Dominance and Alpha Behaviour
"DOMINANCE" In the 1990s it
was believed that dominance problems in dogs usually meant that the dog had
got ideas above its station and is challenging the pack (the family)
for top dog status. And that he majority of difficulties with dominance were
man made, and resulted from a dog with too many privileges. We were told
It was important to remember that there would be only one true pack leader
per pack it being an Alpha Male or even female, with another one or two dogs
waiting in the wings to take over one day. This meant that when we choose
a dog the odds are that we will get a dog whose natural position is from
the middle to the bottom of the pack.
This means that most dogs are gladly going to accept us as leader without
any problems and why so many people tell you that they have had dogs all
their lives without any of this 'behavioural' nonsense being necessary!
It was assumed that difficulties were created through giving status and
privileges well above what would be normal for that animal. And that it was
the pack leaders responsibility to make the decisions not the subordinates.
He or she says when to eat, sleep, play and hunt. Dogs are not supposed to
approach him even to play, although puppies are usually excused from pack
manners and generally get away with murder!
Dominant behaviour can take many forms. and varies according to breed
and the natural character of the dog. It is not just a dog who growls and
barks at you or refuses to do anything for you, it could also be the dog
who makes all the decisions. Obvious bad behaviour could be construed as
the dog who growls at you when feeding or chewing a bone, ie "food or object
guarding" or takes no notice of your commands.and suddenly acts the fool
and starts reverting to puppy behaviour when you ask it to do something.
This popular perception on the social behaviour of dogs sees the dogs'
behaviour as mimicking the social and biological pattern of the structured
hierarchy that has been studied and observed within wolf packs. This view
suggests that behavioural problems amongst dogs are natural expressions
of conflict that occur when dominance, status, position, and hierarchy are
contested.
This lead to the assumption that because dog’s distant cousins the wolf
behaved like this then it was fair to assume that the dog would also have
these instincts drives and responses. It is now confirmed by Mitochondrial
DNA tests that our pet’s common ancestor is without doubt the wolf. These
studies and findings gave birth to a completely new way of looking at dogs
and in the 70s the pack rule theory was born.
May I suggest that this belief and technique is somewhat flawed in two
main areas.
Firstly: this behaviour does not actually appear in the wild, the powerful
dominance hierarchy described and observed in wolves is probably a by-product
of captivity. That is like observing Prisoners in a high risk risk gaol
and relating that to all human reactions and conflict. If true, it implies
that social behavioureven in wolvesmay be a product more of environmental
circumstances than an instinctive behaviour.
Secondly: feral dogs do not exhibit the classic wolf-pack structure,
the validity of the canid, social dominance hierarchy again comes into
question. Ray Coppinger who has written a book called "Dogs" (A New Understanding
of Canine Origin, Behaviour and Evolution) probably one of the most important
books on dogs published in the last 50 years, The Coppingers studied feral
dogs all over the world, and found that all the feral and village dogs
he studied did not form packs as we know them, they were more semi solitary
animals, who predate on our waste middens and latrines. There are still
parts of the world where when a new baby is born, they will get a puppy
which is then used as a botty wipe for the child.
Rather than a rank reduction program for dominance related issues you
would better advised to follow the following program.
The NILIF Program
NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE
The NILIF program is remarkable because it's effective for such a wide
variety of problems. A shy, timid dog becomes more relaxed knowing that
he has nothing to worry about; the owner is in charge of all things. A dog
that's pushing too hard to become "top dog" learns that the position is
not available and that its life is far more enjoyable without the title.
It is equally successful with dogs that fall anywhere between those two
extremes. The program is not difficult to put into effect and it's not time
consuming if the dog already knows a few basic obedience commands. I've never
seen this technique fail to bring about a positive change in behaviour; however,
the change can be more profound in some dogs than others. Most owners use
this program in conjunction with other behaviour modification techniques
such as coping with fear or treatment for aggression. It is a perfectly suitable
technique for the dog with no major behaviour problems that just needs some
fine tuning.
ATTENTION ON DEMAND
The program begins by eliminating attention on demand. When your dog
comes to you and nudges your hand, saying "pet me! pet me!" ignore him.
Don't tell him "no", don't push him away. Simply pretend you don't notice
him. This has worked for him before, so don't be surprised if he tries harder
to get your attention. When he figures out that this no longer works, he'll
stop. In a pack situation, the top ranking dogs can demand attention from
the lower ranking ones, not the other way around. When you give your dog
attention on demand you're telling him that he has more status in the pack
than you do. Timid dogs become stressed by having this power and may become
clingy. They're never sure when you'll be in charge so they can't relax.
What if something scary happens, like a stranger coming in the house? Who
will handle that? The timid dog that is demanding of attention can be on
edge a lot of the time because he has more responsibility than he can handle.
Some dogs see their ability to demand attention as confirmation that
they are the "alpha", then become difficult to handle when told to "sit"
or "down" or some other demand is placed on them. It is not their leadership
status that stresses them out, it's the lack of consistency. They may or
may not actually be alpha material, but having no one in the pack that
is clearly the leader is a bigger problem than having the dog assume that
role full time. Dogs are happiest when the pack order is stable. Tension
is created by a constant fluctuation of pack leadership.
EXTINCTION BURSTS
your dog already knows that it can demand your attention and knows what
works to get that to happen. As of today, it no longer works, but your dog
doesn't know that yet. We all try harder at something we know works when
it stops working. If I gave you money every time you clapped your hands together,
you'd clap a lot. But, if I suddenly stopped handing you money, even though
you were still clapping, you'd clap more and clap louder. You might even
get closer to me to make sure I was noticing that you were clapping. You
might even shout at me "Hey! I'm clapping like crazy over here, where's the
money?” If I didn't respond at all, in any way, you'd stop. It wasn't working
anymore. That last try -- that loud, frequent clapping is an extinction burst.
If, however, during that extinction burst, I gave you more money you'd be
right back in it. It would take a lot longer to get you to stop clapping
because you just learned that if you try hard enough, it will work.
When your dog learns that the behaviours that used to get your attention
don't work any more its going to try harder and it’s going to have an extinction
burst. If you give him attention during that time you will have to work
that much harder to get him turned around again. Telling him "no" or pushing
him away is not the kind of attention he's after, but its still attention.
Completely ignoring him will work faster and better.
YOU HAVE THE POWER
As you are his owner you have control of all things that are wonderful
in his life. This is the backbone of the NILIF program. You control all
of the resources, playing, attention, food, walks, going in and out of the
door, going for a ride in the car, going to the park, anything and everything
that your dog wants comes from you. If he's been getting most of these things
for free there is no real reason for him to respect your leadership or your
ownership of these things. Again, a timid dog is going to be stressed by
this situation, a pushy dog is going to be difficult to handle. Both of them
would prefer to have you in charge.
To implement the NILIF program you simply have to have your dog earn
his use of your resources. He's hungry? No problem, he simply has to sit
before his bowl is put down. He wants to play fetch? Great! He has to "down"
before you throw the ball. Want to go for a walk or a ride? He has to sit
to get his lead snapped on and has to sit (2) while the front door is opened.
He has to sit and wait while the car door is opened and listen for the
word (I use "good") that means "get into the car". When you return he has
to wait for the word that means "get out of the car" even if the door is
wide open. Don't be too hard on the dog. It’s already learned that it can
make all of these decisions on its own. It has a strong history of being
in control of when it gets these resources. Enforce the new rules, but keep
in mind that your dogs only doing what it’s been taught to do and its going
to need some time to get the hang of it all.
You're going to have to pay attention to things that you probably haven't
noticed before. If you feed your dog from your plate do you just toss it
a treat? No more. He has to earn it. You don't have to use standard obedience
commands, any kind of action will do. If your dog knows "shake" or "spin
around" or "speak" use those commands. Does your dog sleep on your bed?
Teach him that he has to wait for you to say "good" to get on the bed and
he has to get down when you say "off". Teach him to go to his bed, or other
designated spot, on command. When he goes to his spot and lays down tell
him "stay" and then release him with a treat reward. Having a particular
spot where he stays is very helpful for when you have guests or otherwise
need him out of the way for a while. It also teaches him that free run of
the house is a resource that you control. There are probably many things
that your dog sees as valuable resources that hasn’t been mentioned here.
The NILIF program should not be a long, drawn out process. All
you need to do is enforce a simple command before allowing him access to
what he wants. Dinner, for example, should be a two or three second encounter
that consists of nothing more than saying "sit", then "good", then putting
the bowl down and walking away.
ATTENTION AND PLAY
Now that your dog is no longer calling the shots you will have to make
an extra effort to provide him with attention and play time. Call him to
you, have him "sit" and then lavish him with as much attention as you want.
Have him go get his favorite toy and play as long as you both have the
energy. The difference is that now you will be the one initiating the attention
and beginning the play time. He's going to depend on you now, a lot more
than before, to see that he gets what he needs. What he needs most is quality
time with you. This would be a good time to enroll in a group obedience
class. If his basic obedience is top notch, see about joining an agility
class or fly ball team.
NILIF DOES *NOT* MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO RESTRICT THE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION
YOU GIVE TO YOUR DOG. The NILIF concept is about who initiates the attention
(you!), not the amount of attention. Go ahead and call your dog to you
100 times a day for hugs and a fuss! You can demand his attention; he can
no longer demand yours!
Within a day or two your dog will see you in a whole new light and will
be eager to learn more. Use this time to teach new things, such as 'roll
over' or learn the specific names of different toys.
If you have a shy dog, you'll see a more relaxed dog. There is no longer
any reason to worry about much of anything. He now has complete faith in
you as his protector and guide. If you have a pushy dog he'll be glad that
the fight for leadership is over and his new role is that of devoted and
adored pet.
Note from Stan: this program has been in use since the mid 90,s
it has survived because of its success, many of the UK ’s and the USA ’s
top dog behaviourists recommend this method, as do I. However, it is not
a magic wand, just a tool and like all tools it takes time to get used
to using it correctly. Your dog will probably show signs of getting worse
before it gets better, this is normal it is the extinction behaviour, so
do not worry it will only last a short while. The important thing is to
be consistent.
The NILIF program is not something you use until your dog changes and
then stop, it is a lifestyle change, you must maintain it throughout your
dogs life, but don’t worry because as the dog gets used to it so will you
and it will become second nature. It is a known fact that if you do an action
consistently for 14 days it becomes second nature. So don’t lapse or give
in, see it through.
NILIF program Courtesy of Deb McKean
http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm
This article was written by Stan Rawlinson, a full time Dog Behaviourist.
You can visit his website at
www.Doglistener.co.uk
for more articles and training information. You may freely distribute this
article or save to any electronic media as long as it is left intact, including
this copyright box.
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Over the past few years, many leading authorities on canine behaviour
have started to question how a dog perceives himself in a dog/owner relationship.
