The Alpha Myth Won’t Die. Let’s Finish It
It started with stressed-out zoo wolves. It ended up on your dog’s neck.
Your dumb questions
My trainer says my dog is ‘dominant’. Is he plotting a coup?
No. He’s a dog who wants the sandwich. Researchers describe dominance as a feature of a relationship between two animals, not a personality trait, and vet behaviourists say most unwanted behaviour has simply been rewarded by accident.
Should I eat before my dog and go through doors first?
It won’t hurt, but it won’t make you ‘pack leader’ either. AVSAB points out that in wolf packs, the highest-ranking wolves only lead the hunt some of the time. If you want polite door manners, teach a sit-and-wait with rewards.
Is an alpha roll ever okay?
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior lists alpha rolls and ‘dominance downs’ among techniques to avoid, and a 2009 survey found alpha rolls drew an aggressive response from 31% of the dogs they were tried on.
So do wolves have leaders at all?
Yes: their parents. Wolf biologist L. David Mech now calls the pack’s leaders the breeding male and breeding female, because that’s what they are.
The receipts
- Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor in wolf packs · Canadian Journal of Zoology (L. David Mech), 1999
- Wolf News and Information: Alpha Wolf Concept · L. David Mech (davemech.org)
- Wolf packs don't actually have alpha males and alpha females, the idea is based on a misunderstanding · Phys.org (via Science Norway), 2021
- Dominance in domestic dogs: useful construct or bad habit? · Journal of Veterinary Behavior (Bradshaw, Blackwell and Casey), 2009
- Dog behaviour and training (news release) · University of Bristol, 2009
- Position Statement on the Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals · American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior
- Position Statement on Humane Dog Training · American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, 2021
- Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors · Applied Animal Behaviour Science (Herron, Shofer and Reisner), 2009
- Prohibited Practices Policy · Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers
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