http://crazyrunnerbitches.blogspot.c...dominance.html

Something I'm learning About Dog Dominance

I was reading through some posts on a forum a few days ago when I came
across a post about dog dominance. I had researched dog behavior and
training for months to try to be the best owner I can be for my dog and
I found much of the same information that people learn from Cesar
Milan. Don't play tug of war, don't let them sleep on your bed, don't
let them walk out the door before you, you must be the alpha or pack
leader or your dog won't respect you, certain behaviors are considered
dominate, and so on...
I, like most people, was too ignorant to know what information was good
and what information was bad (wrong) and since I found so much of the
bad stuff that's what I believed. Actually, the bad information was the
only information I found. I was curious when I'd read articles or hear
about a trainer slamming Milan for his techniques because he is taking
dog training back to the dark ages, but no one ever says why.
It wasn't until I read a couple of articles linked in the post that I
had a starting place to find good information:

Debunking the Dominance Myth

The Dominance Myth in Dog Training

That sparked my interest and I began searching with different terms
than just "dog training" and "dog behavior". I found mo

Dog Psychology 101

THE "WHOLLY SEPARATE" TRUTH: DID THE YELLOWSTONE WOLF
REINTRODUCTION VIOLATE SECTION 10(J) OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT? -
an article that supports the wolf behavior claims of the three previous
dominance myth in dogs articles.

Moving Beyond the Dominance Myth

The History and Misconceptions of Dominance Theory

The Anti-Cesar Milan

Reconsider the Dominance Model in Dog Training


But then things got frustrating. The websites and articles are not
supported (or supported with very little actually cited). Every article
I read referred to "flawed wolf behavior studies of the 1930s-40s"
coupled with the belief that dogs are nothing more than domesticated
wolves as the reason so many vets, trainers, and people erroneously use
dominance methods in dog training. Not one article I found gave
citations of the studies so people could look them up for themselves
and there were no direct quotes from the flawed studies to debunk using
direct quotes from newer studies - just vague references to these
studies. Typical, you can find a million websites that repeat almost
word for word what other websites say but no one knows where the
original information came from. They just keep repeating it as gospel
since they read it in so many other places.
I think I may have found the vaguely referenced studies, though I'm not
sure since my library doesn't have access to them. I have to wait while
they're ordered through interlibrary loan before I can say if these are
the articles that spurred the wolf pack model of dog training. The
citations of the possible "flawed" wolf studies are

Peterson, W.J. Wolves in Iowa. The Iowa Journal of History and
Politics, 38/1, January 1940, 50-93.

Murie, A. Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone. US National Park
Service Fauna Series no.4 and no.5


But I have printed out newer studies on wolf pack behavior (mainly from
the Canadian Journal of Zoology) that do refute the "traditional"
understanding of dominance in wolfs. One example of an article I have
is:

Mech, L.D. (1999). Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in
Wolf Packs. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77, 1196-1203


Another frustrating thing I've found is this repeated vague reference
to a 30 year study done by Frank Beach on dog pack behavior. After
searching for about 4 hours now, all I can find from him are studies
regarding sex, behavior, and hormones in humans and all animals
(including dogs and specifically beagles), and a couple of websites
that claimed he wrote a book that he didn't write. I've found nothing
soley on dog behavior from him or anything that resembles any study on
solely dog dominance or behavior. I've even searched under his
colleagues to see if they've published any dog behavior studies - nada.
My databases were pulling up articles from the 1880s and from all over
the world, if the Beach 30-year study existed I would have found it or
atleast found an actual reference to it by now.
To find academic articles on dogs you have to look in the PubMed
database.
I haven't sifted through everything yet, but so far I'm learning from
the studies:

1) Dogs are not wolves. They are related to wolves they way we're
related to chimps. There is new evidence that dogs were domesticated
from wild dogs in china with Chows, and Shar Peis, to name a couple,
being the oldest breeds. The wild dogs may or may not have been wolves
at one point in time - that is disputed with evidence leaning both
ways.

2) Wolves don't behave in the way the popular media characterizes them.
The alpha and dominance structures are misrepresented. Packs are
generally families with the alpha's being the parents. Dominance means
in control of the resources - food, sleeping places, reproduction, etc
- and it's done subtly (staring for example) with benevolence and
flexibility. Aggressive domination is not tolerated because it leaves
the pack open to danger. Wolves that are physically dominate are killed
or ousted from their packs. The popular notion of dominance is pretty
much debunked here.

3) Feral (wild) dogs do not behave like wolves but they can be similar
at times. If dogs were watered down wolves you'd expect them to behave
the way they should - like wolves - when left to their own resources in
the wild. They do not. I think these studies are the best proof when
comparing pack and dominance beahviors in dogs and wolves.

4) Dogs know the difference between humans, dogs, cats, and other
animals.

5) Dogs sees us as their family although they know we're not dogs.

6) Dogs are highly attuned to human expressions and communications
cues. They even use our communication cues when communicating with each
other. They also try to mimic us and anticipate the things we do. Which
explains why even our most subtle behaviors and emotions can affect how
a dog acts or perceives a situation. That makes sense because when
humans domesticated them thousands of years ago they selectively bred
them to be submissive to us and attuned to us in order to be useful to
us.

7) Dogs have emotions and personalities. Dogs may even think. The
extent of this is unknown.

8) A dog or wolf rolling onto it's back is like a salute - done
willingly. Dogs or wolves never force another dog onto it's back and
pin it unless it's going to kill it.

9) Training techniques vary from dog to dog. Something that may work
with one breed or individual dog in a breed may not work for another.
Some dogs do need mild punishment to help get the training messages
through when others don't. Some of the techniques spurred from the
completely misunderstood and misapplied wolf pack studies may actually
work well with some dogs, but not because of the reasons Cesar Milan
would have you believe.

10) Rude, pushy, boundary-pushing, and/or unsocialized, untrained
behavior is not dominance. People tend to characterize any behavior
they don't like in a dog as dominance instead of rudeness. So eating
before your dog eats, walking out the door before your dog, or other
"dominance" techniques are lost on the dog. If you don't want your dog
pull on the leash - leash train it! Don't want your dog to run out the
door - train it not to. When I took my dog to obedience school his
trainer told us that dogs sometimes have to be taught how to behave in
each place they go. If your obedience classes are held inside a dog may
learn that this is "inside" behavior and then it will behave badly
outside until it's trained to behave the same outside as it does
inside.

11) Domestication changes animals greatly.

12) Dogs can become mentally unbalanced and/or neurotic when not
trained or socialized. Dogs resort to aggression when unbalanced.

13) Dogs do have memory.



So when I put this all together and apply it to Cesar Milan, I can see
why educated trainers are in an uproar over him. He's spouting off
wrong facts about wolf pack behavior. He's wrongly applying this wrong
wolf pack facts to domesticated dogs and then using the techniques to
"rehabilitate" dogs. That is something he absolutely needs to change.
Especially since the general public completely buys into his ideas and
does absolutely no research on their own. Too many people are lazy and
stupid and they think they're experts after watching a tv show. I
wonder what they think of medicine after watching a surgery show!
I think he has it right when he says dogs need to be exercised,
disciplined, and given rules, limitations, and boundaries. He's right
when he says people need to be calm and assertive with their dogs. He
is right when he says lack of those previously mentioned things can
create an unbalanced, crazy dog. Too many people neglect these things
in their dogs and create monsters - like they do with their children -
and then they get frustrated when they can't control the monsters they
created and they may make things worse with their own temperments. But
that is all you can take from Cesar Milan.
His techniques seem to work (especially with the magic of television)
and they might really work in some dogs, but they most likely just
scare or hurt dogs into behaving a certain way and since the owners and
Milan don't know the difference. It's okay to them because they got the
desired result.
I've also noticied how often he contradicts himself on the show. I
remember seeing one episode where a dog was triggered into aggression
every time it saw a white German Shepherd. Something had happened
between that dog and a white GSD in the past and it needed help getting
over that. Compare that to when he pointed to the calm and curteous
behavior of two dogs to Denise Richards, immediately after diverting a
dog fight, that dogs "live in the now" because they clearly didn't care
that there was just friction since they don't hold grudges. If dogs
didn't hold grudges against each other and lived in the now then he
wouldn't have had to rehabilitate the dog who hated white GSDs or the
dogs who hold onto old fears they developed from traumatic events in
their lives.

That's what I have so far. I'll find out more as I read.


A short list of some of my finds so far if anyone is curious (I think
there may be some irrelevant articles in there but I'm just cutting and
pasting from my master list):

Patton, B.S. Trapping Timber Wolves. Oregon Sportsman, 2/11, 1914, 4-9.

Payan, J.R. Will Wolves Take to Water? Two More Cases for the
Affirmative. Rod and Gun and Motor Sports in Canada, 29/2, July 1927,
159.

Peters, R. Mental Maps in Wolf Territoriality. In (Klinghammer, E.,
ed.) The Behavior and Ecology of Wolves, 1979, 119-152.

Peters, R.P. & L.D. Mech. Scent-Marking in Wolves. Am. Sci., 63, 1975,
628-637.

Peterson, R.O. et al. Leadership Behavior in Relation to Dominance and
Reproductive Status in Gray Wolves, Canis lupus. Canadian Journal of
Zoology, 80, August 2002, 1405-1412.

Peterson, W.J. Wolves in Iowa. The Iowa Journal of History and
Politics, 38/1, January 1940, 50-93.

Pierce, M.P. Hybrid Wolves. Forest and Stream, 24, June 1885, 426-427.

Pimlott, D.H. What Good Is A Wolf? BC Outdoors, April 1969, 32-37.

Pocock, R.I. The Races of Canis lupus. Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London, Pt. 3, September 1935, 647-686.

Pulliainen, E. The Present Status and Ecology of the Wolf in Finland
and Anjacent Areas. (Soutar, ed.) Proceedings of the International Wolf
Symposium, National Geographic Society, April 1978.

Murie, A. Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone. US National Park
Service Fauna Series no.4

R.D. Lawrence, Trail of the Wolf 120 (1993).

1) Bradshaw JW.
The evolutionary basis for the feeding behavior of domestic dogs (Canis
familiaris) and cats (Felis catus).
J Nutr. 2006 Jul;136(7 Suppl):1927S-1931S. Review.
PMID: 16772461

2) Wong JK, Blenkinsop B, Sweet J, Wood RE.
A comparison of bitemark injuries between fatal wolf and domestic dog
attacks.
J Forensic Odontostomatol. 1999 Jun;17(1):10-5.

Avis SP.
Dog pack attack: hunting humans.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1999 Sep;20(3):243-6.


3) Kneafsey B, Condon KC.
Severe dog-bite injuries, introducing the concept of pack attack: a
literature review and seven case reports.
Injury. 1995 Jan;26(1):37-41. Review.

4) Netto WJ, van der Borg JA, Slegers JF.
The establishment of dominance relationships in a dog pack and its
relevance for the man-dog relationship.
Tijdschr Diergeneeskd. 1992 Apr;117 Suppl 1:51S-52S. No abstract
available.


5) Takeuchi Y, Mori Y.
A comparison of the behavioral profiles of purebred dogs in Japan to
profiles of those in the United States and the United Kingdom.
J Vet Med Sci. 2006 Aug;68(8):789-96.


6) Jones AC, Josephs RA.
Interspecies hormonal interactions between man and the domestic dog
(Canis familiaris).
Horm Behav. 2006 Sep;50(3):393-400. Epub 2006 Jun 19.

7) Seibert LM.
Animal behavior case of the month. Severe aggressive behavior directed
at the owner.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2004 Jun 1;224(11):1762-4. No abstract available.

8) Kellerman B.
Thinking about ... leadership. Warts and all.
Harv Bus Rev. 2004 Jan;82(1):40-5, 112.


Pryor P.
Animal behavior case of the month. An English Cocker Spaniel was
examined because of growling and snapping at people and dogs.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2003 Oct 1;223(7):954-6. No abstract available.

Rooney NJ, Bradshaw JW.
Links between play and dominance and attachment dimensions of dog-human
relationships.
J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2003;6(2):67-94.

DeNapoli JS, Dodman NH, Shuster L, Rand WM, Gross KL.
Effect of dietary protein content and tryptophan supplementation on
dominance aggression, territorial aggression, and hyperactivity in
dogs.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2000 Aug 15;217(4):504-8. Erratum in: J Am Vet Med
Assoc 2000 Oct 1;217(7):1012.


Lund JD, Vestergaard KS.
Development of social behaviour in four litters of dogs (Canis
familiaris).
Acta Vet Scand. 1998;39(2):183-93.


Simpson BS.
Canine communication.
Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 1997 May;27(3):445-64. Review.

Dodman NH, Moon R, Zelin M.
Influence of owner personality type on expression and treatment outcome
of dominance aggression in dogs.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1996 Sep 15;209(6):1107-9.

Dodman NH, Reisner I, Shuster L, Rand W, Luescher UA, Robinson I, Houpt
KA.
Effect of dietary protein content on behavior in dogs.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1996 Feb 1;208(3):376-9.

Beaver BV.
Owner complaints about canine behavior.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1994 Jun 15;204(12):1953-5. Review.


Knol BW.
Behavioural problems in dogs. Problems, diagnoses, therapeutic measures
and results in 133 patients.
Vet Q. 1987 Jul;9(3):226-34.


Marder AR, Marder LR.
Human-companion animal relationships and animal behavior problems.
Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 1985 Mar;15(2):411-21.


Scott JP.
The dog as a model for human aggression.
Prog Clin Biol Res. 1984;169:95-103. No abstract available.


Voith VL, Borchelt PL.
Diagnosis and treatment of dominance aggression in dogs.
Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 1982 Nov;12(4):655-63. No abstract
available.


Pavlygina RA.
[Dominance and its role in animal behavior]
Usp Fiziol Nauk. 1982 Apr-May;13(2):31-47. Review. Russian. No abstract
available.


Beaver BV.
Problems & values associated with dominance.
Vet Med Small Anim Clin. 1981 Aug;76(8):1129-31. No abstract available.


Wright JC.
The development of social structure during the primary socialization
period in German shepherds.
Dev Psychobiol. 1980 Jan;13(1):17-24.

Vollmer PJ.
Do mischievous dogs reveal their "guilt"?
Vet Med Small Anim Clin. 1977 Jun;72(6):1002-5. No abstract available.

Campbell WE.
Submissive behavorial dominance: a follow-up.
Mod Vet Pract. 1976 Dec;57(12):1030-2. No abstract available.

Campbell WE.
Physical submission vs. emotional dominance.
Mod Vet Pract. 1976 Nov;57(11):959-62. No abstract available.

Yin S.
A new perspective on barking in dogs (Canis familiaris).
J Comp Psychol. 2002 Jun;116(2):189-93.

Gutheil G, Vera A, Keil FC.
Do houseflies think? Patterns of induction and biological beliefs in
development.
Cognition. 1998 Apr;66(1):33-49.

Fuller JL, Hahn ME.
Issues in the genetics of social behavior.
Behav Genet. 1976 Oct;6(4):391-406.

Schwab C, Huber L.
Obey or not obey? Dogs (Canis familiaris) behave differently in
response to attentional states of their owners.
J Comp Psychol. 2006 Aug;120(3):169-75.

Pennisi E.
Animal cognition. Man's best friend(s) reveal the possible roots of
social intelligence.
Science. 2006 Jun 23;312(5781):1737. No abstract available.

Thorn JM, Templeton JJ, Van Winkle KM, Castillo RR.
Conditioning shelter dogs to sit.
J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2006;9(1):25-39.

Brauer J, Kaminski J, Riedel J, Call J, Tomasello M.
Making inferences about the location of hidden food: social dog, causal
ape.
J Comp Psychol. 2006 Feb;120(1):38-47.


Coppola CL, Grandin T, Enns RM.
Human interaction and cortisol: can human contact reduce stress for
shelter dogs?
Physiol Behav. 2006 Mar 30;87(3):537-41. Epub 2006 Jan 23.

Gacsi M, Gyori B, Miklosi A, Viranyi Z, Kubinyi E, Topal J, Csanyi V.
Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of
hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans.
Dev Psychobiol. 2005 Sep;47(2):111-22.

Hare B, Tomasello M.
Human-like social skills in dogs?
Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 Sep;9(9):439-44. Review.

Miklosi A, Pongracz P, Lakatos G, Topal J, Csanyi V.
A comparative study of the use of visual communicative signals in
interactions between dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans and cats (Felis
catus) and humans.
J Comp Psychol. 2005 May;119(2):179-86.


Markman EM, Abelev M.
Word learning in dogs?
Trends Cogn Sci. 2004 Nov;8(11):479-81; discussion 481.


Viranyi Z, Topal J, Gacsi M, Miklosi A, Csanyi V.
Dogs respond appropriately to cues of humans' attentional focus.
Behav Processes. 2004 May 31;66(2):161-72.

Kubinyi E, Miklosi A, Kaplan F, Gacsi M, Topal J, Csanyi V.
Social behaviour of dogs encountering AIBO, an animal-like robot in a
neutral and in a feeding situation.
Behav Processes. 2004 Mar 31;65(3):231-9.

Gacsi M, Miklosi A, Varga O, Topal J, Csanyi V.
Are readers of our face readers of our minds? Dogs (Canis familiaris)
show situation-dependent recognition of human's attention.
Anim Cogn. 2004 Jul;7(3):144-53. Epub 2003 Dec 11.

Call J, Brauer J, Kaminski J, Tomasello M.
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are sensitive to the attentional state
of humans.
J Comp Psychol. 2003 Sep;117(3):257-63.

Kubinyi E, Topal J, Miklosi A, Csanyi V.
Dogs (Canis familiaris) learn from their owners via observation in a
manipulation task.
J Comp Psychol. 2003 Jun;117(2):156-65.

Kubinyi E, Miklosi A, Topal J, Csanyi V.
Social mimetic behaviour and social anticipation in dogs: preliminary
results.
Anim Cogn. 2003 Mar;6(1):57-63. Epub 2003 Feb 22.

Hare B, Brown M, Williamson C, Tomasello M.
The domestication of social cognition in dogs.
Science. 2002 Nov 22;298(5598):1634-6.


Soproni K, Miklosi A, Topal J, Csanyi V.
Comprehension of human communicative signs in pet dogs (Canis
familiaris).
J Comp Psychol. 2001 Jun;115(2):122-6.


Brisbin IL, Austad S, Jacobson SK.
Canine detectives: the nose knows--or does it?
Science. 2000 Nov 10;290(5494):1093. No abstract available.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild/p...FERAL_DOGS.PDF

posted by Crazy Runner @ 4:18 PM