnt a dominant dog actcalm-assertive instead of aggressive? 14. Popularity and OriginL David Mech, Author of The Wolf and many otherpublications who has studied wolves for over 35 years 15. Dogs vs. WolvesDo these animals look similar? Is their behaviorthe same?how about these? 16. Dogs vs. WolvesComparing wolves to dogs holds as much weight as comparingchimps to humans when discussing behavior.Wolves are concerned with hazard avoidance, hunting andreproduction dogs are concerned with social joys andcompanionship, retrieving and herding and other breed specifictraits.16,000 years or more of domestication has greatly changed adog and while many similarities exist in DNA between dog andwolf, those small changes have profound effect on behavior. 17. Dogs vs. Wolves This evolution of dogs from packs of hunting predators toopportunistic scavengers is an important change. It is achange of survival tactics that seems largely responsible forthe highly flexible and creative social capabilities of dogs.Dogs are a species that seems to be able to easily adapt tolife, not just with other dogs but with other species too. Wolves spend most of their lives in stable family groups whichnormally do not incorporate outsiders Domestic dogs formloose, temporary groups and/or interact fleetingly with eachother during outings with a human caretaker. 18. Dogs vs. Wolves Early Wolf Studies Early studies on wolves were done on captive wolvesfrom multiple packs. Wolves were not able to hunt or burn off naturalaggressive energy Wolves had no prior relationship and were forcedinto an unnatural family Aggression and submission was frequentlyobserved, giving rise to the idea of alpha wolves andthe need for physical dominance 19. Dogs vs. Wolves Early StudySince captive wolves dont have access to hunting, their naturalmethod of reducing stress, or of offloading their natural predatoryaggression, or of fostering group harmony, captive wolves findthemselves fighting instead over little things; thats what they do withtheir aggressive energythey scrimmage.Scrimmages were taken to be a battle for dominance, rather than anoutlet for pent up anxiety and aggressionDogs need outlet for their energy as well such as play and socialbonding. Dogs deprived of this can show aggression which is thenmistaken for dominance. The degree to which this happens is still farless in dogs than in wolves, who by nature do not socialize withoutsiders (putting together a group of unrelated wolves causes muchmore aggression than unrelated dogs). 20. Dogs vs. WolvesPacking: Packing has been proven to be a product of the environment,not an innate trait.Wolves pack to: Cooperatively hunt large game. Wolves that have no need of cooperation to hunt have no need, and do not pack. Wild wolf packs will not tolerate outsiders on their territory to protect resources Packing also defers priority access to mating in order to cooperatively raise young to control population. Wolf mates both cooperate in raising the young and collecting food for them.All wolves wish to pass on their genes and will leave their pack to formtheir own and become the Alpha Wolf (or breeding pair) 21. Dogs vs. WolvesDogs live in a very different environment than wolves and are adifferent animal!Dogs do not form packs because: They do not hunt game in groups Males/females mate as often as they can with no specific partner Males do not take care of the young, pups often scavenge for food at a very young ageFact: Dogs do not form packs as wolves do, but certain aspectsmay present depending on the environment (Ex: defendingresources from other dogs should they be scarce). 22. Dog Social Structure - DunbarDr Ian Dunbar studied groups of domestic dogs for years in theearly 1970s and made some key observations of theirinteractions. Dogs pick very distinct sleeping partners and friends to play games with. Dogs have very clear preference for other dogs. Females wouldnt take bones from puppies 50% of males would as puppies aged they did take the bones. Taking bones was noise and there was no touching, rolls, grabs, shakes etc usually done with eye contact alone 23. Dog Social Structure - Conclusions Socialization is the KEY to avoiding aggression andunstable dogs Dogs dont want fear, physical pain aggression isabnormal! Dogs need to be taught rules to keep them safe andbecause we are smarter not because we arealphas. Dog social system is not that much different fromhuman system friend, enemy, parents, wellsocialization, etc. there is no clear hierarchy in totalsocial structure. 24. Dog Social StructureDominance vs. Submission SignalsStandard DominantStandard SubmissionAggressive positionpositionWe discussed that you cannot have dominancewithout a resource. Is this fair labeling of thesepositions? 25. Dog Social StructureDominance vs. Submission SignalsThese previous postures should correctly be identified asthreatening and non-threatening.A Submissive dog is actually a more socially confident dog inthat they are attempting to turn off the aggression of thethreatening dogFighting and aggression among dogs is not natural and has to dowith human meddling (poor training, lack of socialization)Wolf pack fights very rare only 2-3 fights in wolf park in years.Free roaming observed dogs had no link between aggression andpriority access to resources. 26. Dog Human Social StructureDogs are clever scavengers. They will try to get what they want.They will develop behaviours and strategies to get us to givethem more of the things they want and to keep us from doingthe things they dont want. But isnt that more like being anopportunist than a power-mad status climber? And if we fall fortheir strategies, isnt that more our fault than theirs consideringwe have control of all of the resources? 27. Dog Human Social Structure Dogs do not display aggression or disobedience by a drive toobtain rank or leadership but rather by their desire for aresource and the associated learning on how to best obtainthe resource. Dogs know we are not dogs and have very different means ofcommunication with us than with other dogs. Using force and correction is not the natural way to train.Dogs do not use force to teach other dogs to Sit aggression and force is only used to say get away from me. Most dog-dog aggression follows the rule of using the leastamount of force required (sometimes only a threat). Dohumans follow the same rules? 28. Dominance Behavior in DogsTrue behaviour motivation is normally a hedonistic one. Dogbehaviour usually reflects a need or want that makes the dogfeel better. Dogs steal food because it tastes good, pull on leashbecause we follow along, or they guard bones because bones aretasty, not because of rank. In the wild the overall drivingmotivation for resources is normally to mate and pass on onesgenes.Many aggressive displays that are currently diagnosed asdominance aggression are aimed at avoiding some perceivedaversive outcome rather than establishing or maintaining theoffending dogs social status 29. Is Dominance a Personality Trait? No. By our definition, dominance is a relationshipbetween individuals in regards to a particularresource Can dogs be more predisposed to using aggressivemethods to obtain a resource? Yes! This is not a fixed personality trait, but ratherbehavior increased via operant conditioning that canbe modified. 30. Dealing with Dominance Issues Aggression Aggression is generally a fear based response, not a confident one. Using force (alpha roll, corporal punishment) will stop theaggression, but not the reason behind it. When threat ofpunishment is gone, aggression may return.Being dominant by force is a relationship you can create and your dogwill submit the way anyone that has less power and is being controlledwould. This is not required.Labeling the dog as dominant creates conflict between the dog andowner and often is seen as justification for harsh training methods.Most people would not want to shock, hit or choke a dog labeled asafraid. 31. Dealing with Dominance IssuesDog-Dog Aggression Dogs meeting each other for the first time are oftenassessing if they have friendly intentions (notdetermining rank!) Aggression will be based on previous history(perhaps with sex, breed or movements of the dog) Lack of positive outcomes may predispose the dogto continued negative encounters as they becomeclassically conditioned that dogs are a threat Mostly based on anxiety (unsure if dogs are a risk totheir safety) 32. Dealing with Dominance IssuesResource Guarding One of the most frequent dominance behaviors guarding /using aggression to control a resource. Isnt this the definition of dominance from before? YES! Youcould call this dominance, however what you do to correct itis key!Resource guarding manifests because:1. Resources are scarce2. The dog has been conditioned that humans will take theiritems (not something that dogs often do, possession =ownership)3. Using aggression to defend the resource has worked in past 33. Dealing with Dominance IssuesResource GuardingObject guarding and possessiveness are not necessarilyindicators of dominance, even though superficially the behaviorappears to be motivated by dominance- related incentives.Among wolves, there is little correspondence between objectguarding and dominance, with wolves of all ranks exhibitingheightened possessiveness over objects located within theirownership zone around the mouth. In addition, allwolves, regardless of rank, will attempt to steal food from otherwolves irrespective of dominance (Mech, 1999)Retaining a resource is a natural behavior in all dogs. To avoidthis issue we do not need to alpha roll, force submission orpunish our dogs. 34. Dealing with Dominance Issues Resource GuardingTo correct or prevent resource guarding in dogs:1. Provide ample resources (not high value, limited resources)2. Teach dogs to trade using reward based methods3. Do not create confrontations over resources, this causes anxiety and stress 35. Dealing with Dominance IssuesLeash WalkingMisconception: Dogs walking ahead of you is a display of theirdominanceReason: Alpha wolves are always in front of the pack, thus youshould be in front of your dogNot only is this irrelevant, alpha wolves are often not walking infront of the packWhy do dogs walk in front or pull on leash?1. Dogs move faster than us they must be taught to move atour slow pace and to wait for us2. Often owners allow the dog to pull by moving forward, thusthe behavior is rewarded and continues (learning). 36. Dealing with Dominance Issues Leash Walking By rewarding a dog for walking beside you and stopping whenever they pull, a dog will easily learn to walk on leash. Dogs can be asked to wait at a door by teaching a stay. All can be taught using food, positive reinforcement and clear communication. It is that simple.There is no need to invoke ideas ofdominance, alphas and other humancreated reasoning for the behavior. 37. Dominance Misconceptions reviewGeneral assumption of many average dog owners and trainers:1) Wolf research showed a clear linear hierarchy between pack members with the alpha wolf being at the top. The alpha wolf must remain strong and use force to maintain his position or risk losing it.2) Dogs are directly descended from wolves, so the same must be true of them3) Humans must be seen as the alpha to their dog or risk misbehavior and disobedience. Eating and walking first, not allowing dogs on the bed, forcing submission are recommended as ways to show you are alpha.4) When dogs meet other dogs they assess rank and determine who will be dominant. Any fights or aggression are labeled dominance aggression 38. Dominance updated informationCorrect information for dog owners and trainers!1) Early wolf research on captive packs was unnatural and showed increased aggression due to anxiety. In natural, wild packs, the alpha is simply the father and dominance is based on relationships, not force.2) Dogs are directly descended from wolves, however their environmental and genetic differences result in huge behavior variations3) Humans should be seen as leaders that provide information and resources for cooperative behavior from their dogs.4) When dogs meet other dogs they assess the social ability and safety of the other dog. Encounters will be based on previous experiences. 39. ConclusionDominance is simply a description of a relationship it shouldnot infer the need to use physical force to become the dominantone. Dogs are not looking for a dominant personality they aresimply looking for clear instruction on how their world works andhow to live within it.Only a rather incompetent leader would go about challengingand agitating deferential subordinates. In short, the process ofmaintaining dominance is about regulating social limits andboundaries while making oneself an object of social attentionand affectiona true leader.To lead people walk behind them. Lao Tzu 40. Sources American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviourists Dominance Training Whitepaper - 2007Barry Eaton, Dominance in Dogs, Factor or Fiction, Dogwise Publishing; 3rd Revised edition edition(January 2011) Barrette C (1993). The inheritance of dominance,or of an aptitude to dominate? AnimBehav, 46:591593.Bernstein, I.S. 1981. Dominance: The baby and the bathwater. J Behav Brain Sci 4:419-57. Borchelt PL (1983). Aggressive behavior of dogs kept as companion animals: Classification andinfluence of sex, reproductive status, and breed. Appl Anim Ethol 10:4561.Coppinger, Raymond & Lorna: Dogs A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior &Evolution 2001, ScribnerDrews, C. 1993. The concept and definition of dominance behaviour. Behaviour 125: 284-313 41. 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