Article in WDJ-Re Wolves ad the now dismissed Alpha therory
 I always thought it was weird to base training dogs (which we have lived with intimitely for thousands of years) on wolves (which we have never lived with, and studies are inconsistant on how they live in the wild). It is now known that wolves are no longer considered Alpha male/female and omega etc. they are now just known as the breeding pair. Wolves will pair up, have pups raise them until they are about 2 years of age...then the pups will go off on their own and find their own breeding mate. So, it is just like a normal family unit, daughter and son due to genetics and mother nature do not mate with father and mother.
Its quite refreshing to hear that the Alpha concept is now obsolete. I always found it to be a horrid excuse for people to use harsh training methods. Treat your dogs as you would treat your children, they get what they earn and punishment never involves any thing physical. Teach your dogs to "want" to respect and listen...don't force them. And remember, sitting, down and heeling are not to be forced into a dog and punished when they don't do it properly...its not a normal doggy behavior...allow your dog to make mistakes and remember...your not perfect, so why should your dog be? If you make a mistake at work, would your employer hit you over the head with a key board...or would he then put a device around your neck and jerk it whenever you make a mistake??? would you learn properly this way, or would you screw up even more...I myself would screw up even more. But, if an employer gave you a bonus for a job well done and for jobs done wrong just keep bringing it back and having you redo in a positive way...this would work better. Don't ya think   |
|
|
| Do you have a link to this article?
I don't believe in harsh training either, but I have always believed in the whole alphadog thing to explain some cainine behaviors... I would like to hear more about this persons' theories. |
I'm a subscriber to Whole Dog Journal, but haven't read that article yet. Ever heard the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover"?....I do that   .
willowsprite---I believe that you can only read a small part if you do not subscribe to WDJ and have a username on their site. If you have a username on their site, you can download a bunch of articles (I've tried, but I don't understand how you even get a username there). |
| Hi,
I haven't read the article that you are referring to so can't comment on that. I do believe in the wolf pack mentality however, and the Alpha mentality. I have often (and in my pet talks for the Humane Society) equated the dog mentality on what takes place in a wolf pack. I see it happening daily at the dog park ...one dog always emerges as the leader or Alpha amongst each other. Ironicially in a wolf pack if the leader is deemed to be too mean or aggressive the others in the pack will turn on him and oust him. They respect leadership, but that doesn't necessairily mean an Alpha has to be mean. I don't believe in coersion either for training, as I've always believed gentleness and love gets things achieved far more than aggression. I think the most common problem people have is giving dogs human like thoughts and basing it on how people think, when they think like dogs. Just last night on the Letterman show was the Dog Whisperer saying the same thing. I do agree with you however, that dogs are family members and are to be treated that way. Still, I saw how when Shaggy was alive she was Alpha to Blue and he accepted it. I see it with my three dogs now as Merlin has emerged as Alpha amongst my three and the other two follow his lead. I think in a one dog household it's not as easy to see it occuring. I, in turn have to be Alpha to Merlin as he would be forever counter surfing or chasing the cats and the others would follow suit if I didn't correct him. They have to have rules or there would be chaos in a household. Shaggy on the other hand, would never allow Blue or any other dog to chase the cats or to take food off the counters...they followed her lead. She was a great Alpha dog in the household and as a result the entire house and all the dogs were far calmer when she was alive. Merlin at 15 months is in my opinion too young to have the Alpha role but Blue didn't challenge him at 15 years old and Panda was the newest addition to the already established household. There may still be a shift in the future with Panda eventually taking over. I hope so, as he's far calmer and better behaved and I'd like Merlin to take his lead. Being Alpha is dog life means they are the leader and the others follow their leadership and rules. Humans should be the Alpha amongst the dogs as the dogs respect and follow their rules too or else their may be problems in the household if the dog thinks he is boss. Alpha means being fair but firm in establishing the quidelines of the household...just like we do with our kids. They are part of our family too but we don't let them rule the roost so to speak. I've always felt much more comfortable with trainers that were kind than those that believed you have to completely dominate. On the other hand, just like kids some need a firmer hand than others. My first child was so easy while my second I often joke if he'd been my first I would probably have never had more children!! ha Ha  Please don't misunderstand either as I don't believe in hitting or scolding but some just need a firmer hand than others. Positive Reinforcement is by far the best method with two or four legged creatures.
That's just my opinion on the subject as I mentioned I haven't read the article but would like to see it. Marianne and the boys |
| Willowsprite, here is a link to the WDJ. To subscribe its only about $39.00 Canadian a year. Believe me this mag is well worth it
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/ I think what I really like about this article is the fact that wolf packs consist of family members. A breeding pair bringing up pups, this was written by a well reknowned wolf expert/biologist who has been studying wolves in the wild for years. Wolves of course will display different behaviors in the wild than in captivity. The reason I hate the use of the word "Alpha" when talking of dog training is it brings to novice minds harsh training methods such as scruffing, rolling, dominating etc. There is no place for such training methods with our dogs. Another thing people don't seem to know is when you have more than one bitch the bitchs will take turns in being number one. In my group I have 3 bitches and 2 males, one of each sex which is intact (still leagally belongs to the breeder). My bitches roles change all the time, one day my Rottie is number one then another day one of my other bitches is number one. They live in harmony. With Males there is usually only one dominant male. A dominant dog never has to prove its dominance, they are usually confident and laid back and never really feel the need to guard items as the other dogs just "know". I like thinking of myself as a benevolant leader, I am not Alpha to my dogs as I am not of their species I teach my dogs how to live in my home, I have rules...but, then again I could use the exact same methods to bring up my children. The NIFIL policy can be used for all species not just dogs.
I just think that when people use the term Alpha, or I'm number one is not completely correct. Wolves do not dominate the other wolves all the time, they do not have certain orders of eating when food is abudant, the so called Alpha does not walk through a patch of trees before the others etc.
I think this is a very important new way of viewing dogs...dogs are not wolves they evolved not to be wolves. The wolf experts are changing the terms for wolves...we should do the same for our dogs. In my mind, and I find this helpful with new dog owners I refer to the owner as the benevolent leader as it sounds as how you should treat your dog. With kindness and understaning...all animals need rules to live, this will never change. But, I think this new understanding will wipe from the mind of the novices the harsh dominant roles they feel they should take. I can't tell you have many new dog owners I have encountered who when refering to being "Alpha" have lowered themselves to some pretty horrid (in my mind) training methods. BTW, I am not being a narrow minded shrew. I just thought some people may be interested in this new therory. I think it will be a wonderful new way to view our dogs. The world Alpha should be replaced with benevolent leader. I don't disagree with the word Alpha, its just what it represents to most people's minds when dog training. People (not big time experienced dog persons such as ourselves ) tend to just hear Alpha, think (for some reason) of scraping, vicous wolves dominating each other and fighting for leadership. I just think its important to distance our dog from wolves and use terms to adjust to proper training for our dogs. Its time people study dogs to understand dogs, not wolves to understand dogs that is the point I am trying to make...more books on dogs discuss wolves and pack order is such detail as if they understand (when even wolf biologists are learning new things every day). I have only read one book that was speciacally written on dogs...it is written by Raymond & Lorna Coppinger called Dogs...they actually studied the orginal mongrel (forefather of our current dogs, way before purebreds were a thought in a persons mind). Its very interesing these natural mongrels...dogs when living within society's (scavenger dogs) do not live in packs, they live in small groups usually a bitch and her young. Wild domestic dogs don't pack up, they don't run often with a male and female....dogs are completely different in alot of ways from wolves. Even wolves some times don't pack up unless they are mating or hunting big game. Oh, yes...Coyotes are older than wolves and Coyote DNA is found in wolves which may represent they are older than wolves. Coyotes normally never pack unless they are taking down big game. Interesting huh> |
| Willowsprite, I don't have my copy of WDJ in front of me, but I will go over the article with you and just pin point a few key notes in the article |
my boss **would** hit me over the head with my keyboard  Deborah |
| my boss **would** hit me over the head with my keyboard
debcram, Im sorry I did get a chuckle over that
If you are treated unfairly do you "want" to work harder for that person, do you respect them...do you want to be near them? I have seen some dogs which excelled in obedience with very harsh owners who used that old time Alpha harsh training. The dogs did every thing correctly in the ring...did they look as though they were enjoying themselves...no...these dogs also would shy away from the owners, they also on the first chance they could snuggle up to a kind person were hard to tear away by the harsh owner. |
| Willowsprite,
The name of the person who wrote this new therory on wolves is Dr. Mech. Dr Mech is a senior research scientist for the US department of the Interior since 1970. He is also a professor at the University of Minnesota. He is also the leading wolf expert. The article goes some what like this. Quote: Alpha is out, Dr. Mech no longer uses the term Alpha to describe the dominant male and female; rather he describes them as the breeding pair. The family structure of wolves is much like our own. The whole business of Alpha wolves came about because the first wolf researchers didn't understand wolf families, and they put unrelated wolves from different locations together. While the wolves sorted out who was in charge, the researchers concluded that every wolf pack had an ongoing fight for dominance, hence the so called Alpha, Beta, and Omega wolves. Thats just not how it works. In the wild a pack is a family. A breeding pair has a litter of pups and the follwing year, they have another. Now the pack consists of 2 parents, who are in charege of things, plus yearlings, who are one year old, and infant pups. The following year the pack is oler and larger, with two year olds, yearlings and pups. By the time they are 3-4 years old most young wolves have dispersed gone out to start their own faimilies. |
| I too like the knowledge of pack order...which pup takes on leader following down to the submissive behaviours. I agree we should not treat an alpha dog with any harsh training, that is old school and should be obsolete.
I love learning everything about wolf, coyotes and foxes...very interesting animals. Just on Sun we saw a Coyote alone go across our backyard...outside our fence. We live on the outskirts of our city, near a ravine (then it's wild territory, and we hear coyotes every single night....singing to each other). I've also seen deer, moose, porcupine and wild rabbits. Thank you for posting the interesting info, it's a good read. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|