It never ceases to amaze me just how many times I hear the word 'dominance' being banded about by owners, behaviourists and trainers to describe a dog's bad behaviour. Not a day goes by when I don't hear this word used to explain why their dogs won't come back when called for instance or why they bite or attack other dogs etc. Ever since the linear hierarchy of wolves was 'floated', dog people have gone overboard in their efforts to explain every conceivable dog behaviour and human-dog interaction in terms of 'dominance'. They stand there, sagely shaking their heads whilst coming out with little gems such as "Dogs are disobedient because they haven't been shown who's boss" or "You must be the alpha' in your pack'. The way some people explain it leaves me feeling as if the dog is sitting up all night planning a coup. The dominance theory has become the 'catch all' for those who simply aren't in the know and what makes this dangerous is that it often amounts to a justification for aversive-orientated training methods which in turn often leads to worse behaviour in the dog or even an excuse to have the dog put too sleep.
For the owner, this kind of explanation releases them from the guilt that they may be feeling of their own inadequacies in understanding what their dog is 'saying' to them and in turn firmly places the blame for such behaviour on the dog. It also then makes it unnecessary for the owner to work on looking up on topics such as how animals actually learn. To be honest, explanations such as rushing through the door ahead of their owners or pulling on the lead somehow exerts dominance over the dog's owner are absolutely ridiculous and are too stupid for words. So many people have it so backwards that they view appeasement behaviour such as jumping up to lick or pawing as dominance displays and so a justified reason for aversive training when all the dog is doing is being a dog and greeting you as his instinct dictates. Dogs chew furniture, slippers etc because what else could these things possibly be for? Dogs are disobedient because they have no idea what is being asked of them, are under trained and under motivated to comply to a command given to them or something else has taken their interest at that time. Where they or you sit in the rankings table is not likely on their minds. The Dominance Panacea is once again a case of leaping to conclusions before actually stopping and ruling out more obvious explanations.
I once saw a DVD of dominance reduction techniques which was released by someone calling themselves The Dog Whisperer. One of these dominance reduction techniques was showing how important it was to eat before the dog did and for the dog to see you doing this. So this particular technique was shot in the kitchen, this person stood there pretending to take food out of the dogs bowl and to eat it whilst the dog sat there slobbering and watching. So what exactly is the dog learning here? Nothing to do with dominance just that when you eat he will sit and then slobber whilst staring at you with big brown eyes imploring you to give him something to eat. So you've now taught your dog that when you eat it's OK for him to sit and slobber until he's given food. Great at dinner parties or when you're sat in front of the telly with your dinner on your lap.
My all time favourite myth though is the going through doorways first. What idiot came up with the notion that a dog could possibly understand that by proceeding his owner through a doorway proves his dominance. So instead, ask yourself why do dogs rush through doors? Could it be that after being closed in they wish to get outside quickly to relieve themselves or to see just what is out there, what other dog has passed etc? Is it because they just maybe excited at the thought of leaving the confines of the house? Is it because they are dogs or maybe they have never been taught not too rush out.
It's all about training and compliance. Concepts like dominance to explain why a dog fails to respond to a command when he hasn't been conditioned to do so and had the command proofed against competing motivation is just downright silly. You can 'Alpha Roll' your dog as much as you want but unless the dog has been trained to obey a particular command, he will not do it. You can hold him down all night long and he's still going to bite you if you push him past his bite threshold. As I've said, it's all about training.
The thought that if you dominate your dog then everything else will just fall into place is ludicrous and is open to huge amounts of abuse which in turn is likely to exacerbate problems like unreliable recall and biting and only results in a still untrained dog.
What then for the dog?
The dominance concept is dangerous leading to aversive training techniques for problems such as disobedience, misbehaviour and aggression. It's the dog who suffers.......not you.
