Leader of the Pack: Do You Need to Be the Alpha Dog?

A lot of the tips we get on dog training have to do with asserting dominance and making sure your dog knows that you are in charge. The reasoning is that because dogs are pack animals, they will try to become the alpha dog. If they are allowed to be the ruler of the pack, so to speak, then a host of disciplinary problems ensues. This is why many trainers suggest that you always go through the door before the dog or that if he tries to steal your pillow at night, you put him quickly in place. But is it necessary to be the leader of the pack?

Alexandra Horowitz doesn’t think so. The author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. She contends that in the wild, wolves are a family. “There’s no dominance hierarchy. It’s simply bizarre to think that your dog is trying to overtake you as an alpha.” So when your dog tries to take your spot in bed, he’s not playing psychological control games? He’s just trying to find the warm spot?

Often, there is a big disconnect between what dogs are thinking and what we think they’re thinking. Horowitz advises people to try to forget all they think they know about dogs:

“What we’ll find, in looking at dogs through a scientific lens, is that some of what we think we know about dogs is entirely borne out; other things that appear patently true are, on closer examination, more doubtful than we thought. And by looking at our dogs from another perspective - from the perspective of the dog - we can see new things that don't naturally occur to those of us encumbered with human brains. So the best way to begin understanding dogs is by forgetting what we think we know.”

One of the things dog owners do often is treat their dogs as furry people. They attribute human feelings and desires to dogs. We think they’re sad; we think they’re hungry; we think they’re bored. We think they’re trying to be the alpha. Trying to dominate the pack may not be a dog trait at all, but a human one we attribute to them.