[livingdustmops]

Part 1
Biscuits, Not Rolls
Why you should never use the “alpha roll” (and what to do instead).

By Pat Miller
Teddy’s owners were distraught as they explained to me on the phone why they had called. Their veterinarian had told them that their nine-week-old Golden Retriever puppy was “dominant aggressive” because he was biting their hands. He had advised them to alpha-roll the pup every time he tried to bite or otherwise challenge their authority. They’d been following the vet’s instructions for a week, and Teddy’s aggression was getting seriously worse. They feared they would have to euthanize their pup. We made an emergency same-day appointment for a behavior consultation.
I found Teddy to be a somewhat assertive puppy, who enjoyed actively exploring the world with his mouth, as normal puppies do. Like many assertive, excitable pups, Teddy also got increasingly aroused when his owners protested his needle-sharp-toothed explorations on their skin. The more they protested, the more excited (and mouthier) he got. Hence the veterinarian’s all-too-common misdiagnosis of “dominance aggression” and his woefully inappropriate prescription of alpha-rolling the pup to put him in his place.
Rolling the dice
The alpha-roll consists of physically rolling a dog onto his side or back and holding him there until he stops resisting or struggling, supposedly submitting to your superior authority.
Popularized by the monks of New Skete in their dog-training books (such as How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend) in the 1980s, the technique is a truly unfortunate and dangerous interpretation of a normal canine social behavior. When approached by a higher-status dog, a lower-ranking member of the pack may first avert and lower his head and shoulders, then voluntarily lie down on the ground and perhaps roll onto his side or back as an appeasement or deference gesture. Typically, when an appeasement gesture is used, the higher-ranking canine has no need to assert himself by forcibly flattening the lower-ranking dog to the ground; the subordinate is already there!
Job Michael Evans, one of the New Skete monks responsible for writing "How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend," later left the order, and subsequently stated he regretted including the now-controversial technique in the book. While he didn’t go as far as to say the alpha roll was ineffective or inappropriate, he did say he felt it wasn’t safe for use by the general public.
Modern behavior professionals who are well-educated in the science of behavior and learning go much further, denouncing the risky technique along with other methods based in faulty dominance theory.
The most obvious negative consequence of techniques that encourage owners to physically overpower and intimidate their canine companions is the possibility of scaring or coercing the dog into defending himself. He reacts aggressively in return, angering or frightening his owner, who often responds by escalating his own level of violence. Before you know it, the relationship between the two is seriously, sometimes irreparably, damaged.
Despite compelling evidence that physical intimidation does more harm than good, some trainers today (indeed, some very high-profile ones) are stubbornly attached to the forced roll-over, cloaking it in new-age terms and turning a blind eye to the damage done to relationships between dogs and their humans in the process.
Questions of appropriateness aside, it takes someone skilled in handling dogs to be able to alpha-roll a dog without significant risk to human safety – which is at least in part why one television show where the technique is frequently used includes a “Don’t try this at home”-style disclaimer. It’s also why trainers who employ methods such as the alpha roll talk about being bitten as “part of the job,” while those who use more appropriate, nonconfrontational approaches are more likely to keep their skins intact.
Canine as a second language
Again, the alpha roll is supposed to mimic the behavior of the “top dog” in a pack, and send the message, “I’m the boss of you!” But one huge error in alpha-roll logic is the belief that we can successfully pretend to be dogs in our interactions with our canine companions. Dogs know we’re not dogs, and any attempt on our part to mimic their language is doomed to failure.
Dogs are masters at speaking and reading canine body language. Their communications to each other are often subtle and nuanced, a furry ballet designed to keep peace in the pack. Our efforts to use canine body communications are oafish in comparison – and I imagine that our dogs are alternately amused, confused, nonplussed, and terrified by our clumsy attempts to speak their language.
Violence occurs between dogs within established social groups when the communication system breaks down; it’s a sign of an unhealthy pack relationship. Ethology studies from the 1970s and 1980s suggest that canine social structure holds together because appeasement behaviors are offered by subordinate members, not because higher-ranking members aggressively demand subservience. Instead, successful pack leaders were observed to calmly control the good stuff – an approach frequently suggested by today’s modern, positive trainers as a much safer, more appropriate, and effective method for creating a harmonious mixed-species social group.
In her book, Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Dr. Karen Overall agrees, stating, “The behavior of the lower status individuals, not the higher ranking one, is what determines the relative hierarchical rank. Truly high-ranking animals are tolerant of lower-ranking ones.”
Methods that encourage dogs to offer deference behaviors, and then reward them for it, are a much closer approximation of actual pack behavior – and easier for us to emulate successfully – than any application of force. Use biscuits (training treats), not (alpha) rolls!