The Truth about Dominance in Dogs

Alpha. Dominance.  Pack Hierarchy.  Top Dog.  These words are fun to say.  However, despite what many people will try to convince you, they have nothing to do with puppy obedience or domestic dog behavior. 

For the past 20 years or so, the word "dominance" has been used by many dog trainers to describe the main reason for every kind of dog behavior problem.  Dogs and even very young pups have been labelled "dominant" for every possible misbehavior, including

• house-soiling
• playbiting
• fear/aggression
• possessiveness
• jumping
• chewing
• not coming when called
• not sitting when commanded
• not heeling
• not staying
• sleeping on your couch
• sleeping on your bed
• entering doorways before you do
• and more.

There are many problems with this theory, even on a strictly logical basis. 

As a dog trainer and former owner of a 40+ daily cage-free dog daycare, I can tell you without any doubt that 99% of all dogs exhibit several of the above misbehaviors until there are properly trained. 

If 99% of all dogs exhibit these misbehaviors, does it follow then that 99% of all dogs are dominant?  How could every dog and puppy who misbehaves be dominant?   The dominant dog is in the very top position in a pack hierarchy made up of many other non-dominant dogs.  So where are all the non-dominant, or submissive, dogs?

The fact is, most dogs are not dominant, and the ones who are dominant generally are not misbehaving in the ways described above.  Pack theory gives us a pyramid of dogs, with the dominant dog at the apex and the remaining non-dominant dogs below him, following his lead or fighting among themselves to establish their position under him. 

Dog trainers' fascination with pack theory, most evident in wild wolves, led them to believe that they could apply the dynamics there to the domestic dog-in-a-human-household scenario.  They started touting "evidence" to show that a dog was "challenging" its owner when it, for example, peed on the floor.  The cure, then, was to strip the dog of its dominance.

The problem of course is that after all the dominance-stripping, the dog still pees on the floor!  The trainer then tells the owner to do more to reduce his dog's dominance:  Never allow him to go through doors first, never allow him to eat before you do, never allow him to sleep on your bed, yadda yadda yadda. 

What's the result of all this dominance theory?  The dog still pees on the floor, and the owner feels like he's unable to take charge of his dog.  The trainer thinks maybe there is something else "wrong" with the dog, and the owner gives up and either re-homes it, neglects it, or worse.  All in the name of "dominance" where none existed.

Dominance is also often used as the solution to these problems when dog owners try to overpower their dogs with "alpha rolls", scruff shakes, and other physical means.  But what toddler, elderly or handicapped person can flip a dog on his back and hold him there?  And what able-bodied adult can do so without fear of losing the battle or gaining a bite wound?

Show me a dog who exhibits any of the so-called "dominant" behaviors listed above, and I'll show you an owner who doesn't understand that all dogs work solely on a for-profit basis (unless there is a history of physical abuse or neglect).

Dominant dogs do exist.  But dominance plays no part in the training game.  Dominant dogs very nicely obey their owners, the children in the household, the elderly and anyone else — as long as they perceive a profit for a requested behavior.

Now, throw a dominant dog into a group of dogs who are challenging his position and yes, you may see a scuffle.  But tell me which dog in that group is offering Mr. Dominant a cookie in exchange for good behavior?

See The Profit Motive next.