Social Dominance Theory
Steinker, A., 2007. Terminology Think Tank: Social dominance theory as it relates to dogs. J. of Veterinary Behavior. 2, 137-140. Quote: There is no credible scientific evidence that “alpha” rolls or scruff shakes are useful dog training techniques. There is evidence that aversive stimulation (including positive punishment and negative reinforcement) damages any reinforcement history with your dog and may cause stress or aggression via counter-control (Sidman, 2001). The originally observed “alpha roll” was actually a submissive wolf offering his or her belly rather than being forcibly bowled over (Mech and Boitani, 2003). Unfortunately, for dogs, the “alpha” roll became universally popular and misguided humans subject dogs to “alpha” rolls, thinking they are showing their human “dominance.” “Alpha” rolls and scruff shakes frighten dogs and may cause some dogs to become aggressive and bite. We now know that “alpha” rolls are not effective dog training tools, but many professionals cling to the disproved methods. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as ‘belief persistence’: the belief that remains even in the face of evidence that discredits the belief (Davies, 1997). The author describes the cycles that often occur with an owner trying to exert dominance as a means of controlling the dog: Quote: If the dog growls at a human and the human grabs the dog and “alpha” rolls him, with time the frightened dog may growl again. So, the human scruff shakes the dog again. The dog then growls again and is now labeled as “extremely dominant,” requiring that even harsher techniques are used. This is how the cycle of violence is created and continues. Is this how we want our clients to live with their dogs? Should every interaction eventually become a struggle for supremacy? Or, do we prefer cohesion? It is interesting that social dominance is discussed broadly, but, until recently, social cohesion has been ignored. Is this a result of the human need for control (O’Heare, 2006)? |
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I've never agreed with that training theory either. One of my good friends subscribes to the un-named trainers methods, and we often disagree about this. But i think the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. My girls have won obedience awards (even if it was only at Sheepie Palooza) and her dogs can barely do "come". With them, everything is a struggle, and my friend simply says she has to "dominate them" for them to follow her commands. All I have to do is ask nicely, and embarassingly, sometimes I have to repeat myself...  |
| Oscar was quite a handful as a pup. Though I never used the alpha roll, I did use some other positive punishment techniques in the beginning, but quickly realized that they pitted us against one another, and that an adversarial approach wasn't going to work with him. As they said in the article, it served only to escalate his inappropriate behavior. In addition, I felt that Oscar viewed me as untrustworthy, which is counter productive to what I consider a healthy human-dog relationship. I quickly switched tactics to mostly positive reinforcement (in the manner of num-nums  ) and have been very pleased with the results. Folks always comment on how Oscar "listens" so well to commands. Little do they know of the hellion that once inhabited that body.... Not a fan of he-who-shall-remain-nameless training techniques for a variety of reasons, mostly because of the adversarial nature of his philosophy. I don't have to conquer my dog in order for him to respond to my commands. Laurie and Oscar |
| I think the alpha roll was an old technique used by the Monks of New Skete - who at the time a million years ago were considered "experts" in training the GSD. In today's thinking, even they have changed their philosphy I believe. Through the years it was discovered these "dominant" ideas have changed considerably. . Now its more about the relationship you build with your dog and understanding their drives and personalities. As everything else in life, training has evolved - and I think its much better now! Which, I might add, its so important who you go to for training. People stuck in the old ideas may not be right for your dog. Where one dog might be able to handle strong corrections, another might stress out and shut down and you actually do more harm than good. Be sure to pick the right traier and training technique for YOUR dog and for you. If you are uncomfortable with what a trainer wnats you to do, go elsewhere. never let anyone force you to train your dog with methods you are not comfortable with. |
| And then again there are those of us who have had much success with the "old ideas". Some of the old ideas actually worked. But then I also think there are people who don't really understand the concepts and why they worked. Again just one opinion. Opinions never made anything right or wrong. And thank god for that. |
| I had someone come to my house and well my dogs were excited and he automatically tried to put Langley into an alpha roll. I was horrified. I said I don't do that actually if you give me a second I only have to tell them to go to their beds and they obey without any touch. He said he did it with his dogs and they listen. Well my do too without touching. Actually I sometimes only need to point to their beds and the run to them. Laika will stay forever Langley still needs work but... wow that seems dangerous to me forcing a dog down you don't know. Lucky he didn't try it with Laika because you don't push that gal around. Langley thought it was a game of course. |
spacegirl21 wrote: I had someone come to my house and well my dogs were excited and he automatically tried to put Langley into an alpha roll. I was horrified. I said I don't do that actually if you give me a second I only have to tell them to go to their beds and they obey without any touch. He said he did it with his dogs and they listen. Well my do too without touching. Actually I sometimes only need to point to their beds and the run to them. Laika will stay forever Langley still needs work but... wow that seems dangerous to me forcing a dog down you don't know. Lucky he didn't try it with Laika because you don't push that gal around. Langley thought it was a game of course. I would have been livid! |
spacegirl21 wrote: I had someone come to my house and well my dogs were excited and he automatically tried to put Langley into an alpha roll.   Once again reinforcing my theory that more selective breeding should go into producing humans and people shouldn't be producing them willy nilly   Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: spacegirl21 wrote: I had someone come to my house and well my dogs were excited and he automatically tried to put Langley into an alpha roll. Once again reinforcing my theory that more selective breeding should go into producing humans and people shouldn't be producing them willy nilly Kristine The problem is, that humans are totally incompetent in that area as well, using meaningless irrelevant standards like skin colour instead of much better ones, like how you treat dogs...  |
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