“[Dominance] has been erroneously used to describe a supposed trait of individual dogs, even though there is little evidence that such a trait exists. When used correctly to describe a relationship between 2 individuals, it tends to be misapplied as a motivation for social interactions, rather than simply a quality of that relationship.”
During the Pleistocene Era, humans were predominantly
hunter/gatherers. Because resources were scarce, it is unlikely that dogs were
domesticated at this time. However, because dogs and Pleistocene man were
following the same herds, they were most likely in proximity to each other. At
this stage, it is believed that dogs that came into the human camps had a short
flight distance and by virtue of the fact that the dogs were in close proximity
to each other, they would have bred, passing on that short flight distance.
Once Neolithic Man settled into agricultural communities,
domestication seems to have begun in earnest. Only the dogs with the shortest
flight distance would have remained and interbred. Especially the
hunter/gatherers, but also the agrarian cultures would not have had the time to
tame an aggressive or dominant dog, so dogs that became aggressive would have
been driven off or killed.
The myth that wolves fight for dominance came out of a study
in the 1960’s based on the observations of captive wolves. Dr. L. David Mech
wrote the book, The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species,
about the findings and in it coined the phrase “Alpha Wolf.” In later studies
he determined that wolves do not form hierarchies by aggression, but what is
known as the mating pair have offspring who stay with them until sexual
maturity. The Wolf pack is actually a family unit. Dr. Mech has said that
drawing conclusions about wolves by observing them in captivity is like
learning about families by observing people in a concentration camp.
Dogs, however, are scavengers. This does not require them to
form groups. As such they tend to be loners, only occasionally forming what Dr.
Ian Dunbar calls “loose, transitory associations.” Dogs are often drawn
together when food is limited or when a female is in estrous but then go their
separate ways. Even during mating, unlike wolves, male dogs do not stay to help
in the raising of the offspring.
As a side note, wolves and dogs do not alpha roll each other
to show their dominance. Most of what we see is one dog voluntarily rolling
onto their back to either show they mean or meant no harm, as what is called a
“tap out” to say they want to be left alone, or to submit in a specific
situation which will be discussed below. Dr. Mech said that when a dog or wolf
does roll another, it is an aggressive act to get to the underside of the
opponent so they can kill them easier and in the 35 years he’s studied wolves,
he has only seen what he would call an alpha roll three times.
“Dominance is not a personality trait, but an aspect of a relationship”~ Dr. L. David Mech
Great, so what does that mean?
Let’s say my wife and I are out to dinner. There’s one beer
left and one slice of pizza. Who gets it?
I love a good beer. It’s one of my favorite things. My wife,
on the other hand, is allergic to alcohol and would rather have wine than beer
anyway. So she would most likely submit to me making me the dominant one.
On the other hand, my wife’s favorite food is pizza. She could eat it seven days a week. So likewise, I would probably submit to her, making her the dominant one.
Dominance is more about the desire for a resource and can,
and usually does change from one situation to the next.
Worth mentioning at this point is resource guarding. Resource
guarding is not dominant behavior. This is a desire to be safe and comfortable
and a fear of losing that. It is a behavioral issue, not dominance, and should
be addressed by a certified trainer or behaviorist. Punishing this type of
behavior only confirms that the dog has something to fear.
“In animal behavior, dominance is defined as a relationship between individuals that is established through force, aggression and submission in order to establish priority access to all desired resources (food, the opposite sex, preferred resting spots, etc). A relationship is not established until one animal consistently defers to another.”~Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS
Dominance is a relationship that establishes priority access
to a resource. The relationship is not established until individual defers to
the other, or submits.
Which brings us back to this quote:
“Dominance is not a personality trait, but an aspect of a relationship”~ Dr. L. David Mech
References:
•
Coppinger, Raymond and Coppinger, Lorna. Dogs: A
startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution.
Simon & Schuster: New York,
NY 2001
•
Donaldson, Jean. “Are Dogs Pack Animals?” Blog by
Jean Donaldson. WordPress, Web. 16 Jan, 2013
•
Mech, L. David. L. David Mech. n.d. Web. 14 Jun,
2014
•
Serpell, James. The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution,
Behaviour and Interactions with People. Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge, UK
2007
•
Yin, Sophia. “The Dominance Controversy.” Dr.
Sophia Yin, DVM, MS. n.d. Web. 15 Jun, 2014
•
Bradshaw, John W.S.; Blackwell, Emily J.; Casey, Rachel
A. Dominance in Domestic Dogs: Useful Construct or Bad Habit. University of Bristol:
United Kingdom,
2009
