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Pack/Family – What’s In A Name

Pack or family

We have believed for many years that dogs adhere to and live their lives according to the pack structure of dominant hierarchy. The pack theory of dominant hierarchy has long been a practiced and proven method of communicating with dogs. In our attempt to achieve understanding with our dogs, we structure their training and behavioural reasoning to correspond to this theory.

A little bit of history

The pack theory of Dominant Hierarchy came into existence between 1930 – 1940 when two Swiss scientists studied a pack of Zoo wolves living together. They observed that the most assertive male and female wolf within the pack form a pair. Between the two, there is no question of status or rank. With control and repression of others in the pack – males vs male, and female vs female – this pair defends their social position. The scientists concluded that wolves who live in the pack are in constant competition to achieve dominance. They fought each other for higher ranking. The “winner” was considered the “alpha wolf” or “leader of the pack”, in which all other wolves respect and follow. Several other studies took place shortly thereafter which supported their findings.

Similar hierarchies are present in many animal “packs” – not just the wolf. It is particularly evident in animals with obvious social groupings such as primates, dolphins, several types of birds, elephants, hens, etc. The hierarchy is a “pecking order” innately understood within the groups.

In the 1960’s Dr. David Mech, a renowned scientist and wolf expert, studied wolves in the wild as part of his PhD thesis. The outcome of his study was the publication of his book in 1970 entitled, “The Wolf” that totally supported the early alpha and domination theories of the two Swiss scientists. Years later, after further study and observation of wolf packs, Dr. Mech literally changed his mind. In 2000, he wrote a paper that was published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology which reads that the wolf dominance pack theory is totally misleading, based on the fact that the Swiss study was limited to the behaviour of wolves living in a zoo. “Attempting to apply information about the behaviour 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.” (quote by David Mech, 2000) To explain his new position, Mech claims that a pack of wolves in the wild is nothing other than a “family”. Simple family dynamics are responsible for the pack structure, which points to the “dad” and “mom” as what would be considered “alpha”, and the “children” following, learning from, and respecting their parents. Dr. Mech points out that unrelated wolves forced to live together in captivity causes tension and fighting, which is the reasoning behind the more antagonistic findings of the earlier study.

Dr. Mech’s paper was a turning-point for believing, whether or not, the pack theory of dominant hierarchy really exists. It has now been debunked by many dog professionals. Confusion exists as people debate the social interactions of dogs and how they learn. To the same extent, people ask, is the domestic dog really all that similar to wolves in a pack? Does the dog even recognize the pack structure in this day and age? The question has even become, did the dog really descend from the wolf?

is dominance dead

I guess a good place to start looking for answers is by determining whether or not we believe that dogs actually descended from the wolf. Due to their more trusting, dependent nature, a true domesticated dog could not have survived in ancient day. I think we would all agree to that. It is likely, and most widely accepted by historians, archaeologists and geneticists, that the dog is a decedent of the grey wolf. Then throughout history wolves were domesticated to coexist with humans. (We just summed up years and years of research into one paragraph… perhaps a subject for a future blog.) For our purposes, we just need a place to start and that is the most logical, right?

Now, let’s assume for a minute that Dr. Mech was correct in his final opinion that wolves do not live in unrelated packs, but rather in families. His reasoning that unrelated wolves forced to live together creates tension and confusion is logical. His conclusion that family dynamics are responsible for creating what we would refer to as a pack structure is believable. If you continue to read Dr. Mech’s research, he does state that unrelated wolves will sometimes join another “family” of wolves. When that happens, these unrelated wolves blend in and submit to the leadership of the parent, until perhaps mating with the parent’s offspring and starting a pack of their own. This all makes sense. So, after we boil it down, what type of “assemblage” are we left with? An “order”, a ranking, dare I say, a hierarchy? The issue here is not so much the terminology… whether it be “family”, “pack” or “hierarchy”, but rather what it suggests. Stronger, more assertive, wolves lead their pack. The more submissive members follow.

When you are in the company of dogs as I am at home with a pack of 9 that was once 17, we witness the dominance hierarchy in action every single day. At home I can observe the dogs “grouping” themselves during play. As recent as 2011 the

first quantitative study on dominance relationships at Doggie Day Care was written. The author confirms what I know to be true. If you watch the dogs play, there are generally two dogs as the primary players (the alpha couple?). Other dogs will skirt the primary players, trying to join in, each jockeying for position or forming smaller play groups. The results of this study “suggests that dominance is a robust component of dog-dog relationships.”

The many successes I see in our training programs is further evidence that our dogs seek leadership roles in their lives… a leader, an alpha. They look to us for guidance and find security and confidence in our care. They like knowing where they stand. Proper training creates the structure that dogs expect.

PACK LIVING

To some, the dominance theory suggests an aggressive method of communicating with and training our dogs. As with any doctrine or precept, some people take the “dominance” part of the equation to the extreme. They have twisted the concept into believing that we must overpower, intimidate, or subjugate dogs into submission. The application being that the dog trainer or owner must declare himself as alpha/ leader by force so that the dog will instinctively understand and obey. In fact, this extreme, irrational thinking has much to do with how the dominance theory lost its popularity amongst many dog professionals. In response, strictly positive, rewards-based training techniques were developed.

But is it true that the dog trainer or owner must declare themselves as alpha/leader so that the dog will instinctively understand and obey? Yes. The controversy is in how you go about it. Forceful attempts to training and controlling a dog could not be further from reality.

Dogiology Dog Trainers use what is referred to as a “balanced” or “blended” training method. Balanced means that we use both rewards-based and correction in training.

Rewards-based training is easy to understand. The dog is rewarded with treats, cheers, praise, petting and play, for doing the right thing. Good behaviour is reinforced so that it will be repeated and strengthened. But what if the dog continues to do the wrong thing? Then they are gently corrected by our trainers. The dog learns that there are consequences for doing the wrong thing. There are some who have made the erroneous assumption that “correction” training is training by hostile methods and is in direct relation to the dominant hierarchy blueprint for establishing alpha. In truth, correction is in no way a method of harshly reprimanding or physically harming your dog in any way. Correction should always be performed with empathy and kindness. The goal is to modify the behaviour without violating the dog’s trust.

Let me say a few things about “correction” training… What if you have a child that acts badly? If they are not corrected, they will continue this behaviour. Why not? If there are no consequences for doing the wrong thing, why should they do the right thing? By correcting a child or a dog, we teach them that there are rules. There are boundaries they should not cross. We set parameters for their life. This is how you learn right from wrong. Both children and dogs need this. When dogs understand right from wrong, they will choose to do the right thing out of a desire to please their owner, not because they are afraid they’ll be corrected in some way. Doesn’t that make sense?

Dominance is not a pretty word. The mere mention of the word conjures up visions of dog fights and power-plays. Is aggression and intimidation a characteristic of a dominant dog? Of course! We can’t play ignorant to the fact that some dogs fight. Shows of aggression do sometimes occur when dogs engage in hierarchy grouping. Besides that, we are talking about animals… Sometimes we forget that fact. What makes us human is our ability to gain alpha status with our dogs in a more “civilized” and loving manner.

Contrary to popular belief, there are many good characteristics of being a dominant alpha. An alpha wolf treats its members with kindness, fairness and generosity. Some say they’re even affectionate with their pack. He’s like a dad… strong to defend or protect, but gentle to guide and nurture. He’s calm and confident. Leaders stand tall, they are calm and authoritative. They allude confidence. They are firm yet gentle and loving. These are characteristics that motivate the pack to follow his lead. Are you a true leader to your dog?

The Loose Dog – our worst nightmare

I read something strange the other day. A trainer in their blog saying that he had never seen any practical advice written on the subject of the off leash dog encounter on a walk. Now I do understand that he has some kilometres on the clock but hey so do I and Google will spit a number of them out at you if you ask. No matter what you read however nothing will stop you from fearing the worst if this happens to you.

Just the thought of it will make most people cringe in thinking that this could happen and it appears that there are more and more incidents of loose ‘friendly’ dogs roaming our streets.  You may have a dog that was, is or could be reactive or aggressive or one you do not want hurt (this would be most I imagine), and when you see an off leash dog coming towards you, everything your logic tells you goes out the window.

One of the most common questions I am asked  “what do you do when you are approached by an off leash dog“?

If I had one answer and one solution my life would be easy. There are too many variables to be able to do this however for every different dog that you may encounter.

This may include for the dog on the offense:

  • The motivation of the dog running towards you
  • Are they wanting to play
  • Do they want interaction with you not your dog
  • Defending territory
  • Are they wanting to attack you or your dog or both

Your dog:

  • Is your dog friendly wanting to play
  • Is your dog on leash or not
  •  Is your leash tight

And of course you:

  •  Are you relaxed or tense
  •  Are you angry or scared
  •  Are you anxious

Any of the above and more in no particular order or all together can produce different outcomes.

So lets talk about what you can control. You can ensure that your dog is well socialised (I do not mean the dog has to be friendly with everything) so if they do see another dog or human they can remain calm. This of course needs to start on lead before you let your dog run free.

Using a long line in a variety of locations to teach your dog consistent recall and off leash management. No dog with a behaviour problem or one in training should ever be let off lead unless that is part of the training and in a controlled space.

Learn what your triggers are and learn how to be a confident handler that your dog can trust.

So what do I do? 

Can I start by saying this is far from fool proof as you will always have the chance of something not expected.

  • Train or work on training your dog to walk on a loose leash and sit and stay on cue. If your dog has some self control, it will leave you more time to control the off leash dog.
  •  Avoid potential situations if you can. If the off leash dog comes out of a house in front of you turn around and walk away. If it comes out of a house behind you, keep walking. The further you get from it’s territory the more it may give up.
  •  If the off leash dog runs up to you, where safe, try and put your larger dog behind you and pick up your small dog putting it behind you too if possible or as I have once or twice inside my jacket or shirt. An elevated dog can trigger a dog further. Putting yourself between your dog and the other dog may deter the dog. I would stand with my arm outstretched and hand opened like a stop sign, and shout at the dog to “go away!“. My dog is behind me and as soon as the off leash dog started to back off I would walk after it to drive it away, hand still outstretched.
  1. If the off leash dog attacks your dog, I would let go of my dogs leash, so I am not holding him still to be attacked, and now that my hands are free, I would do everything in my power to make the other dog go away. Yes that includes, kicking, screaming, grabbing it by the collar or whatever I need to do. I will do anything I have to in order to protect my dog.

There is no guaranteed way to avoid all risks and control all variables, in some suburbs it is just crazy and others not so bad. Some clients walk with a stick to ward off dogs racing up to theirs and some walk late at night and in early mornings where the chances of being accosted are less.

If you carry a stick or staff, try not to hit the dog as this can further provoke it, instead poke at the dog in a forward stabbing motion. I carry a small can of citronella or even RID or Aeroguard which can help as a deterrent.

Please remember especially for young dogs under 18 months of age that they don’t learn that they need to protect themselves from dog attacks or this can trigger fear aggressive behaviours.

Many of the dogs that trainer’s treat for severe reactivity and aggression have suffered being attacked by an off leash dog when under 18 months of age and a large number of these in dog parks. These can be the hardest dogs to rehabilitate.

Your most important job as a leader is to protect your dog from other dogs and other people, or they will take matters into their own furry head and hands and that can be harder to reverse than you might think.

 

 

 

To Park or not to Park

Everywhere we look Facebook posts, Twitter, traditional media and of course when with friends, work colleagues and the guy on the train – someone has a dog park horror story.

Don’t get me wrong. Once upon a time, when they first came in, along with off leash beaches I was thrilled. Finally, places to take my dogs that was legal and safe. For a while they were. Like-minded people with balanced dogs that were there to connect and play. Who would dispute an enclosed space of decent size where dogs can run and play with each other? Certainly not those living in apartments or in homes with small yards.

The discussions that follow the ‘fight in the park’ story often border on ridiculous. There is always the statement ‘not my dog’s fault’ that follows the guilty around. Others claiming that they know how to break up these fights with several weird and wonderful techniques.

I do not think I am far off the mark in saying that any reputable dog trainer is not a fan of dog parks. They are not safe places for dogs to play.

Remember that dogs love consistency, familiarity and their family, whatever that may consist of. If the dogs in the park are all the same every day then there appears no real foreseeable danger. But they are not – are they? Different dogs, different owners always expecting that everyone will get along.

Then there’s the health aspect. Are the dogs all healthy? – remember most communicable diseases are contagious before they present with symptoms. Are the dogs vaccinated? Again, vaccination processes had changed this past decade. We can never really know. My least favourite part is that they are big, grassed toilets for dogs with shared water trough.

However, dogs are dogs, and for the most part they do okay adapting to whatever presents on any day.

Humans however are another story. For me, any outdoor space is a moment in time with my dogs. We might be walking, playing or laying under the shade of a tree. I am in that moment with my dogs. Handler and canine working and just being as one.

My experience with others has not been so. Humans oblivious to anything around them. Their dogs too far too recall or reach in the case of something untoward happening. Or the dogs that won’t recall having no respect for the two-legged animal that seems to just be there to carry the lead.

Now I am, both in my line of work and play, a fearless individual who will push handler’s and dogs to reach their full potential as a team. Confidence in one, builds confidence in the other. However, what I’ve seen in dog parks is how unaware people can be and how quick to blame ‘the big dog’, ‘the bully breed’ or anything else that they can target without once turning the focus on themselves.

So, what’s the answer?

For me it is easy. Find a great group of like-minded people for dog play in a controlled environment.

Have your dog behaviour tested for sound, balanced mind.

Most of the time though, its me and my dogs. I get the most pleasure out of watching the pack together. The environment sometimes becomes high energy and yet the balance of these dogs shines through in their play. They do not need other dogs, of unknown families to play with to live an authentic, happy life.

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The + and – of Dog Training

I am weary of hearing about OC (Operant Conditioning) and people who believe OC means clicker training. Yes, clicker training can be defined by OC or by another name Instrumental Learning as well as by Pavlovian Conditioning. But damned these things tend to come with some politically charged opinions among the uneducated!

So, let’s look at learning as it pertains to dogs or humans for that matter. What is positive reinforcement? It has nothing to do with “good”. We must deconstruct this laboratory language! Positive means you added something like the + in mathematics. Reinforcement is something that results in the animal referenced doing the behaviour more. So positive reinforcement pretty much means you gave a dog something that caused it to repeat the behaviour. This is viewed as a result, in other words past tense. If I give my kid $20 allowance which includes cleaning his/her room each week and they continue to do this then I have used positive reinforcement to accomplish teaching this behaviour.

  • What happens if they fail to clean their room?
  • Then I withhold their $20 This is negative punishment…get it I took their $20.

This is intended to decrease their behaviour of failing to clean their room. If it does change their behaviour and they go back to cleaning their room, then we say they learned through negative punishment. What if they thought that $20 was not a big deal? Well you may deal with them in another way maybe by adding a different punishment. You failed to do a known task and you received an unpleasant experience. However, this approach really relies on the kid knowing what was in store. The kid must be aware of the defiance for this to work! Here is the crux with dogs that I have found over the years, they understand less than we believe they do and defy less than we believe they do. I am not going to say that a rolled- up newspaper, known as a correction, doesn’t work. I got a smack across the mouth for bad mouthing my mother once and some fifty some years later I remember it and would not do it again. I knew it was wrong at the time but defied her and got the back of her hand. This is a perfect example of the application of positive punishment. In dog training it is limited in usefulness until training is well accomplished. Yet, for dogs that have many highly rewarding behaviours like our working dogs have through breeding and rearing, it does have a role.

Despite what the uninformed say about it.

There is one other area of reinforcement that we need to discuss. This is where we remove something uncomfortable. So, if you are given a new sweater and it itches something fierce what do you do? You take it off. That sweater just taught you through negative reinforcement. Yep, it is very common in life. Ever wander into a wasp’s nest? Yep, you get the hell out of there! You have learned through negative reinforcement to not hang out around a nest. Natural consequences! The experience of having an unpleasant stimulation you need to do something about, is used in dog training as well. Many trainers use this technique very successfully. It is part and parcel to a disciplined retrieve, to a place board reinforcement (stay on the board or else). It is the heart of most e collar training. Now don’t get all positive only on me here! Or I will positively punish you by kicking you off here – yep that is positive!!! Not all positive is pleasant. It is just an addition.

I was involved for a long time in military dog training and we placed these results under two broad categories. These are inducements and compulsion. In inducements we have things like luring, and capturing using things like food, toys, praise. In compulsions we have punishments using voice, collars, even a heeling stick. There is also enforcement which covers removing an aversive (uncomfortable feeling, stimulation like our sweater example). So when someone tells you that to train in OC you must have a clicker just hold your breath and walk away because they only understand a part of the story!  A part I haven’t even included here.

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