Dog Whisperer, Dog Psychology and Cesar Millan
THE DOG WHISPERER CONTROVERSY
By Lisa Mullinax, CPDT
With the recent popularity of a television show about problem dogs, the controversy over which methods are the most humane and effective ways to address behavior problems in dogs has been renewed and is dividing dog lovers all over the world.
While behaviorists, trainers and other dog professionals recognize that the show is exposing dog owners to the possibility that their dogs' behavior can be changed, the show gives the false impression that behavior can be changed within a matter of hours. Professionals are also concerned about the methods used, as many of those methods are known to incite or increase aggressive behaviors.
This article will explore the controversial issues and will attempt to separate fact from marketing. Wherever possible, additional links or book recommendations are provided as reference or to elaborate on the preceding issue. We strongly recommend those who disagree with this article read the links and/or books provided before contacting us.
"DOG PSYCHOLOGY": FLAWED FROM ITS FOUNDATION
All explanations and answers given on the show center around "dog psychology," the idea that the dog is a pack animal and needs a pack leader. "Pack theory" was used in the past to explain dog behavior during a time when there was little to no behavioral research on dogs.
To understand why pack theory is a flawed behavioral model, it is necessary to understand its source and the modern understanding of behavior.
Dominance Theory: Wolves
Dominance was once touted as the cause and solution for behavior problems in dogs. This belief originated with studies of captive wolf packs in the 1940's and was popularized by the Monks of New Skete in 1978. This belief led to fear that these animals could physically harm us unless we "established our dominance." Methods such as alpha rolls and leash corrections were often recommended as a way for the dog owner to "establish dominance" over their dogs.
Alpha roll or omega roll? Closer observations of wolves over the last 40 years have shown that this infamous behavior is an act of submission, not dominance. A wolf voluntarily rolls on its back in a subordinate display. No contact is made, thus avoiding dangerous physical conflict.
However, there are multiple problems with modeling dog training after these beliefs:
The wolf studies were seriously flawed. First, the studies were of wolves in captivity and not in their natural habitats. Second, the wolves had been captured from different wolf packs, creating a volatile and unnatural pack structure. None of which provided researchers at the time with an accurate view of normal wolf behavior.
More in-depth studies of wolves in their natural habitats have since revealed that a wolf pack is made up of a family; the breeding pair who shares leadership, and their offspring (1), who stay with the pack until 2-3 years of age, when they start their own pack. Eventually, almost every wolf becomes an "alpha" if they survive long enough mate and breed.
Dominance Theory: Dogs
Dogs are not tame wolves. The domestic dog is a separate species that evolved from wolves approximately 14,000 years ago and exhibit behaviors that wolves do not. They also do not display the same behaviors that wolves do (2).
In Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin Behavior & Evolution, Ray and Lorna Coppinger write:
"Today, the popular dog press seems to feel that if dogs descended from wolves, they would have wolf qualities. But the natural selection model points out that the wolf qualities are severely modified. Dogs do not think like wolves, nor do they behave like them."
Observations of free-roaming dogs throughout the world reveal that dogs are social animals, using displays of submission to keep the peace, not displays of dominance. These dogs, sometimes referred to as pariah dogs, are more scavengers than predators, and therefore live much more solitary lives than wolves, since it does not benefit a scavenger to share limited resources with a large group of other animals. These dogs rarely form packs, and when they do, the packs are loosely structured with animals joining and leaving randomly and frequently, a trait not seen in wolf packs.
Further, the domesticated forms of wild species will, as a general rule, revert back to their original form after being feral (wild) for a few generations. Dogs, of which there are many feral types throughout the world, have not reverted back to wolves either in appearance or behavior.
All of this evidence strongly discredits the romantic notion that dogs are watered-down versions of the wolf.
'Leaders' in all animals control assets more often than they control individuals through the use of force. As stated by Myrna Milani, DVM, author and veterinary ethologist:
"...the mark of a true leader is the ability to control without force. And, in fact, wild animals who rely on brute force to maintain their status typically get eliminated from the gene pool because this approach requires so much energy."
Power struggles with dogs communicate no more leadership than an adult human in a physical struggle with a small child or an armed bank robber and his hostages.
Here's the reality, through a stroke of evolutionary luck, we were blessed with opposable thumbs which give us priority access to most, if not all, of the resources that dogs want. By maintaining control of those assets, including food, access and attention, and not giving them away for free or on demand, it is not necessary to get into power struggles with our dogs. We already have everything the dog wants. We are already "dominant." The trick is to not give those resources away for free, or on demand.
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Dominance Hierarchies in Wolves
"The concept, nature, and importance of the dominance hierarchy or pecking order ...itself in many species are in dispute. Similarly, in a natural wolf pack, dominance is not manifested as a pecking order and seems to have much less significance than the results of studies of captive packs had implied. In a natural wolf pack, the dominance rules bear no resemblance to those of the pecking order, that of a group of similar individuals competing for rank."
-L. David Mech
Senior Scientist
Biological Resources Division
U.S. Geological Survey