[YorkieMother]

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!

Establishing leadership

The Monks, and others like them, didn't have it all wrong. It is important that your dog perceive his humans as higher-ranking member of your collective multi-species social group. It is far better, safer, and ultimately more effective, however, to accomplish this through offered deference rather than forced dominance.

In his text, Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Volume Two: Etiology and Assessment of Behavior Problems, Steven R. Lindsay, a dog behavior consultant in Philadelphia, says, "A wise lupine leader avoids unnecessary dominance contests and assertions of authority."

Lindsay also cites a 1988 study (E. Fonberg, "Dominance and Aggression"), noting that dominance that is established without resorting to aggression appears to be more stable than dominance that is maintained by constant vigilance and displays of strength.

There is a multitude of ways to establish appropriate social hierarchy without resorting to aggression. No, you don't have to go through all doorways first, nor do you have to eat before your dog does. You can simply wait for and/or encourage your dog to offer deference behaviors in order to make good stuff happen, while at the same time you make sure that pushy behavior doesn't result in him getting good stuff.

Your dog's driving ambition in life is to get good stuff. Some owners and trainers express concern that teaching the dog that he can get you to click! and give him a treat by offering certain behaviors elevates his status because he's controlling you. In reality, a dog's psychological response to deference behaviors appears to so hardwired that if a dog repeatedly performs them, he becomes deferent. It's not just a role he's playing, like an actor. If he does deference, he is deferent. He can't help it.

Deference behaviors you can use to your relationship advantage include:

* Wait at the door. Dog sits and waits to go through a door, even a wide open one, until you give him permission to move forward (good stuff = go out and have fun).

* Wait for your dinner. Dog sits and waits to eat his meal until you give him permission to eat (good stuff = eat food!).

* Wait to get in car. Dogs sits and waits outside car while door is opened, hatchback is lifted, or tailgate lowered, until you give him permission to jump in (good stuff = go somewhere in the car and have fun).

* Wait to get out of the car. Dog sits and waits in vehicle while car door is opened, hatchback is lifted, or tailgate lowered, until you give him permission to jump out (good stuff = get out of car and have fun).

* Wait to get out of kennel, crate, or exercise pen. (Good stuff = get out of kennel, crate, or pen and get attention and have fun.)

* Sit for your leash. Dog sits calmly to go out for a walk while leash is attached to collar (good stuff = go for walk).

* Ask to be petted. Dog sits and waits politely at your feet to be petted rather than jumping up, pawing, or nudging you for attention (good stuff = petting and attention).

* Ask for permission to jump on sofa or bed. Dog sits and waits to be invited onto furniture instead of jumping up uninvited (good stuff = lying on soft, comfortable surface and getting attention).

In each case, the dog learns to offer deference behavior in order to get the desired "good stuff" result. Appropriate (deference) behavior moves him closer to his goal; inappropriate behavior makes the good stuff go away (see "Oops, You Lose!" below).

Happy endings

That phone call from Teddy's owners came almost 10 years ago, early in my career as a professional behavior consultant. Although I had handled many aggressive dogs during the 20 years I worked at the Marin Humane Society, I had not yet worked with a lot of aggression-modification cases professionally. I agreed to see Teddy, with the understanding that I would refer him to someone more experienced if I felt I wasn't capable of handling his case.

He turned out to be one of the simplest aggression cases I've ever worked with. He just needed his people to stop frightening him with their unpredictable eruptions of violence so he could stop having to defend himself.

We began training with clicks and treats. Teddy loved the clicker game, and caught on very quickly to the concept that a "click!" equals "treat"--and even better, that he could make the click! happen by offering one of a growing list of desirable behaviors. We used a tether to restrain Teddy during training so if he did do inappropriate mouthing we could simply say "Oops!" and step out of reach of his nasty-sharp baby teeth.

In the very first session his arousal and biting lessened noticeably. By the time I returned for the second, the mouthing problem was 95 percent resolved, Teddy's owners were tearfully grateful, and we happily moved on with his basic training.

Since Teddy, I've lost count of the number of "aggression" cases I've handled where the alpha roll was the clear and present cause of a dog's increasing aggression. A frightening number of puppy/dog owners are still counseled by their veterinarians, trainers, other animal professionals, and well-intentioned friends to alpha roll their uncooperative canines.

It's always better to get your dog to voluntarily buy into your desired behaviors than to try to force him. That's the challenge, the joy, and the excitement of positive training. As the supposedly more intelligent species, we should be able to figure out how to get dogs to want to do what we want, including being deferent to us, without the use of force. Biscuits, not rolls!

Pat Miller, CPDT, is WDJ's Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. For book purchasing or contact information, see "Resources," page 24.