What is dominance theory?

The social dominance theory is founded on hierarchical structures within social groups. Each individual within the group is in a struggle to gain the status of the top ranking member in order to reap its social benefits. In wolves particularly, the top ranking members are said to initiate hunting and get first access to food, and are the only members whose genes carry on through offspring. The top ranking wolves in a pack are referred to as the “alpha” wolves, with the male alpha being top dog and the female being a close second. The pair rules over their pack through threatening displays that scare the lower ranking wolves into submission and allow the alphas to maintain order of the group.

Since dogs are close relatives of the wolf, they are presumed to use the same social hierarchy both with other dogs and their human owners.

What are the signs of an alpha vs. submissive dog?

An alpha dog is an individual who is not just assertive; rather, the alpha is a dog that is in control of the others around them. A dominant dog may be reluctant to listen to commands and demand high respect from others in its pack.

Some dominant dog characteristics: they will make direct eye contact and hold your stare, lean over you, hold its tail up high, get to eat first and guard resources from lower ranking members, be first to walk out doors and push you out of its way, won’t allow restraining or hugging, mount other dogs or people to show their rank, pull on the leash to direct you where to go, and be reluctant to allow petting especially around its face and head. If the dominant dog feels you are threatening its position of alpha, it may act aggressively to regain or keep its position.

A submissive dog is just the opposite. These dogs try to avoid conflict by using a variety of techniques to make themselves physically look smaller and show the alpha that they don’t want to fight. They will follow the alpha’s orders by allowing the alpha to make all of their decisions for them.

Some submissive dog characteristics: they will roll over onto their backs and expose their belly to a dominant dog, they avoid eye contact, allow restraining and hugging, lick at the mouth of higher ranking dogs, and they are more willing to follow orders, less confident, follow instead of lead, and hold their tails down low.

How could you become alpha?

There are many training techniques that have been developed over the years in order to give you higher status than your dog. These techniques often employ the use of force to get your dog to submit and negative consequences for not following your orders. Sometimes the consequences are as slight as using a growl-like “no” whereas others employ the use of corrective devices that inflict varying degrees of pain on the dog.

Some techniques use dominance displays that a higher ranking dog would use to get the other to submit. These include the use of “alpha rolls” where the owner physically rolls the dog onto its side and scruff shaking, taking the loose skin on the dog’s neck and shaking it. All of these displays are used to gain control over your dog and teach them that you are higher ranking and leader of the pack.

How is dominance theory flawed?

Although there are plenty of skeptics, new research has found dominance theory to be flawed when it comes to the social systems of both wolves and dogs. In the past, research was done on wolves in captivity, where they were confined to enclosures much smaller than their natural living quarters. This type of living situation puts a lot of stress on the pack and its members, leading to more scuffles than you would typically find in nature. As more research accumulates on wild wolf packs and dogs themselves, it becomes clearer that the social systems are much more fluid than dominance theory allows.

What does recent research indicate?

Dr. David Mech did a long term study on wolf packs living in Ellesmere Island, Canada. He found that the leading female’s primary roles include pup care and defense, whereas the lead male predominated in foraging and acquiring food. The alpha wolves were based mostly on who gets to breed, however every wolf will eventually disperse and breed, meaning each wolf has a chance to become alpha. The alphas scent-marked and transferred food amongst the pack members, but all of the wolves stole and defended food from other members. He also observed that all of the wolves submit to one another wolf during specified times, such as greeting after a long departure.

Dr. Ian Dunbar spent nine years working with Dr.Frank Beach (who spent 30 years on this study) researching dog on dog interactions, a subject that has surprisingly had little research in the past. He found the males to be more rigid, whereas the females were more variable. When together, the pack is variable as well, but the mid-ranking dogs were the most likely to squabble. Puppies are given a “puppy license” to do most anything outside of annoying until they reach a certain age at which their license is revoked. The dogs had many rituals to both harass and appease one another. The alpha dogs however do not use force, but remain benevolent and confident. If they become forceful in their leadership, the alphas are disposed of from the pack.

David Paul Stiles observed both captive and free-ranging wolves in order to determine if food availability had any effect on dominance displays. Although the captives had food 100% of the time and the wild ones did not, they were the ones who displayed dominant or aggressive behaviors. The wild packs showed no dominant behaviors, but both packs displayed submissive ones.

Taken together, these studies (along with other recent research) indicate that these canids live in family groups, with each member contributing to the rearing and care of the pups. They essentially live in division-of-labor groups with the adult parents guiding the pack activities. The parents are not forceful or threatening, but calm and confident. Threatening displays are greatened by stress such as being confined. Finally, the pack is not a strict hierarchical grouping, but is more fluid as low ranking individuals may guard food occasionally and alphas may display appeasement gestures.

What about the dominant and submissive displays?

Perhaps this means that dogs are not actually concerned about their rank in a social system, rather they are simply bouncing their personalities off one another and their owners. When two dogs meet at a park they aren’t concerned about controlling each other, instead they go through ritualistic displays in order to figure one another out; if one dog finds the other annoying or rude, a scuffle may ensue.

Signs of submission may actually be appeasement gestures when in stressful situations. A dog that rolls flat on its back when greeting a stranger may be nervous or scared about the confrontation. Or they may have been inadvertently rewarded for doing the behavior, such as having their belly rubbed.

Dominance displays are often actually signs of anxiety. Stressful situations may bring out behaviors that the dog does not typically display, such as mounting another dog or barking at strangers. They guard resources not because they are intent on gaining a higher rank, but because that resource is valuable to it, or it may be playing a game of keep-away with its peers.

Perhaps other behaviors that we have labeled as dominant or submissive are also just a part of our dog’s personality shining through. Maybe a dog that does not allow petting on its head actually just does not like the way it feels. Or maybe a dog that pushes you out of the way when running out the door is actually just super excited about getting outside.

How can you train your dog with techniques they understand?

Training your dog through threatening displays and aggressive techniques may be counterproductive. If pushed too far, the dog may become fearful and defend itself through aggression. The dog isn’t learning that you are the alpha of the pack and demand respect; they are learning that you are unpredictable and scary. Then again, a dog which is trained by force may do as you say, but only out of fear rather than desire.

Today there are many training techniques which use rewards rather than coercion. These techniques use a combination of Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment. Positive Reinforcement is increasing the occurrence of a desired behavior by giving a reward right after it happens. The reward may be anything desirable to the dog, like a toy or food. Negative Punishment is withholding the reward when an undesirable behavior occurs, thereby decreasing its incidence.

To learn more about these fun and creative training techniques please visit:

Dog Star Daily

Clicker Solutions

Clicker Training