How many times have you said, “My dog is such an alpha female.” Or maybe, “My dog always jumps on me because he is trying to assert his dominance.”
I’m here to set the record straight, as succinctly and compelling as possible: you’ve been duped.
Look, it’s not your fault. TV, books, and yes, especially trainers keep purporting the outdated, scientifically unproven information onto owners far and wide.
Let’s first look at where the term alpha became part of our lexicon.
- David Mech is one of, if not the foremost authority on wolves and their behavior.He has studied them since 1958, and published The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species in 1970 after studying unfamiliar wolves held in captivity. Unfortunately, at the time, he thought that was the best way to research these wild animals.
He concluded that wolves live with a “top-dog” mentality, in that they will fight their way up the hierarchy ladder to achieve “alpha” status. The problem – this was done in a highly unnatural, forced manner, instead of being done in the wild, natural environment.
Mech has since recanted his flawed findings, after going out into the wild and seeing the truer existence of wolves:
“Attempting to apply information about the behavior of assemblages of unrelated captive wolves to the familial structure of natural packs has resulted in considerable confusion. Such an approach is analogous to trying to draw inferences about human family dynamics by studying humans in refugee camps. The concept of the alpha wolf as a ‘top dog’ ruling a group of similar-aged compatriots is particularly misleading.”
In layman terms, wolves have packs of a mother, father and offspring – just like us! Furthermore, to think there are competing packs of wolves that meet in the middle of the forest and play out a scene from Westside Story is amusing at best, and factually irresponsible at worst.
Mech has since published numerous books and findings to refute the alpha concept, but the misinformation is already in our stream of consciousness. It’s up to us to drain that stream.
Now for the really scary part…
The dominance hierarchy notion is directly related to the way Hitler ruled Nazi Germany (I told you it was scary). Konrad Lorenz, a zoologist and ethologist for the Nazi party published On Aggression in 1966, in which he argued that aggression is innate, and part of the domestication process in animals, as well. He described Hitler as the “ideal Alpha male,” while singing the praises of Nazi rule as the “ideal social structure.” He noted that his own dogs practiced dominance and submission and the embers of this unreliable assertion turned into a wildfire.
Just like Mech, Lorenz later found the error of his ways, and did a 180 in regards to trying to put out this fire, but the message got out and stays out there today. Again, we have the ability to hose down this blaze once and for all.
There is nothing more powerful than information. Unfortunately, often we don’t know what is true and what is false. Let’s all do our best to ask questions, and make sure we have it right because when we are wrong – and feel we need to use force because we need to be the alpha – the only ones that suffer are our dogs. A better understanding and a more informed approach will enlighten and empower you, and your dog will be better off because of it!