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Hierarchy and dominant behaviour A majority of problems met in the relations between humans and dogs comes from our misunderstanding of the social organization which is the only way to make a dog happy. Of course, sharing our homes for ages has turned wolf into pet dog, but observation confirms that dog’s expectation is actually very close to wolves organization. The relation that bonds wolves is the model that dogs (any breed) hope to find in their relations within the pack, that is their humans and congeners. But, we, human beings, tend to mix up the notion of hierarchy and the notion of dominant behaviour, and to add some typically human feelings of jealousy or frustration Let’s summarize by stating that hierarchy is the result of a mutual agreement based on respect, which leads to “the more privileges to the more skilled” for the preservation of the pack. Whereas dominant behaviour implies restrictions, constraints, even physical affirmation of power, and these expressions are only used when someone in the pack feels entitled to change his own rank. As soon as ranks are agreed, dominant behaviours have no reason to last. The important notion is thus that hierarchy setting lies more in the acceptation (from the dog) than in the constraint (from the human). So, punishments and beatings will never confirm the owner authority, but will be totally impossible to understand from a dog’s point of view. A dog “taught” this way will have no respect, but will be disturbed and upset. The dog can logically feel entitled to answer to these challenges with aggressive behaviour. Just the same, a dog will be very destabilized if he cannot be sure of the competence of his owner, because the owner does not act as a pack leader. As any pack needs a leader, the dog will unfortunately attempt to fill the vacancy Hierarchy is not immutable in the pack, and is renegotiated if needs be, when an individual considers he does not occupy an appropriate rank (one example is puberty). This explains the sudden changes in behaviour of some dogs around 18 months, to their owner despair. The dog is not bad, it is just adolescence. It is time for the owner to stand firm as pack leader, providing the dog many occasions to be rewarded for obedience toward humans, but also to upgrade the perogatives of the young adult amongst the other dogs of the family. There is a frequent human error: in a pack, there’s no room for two dogs on the same rank. Trying to treat two dogs just the same to “avoid jealousy” is the best way to make two unhappy dogs, who are bound to challenge each other to know where they stand. The standard for dogs is that the high ranked eats first, is pet first, may take any toys or treats or food from low ranked. Giving preferential treatment to the low ranked is opposite to redress any balance, on the contrary, the low ranked will feel very uncomfortable, and the high ranked very frustrated. Disputes are then inevitable.
Joelle Caveriviere C.B |
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