#alpha theory

Pack theory/dominance theory/alpha theory all comes from a study done by Schenkel in 1947 who researched captive wolves. David Mech spread that idea in the 70s, confirming Schenkel's idea of a hierarchal dynamic in wolves. He debunked his own research in the late 90s after studying wild wolves for 15/20 years. Why was Schenkel's research wrong? Bc he studied captive wolves who did not belong to the same family and/or came from the same location. These differences created a completely different dynamic than what you would see in wild wolves. So his research was...bogus. It's like studying migration patterns on captive elephants/birds. You're going to get...nothing that is representative of their wild counterparts. David Mech's later research found that wolf packs are made up of a mating pair with their offspring. There isn't a strong, fierce, dominant "alpha" but rather parents teaching their pups the way of life. If an animal is pushed out of the group, it isn't bc one is trying to fight the "alpha", it's simply nature's way of ensuring genes are spread around and mixed, it's simple dispersal patterns. Totally normal for wildlife.

For some reason, this pack theory was very attractive to dog trainers. And because not everyone studies wildlife, they look at the wolf and point back at their dog and say "same thing!" So dog trainers apply this pack theory to dogs-not only is it a theory based on bogus research, but they're also applying it on a completely different species. Dogs and wolves share a common ancestor, sure, they're similar in lots of ways, of course. But it's like saying the Stripped Hyena, a pretty solitary animal only living in pairs and such, behaves exactly like the Spotted Hyena, an animal that lives in a very complex hierarchal system. It's kind of short sighted (and wrong!). So even IF pack theory existed in wolves, it's wrong to assume dogs would behave the same.

Research even shows that feral dogs don't live in packs or in family groupings. Their dynamics is much more fluid, and much more solitary.

At this point, after ample amount of research debunking wolf pack theory + if you sprinkle in some critical thinking, there is no reason to continue to spread and use this theory on dogs. There aren't "dominant" dogs, but rather assertive, more confidant dogs. If you looked at Koa & Nova and tried to find the dominant one, this would change depending on the situation. You throw a ball in the yard, Nova will let Koa grab the ball even though he wanted it too. So Koa is dominant? Now switch the ball with a piece of steak. Nova will get that steak and Koa won't work that hard for it. So Nova is dominant? No, it's just a question of who wants the thing more, who is more assertive in a situation, who is more confidant to do xyz. Koa wants ball, Nova wants steak.

Look what I bought!