The truth about dominance

You may have heard or read that dog behaviour problems can arise as a result of the dog being ‘dominant’. There is currently no evidence that dominance plays a role in this way; the idea has arisen from a mistaken understanding of the way wolves behave. This wolf article will give you the up-to-date, scientific thinking about wolves - and by extrapolation, about dogs. You may also be interested to read / watch the following:

Dominance, Fact or Fiction? Barry Eaton

Dominance: James O’Heare

Fighting Dominance in a dog-whispering world: DVD by Jean Donaldson & Ian Dunbar

 

Dog behaviour problems can arise for a whole range of reasons but in my view dominance is not one of them. The following are some of the factors that could be relevant to your dog's behaviour problem:

Genetic / breed predisposition; early life experiences – or lack of them; unpleasant/frightening experiences; harsh handling or training; lack of self-control training; stress; inappropriate amounts of exercise; lack of sufficient mental stimulation; lack of human understanding about canine body language; lack of human understanding of canine needs.

 

There is a lot to canine behaviour. Please don't be hoodwinked into thinking that all you need to do is become ‘pack leader’, reduce your dog’s status and all will be well. In my experience, so-called dominance-reduction programmes can actually create problems.