Dominance in domestic dogs has been in the headlines lately. According to a new study by researchers at Bristol Vet School, establishing the position in the pack is not the main motivator for pet dogs. Training concepts that rely on dominance reduction are likely to be useless at best or at the extreme, downright dangerous. The end result is likely to be a fearful dog that does not feel able to express natural behaviours - a welfare issue in its own right; or an aggressive dog.
The idea that owners must position themselves as leader of the pack has been questioned by behaviourists for several years now. The new study is based on observations of dogs at Dogs Trust re-homing centres and a review of studies of feral dogs. The researchers concluded that dogs learn through experience, rather than being motivated by a desire to exert dominance.
There has been widespread concern by animal charities and behaviourists that television behaviourists who advocate techniques to dominate the dog, such as pinning the animal to the floor, have been responsible for serious behavioural problems, with some dogs having learned to show aggression in an effort to avoid punishment.
Techniques that are widely used to avoid dominance problems, such as feeding the dog after the family has eaten and going through doorways first are also worthless, say the researchers, as they merely show the dog what to expect in certain situations.
So where does this leave us when it comes to making a recommendation to an owner. Well the 'dominance' theory has little credence with the UK's top behaviourists. Sarah Whitehead is a behaviour specialist and APBC member from Windsor, Berkshire, "So called 'rank reduction programmes' have once again become popular with owners believing that they have to perform 'alpha rollovers' on their dogs, or deny them rewards, such as attention, comfort, or food in the name of leadership. Of course, these have an emotional and behavioural impact. The removal of an expected reward is in fact a psychological punishment. If a dog repeatedly performs a behaviour which the owners find infuriating, such as barking, attention seeking, or pulling on lead, ask yourself what's reinforcing it. These are not symptoms of dominance or so-called 'alpha' behaviour. Your dog is not trying to challenge for leadership. It's far more simple and obvious than that: dogs repeat behaviours that get rewarded. Of course, rewards include getting to the park at top speed, eye contact, vocal contact and physical contact. They also include getting humans wound up, cross and upset. Moving away from imposing a set of dominance rules does not mean being out of control. Indeed, clear signals of reward and non-reward are essential for dogs. They need boundaries, but what these are will depend on the dog and the owner's specific needs."
Map