Are dogs really dominant?

If you are at all interested in dogs, it’s highly likely that you have heard all kinds of things about dominance in dogs. You’ve probably heard TV trainers claiming that dogs are trying to dominate their owners and that is the core of the issue with their dogs training. Today I want to give you the real picture of what dominance actually looks like in dogs so that you don’t fall victim to dominance based training methods. 

In order to understand why dominance in dogs has been so widely talked about we need to go back in time. In the 1990’s there was research done around captive wolves. In these studies they observed the Alpha wolf displaying dominance in certain ways. This gave way to the generalization of Alpha and Dominance and was applied to how dogs were treated and trained. Later the original author of these studies published more research showing that the way wolves behave in captivity is not an accurate representation of how wolves actually behave in the wild. Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs These studies were unfortunately wrongly generalized to dogs and are still misunderstood to this day. 

There is no doubt a certain hierarchy in wolves and in our domesticated dogs. Although it isn’t what TV trainers would have you think. The truth is that in wolf packs the Alphas are actually the breeding pair and the way they behave is actually with kindness and generosity, not with brute force and aggression. In our domesticated dogs there isn’t the same hierarchy because most dogs don’t stay with their parents and siblings and they don’t have to hunt to survive. So we really can’t use how wolves behave as a model for how domesticated dogs or even free roaming dogs will and will not use dominance in their interactions with each other. 

In our domesticated dogs there is no doubt dominant behavior but again it is not a show of brute force or aggression typically. It is so much more subtle than that. In my observations I have seen dogs use behavior we would label as dominant to get access to resources. For example my older dog Waylon will use his dominance to access a resource before he will let my younger dog Spicy access it. There is no aggression at all, instead subtle communications and body language cues. There are other circumstances where you might think he would use his dominance, but he doesn’t. In fact he is extremely patient with my younger dog when she wants to play or get his attention. While there are dominant behaviors being used in domesticated dogs there is not an Alpha. Again the term Alpha in wolves is used to describe the breeding pair. They maintain that rank in their packs throughout their lives and we just don’t observe that in the same way in our domesticated dogs. 

Dogs do not use dominant behavior to influence their humans. Yes you read that right, dogs do indeed use dominant behaviors when they interact with their own species but when it comes to their interactions with humans they are simply using a series of trials and errors to get their desired outcomes, they are not using dominance against us. There are certainly plenty of trainers that will tell you that your dog is trying to dominate you and that is the core of the issue. This is not true. Dogs do not possess the same brain processing power that humans do. Dogs are not spiteful, or vengeful or out to get you. Your dog is much simpler than that, they are using their behavior to get to their desired outcomes and communicate with us. It’s as simple as that.

To recap, dogs do in fact use dominant behaviors with other dogs but more often than not it is related to age and status in the household and rarely escalates to aggression. Your dog is not an Alpha and you are also not the Alpha. This terminology does not apply. When you can understand these truths it helps move you away from un helpful labels and helps you see your dogs behavior for what it really is, information.

- Rachel Laurie Harris CPDT-KA