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Pack BehaviourJackie Drakeford |
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People talk about pack behaviour, without having seen a dog pack in action. Inevitably, they give a human slant to what they imagine must happen, which is totally at odds with fact.
It is a human idea that a pack has a leader, and that the leader is always in charge. In charge equals first with people, so the leader is always in front. Therefore, they deduce that a dog that likes to walk in front when on exercise is dominant over its owner. Utter tosh. In any social group of animals, it is the expendable ones who are sent out as scouts, while the alpha remains safe behind.
When a pack is actually hunting, there is no leader; instead each dog works to its individual skills. Nor is it necessarily the leader or alpha that makes the kill, though a wise owner teaches the alpha dog to retrieve to the human handler. Social heirarchy applies to living as a pack, but hunting is a democracy. People imagine that the alpha dog will eat from the kill first, but wild packs feed the puppies first, as they are the future of the pack.
The dog that walks in front when out with it's owner is acknowledging its subordination. The human has resposibilities here, too. If the dog approaches risk, the owner should call it back to heel, while protecting it from hostile approaches from other dogs.
A dog that takes on the attack does so to protect its alpha, not because it thinks it is superior, but because it knows that it is not. Of course, it must not be allowed to do so, but that is because of human expectations. If you look at the situation through dog rules, it is doing exactly as a subordinate dog should.
How easily we misunderstand.
reprinted with kind permission from Alastair Balmain
Deputy Editor:Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street SE1 0SU
Tel: 020 3148 4750
Deputy Editor:Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street SE1 0SU
Tel: 020 3148 4750