The Natural Alpha Dog

Much has been written about canine social structure and how it relates to dog behavior. The concept of alpha dominance originally came from studies of wolf packs in the 1940s. The findings of these studies trickled down to the domestic dog arena and found their way into dog training techniques. Dominance exercises, such as the alpha roll, were recommended to prevent aggression and other behavior problems.

People began to challenge the alpha dominance theory on a number of fronts. Is wolf behavior really indicative of that seen in domestic dogs? Were the alpha rolls initiated by the higher ranking wolf, or were they actually an appeasement ritual offered voluntarily by the subordinate wolf? Was the wolf behavior really exhibiting dominance, or does the wolf pack operate on something closer to a parent/child type of relationship?

The fact is that dogs are not wolves. Breeding of domestic dogs through time has generally increased their sociability and playfulness while decreasing fear and aggression, making them less and less like their wild cousins. Additionally, there is little evidence to suggest that dominance exercises did anything to stem the development of aggressive behavior.

More recent studies have shown that alpha behavior does not necessarily mean physically dominant behavior. True pack leaders do not need to rely on physical aggression to maintain their positions in the hierarchy. They have earned the respect of the lesser dogs and need only to exhibit their calm, confident behavior to keep order within the pack.

My old dog, Tootsie Roll, is one of those natural alpha dogs. In the 17½ years that she has been with our family, our little dog pack has included three other dogs. Through that entire 17½ year period, Tootsie Roll has always been recognized as the pack leader (after the humans, of course). It always amazed me that this sweet, loving dog would be the widely accepted leader of the pack. After reading more about pack cultures, I came to identify in Tootsie Roll, actions that others have attributed to the natural alpha dog; her confident stance, staring down of usurpers, an occasional soft growl.

There were sporadic challenges to Tootsie’s position. Most often these came from Valentine, our other beagle mutt. Even in old age, Tootsie’s calm assertiveness would prevail over Valentine’s feeble attempts to unseat her, and the social hierarchy never changed. Valentine is gone now, and Sosa, our little Jack Russell mix, is just happy to have a nice home and has no desire to be in the driver’s seat. So nice for Tootsie that she will be able to live out her life in that top dog position.