Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Pack Mentality - How Dogs Communicate
Pack Mentality: Regardless of how hard we try to make our new puppies human, they never will be. Dogs are pack animals by nature. In fact, domesticated dogs are less than 1% removed from their wild cousins. Hurricane Katrina proved this. When New Orleans started flooding, the citizens started heading out and not looking back. In many cases, they had to leave their canine friends behind. These dogs quickly adapted and reverted to their wild nature and started roaming the streets in order to survive. In every pack, there was a definitive alpha that lead each pack, and all the others instinctively followed.
In Cesar Millans’ book, “Cesar’s Way”, he talks in depth on the topic of humanizing dogs. Showering them with: affection, affection, affection. He goes further into the topic talking about dogs, as pack animals are actually imbalanced when not raised in a pack. As I tell people, once they get a dog, they no longer have a family, they have a pack. Now who is going to be the leader of this pack is the next question.
Dogs come into the world looking for a pack leader. If nobody steps up to be the pack leader, then the dog will. Unfortunately they usually do this in a most destructive and out of control way. They have to have this structure of the pack in order to understand their place. So it is up to us to make sure that the hierarchy is in place.
So let’s pause for a moment and look at how dogs communicate. Since dogs do not speak English, Spanish, Latin, or French they have to communicate in other ways. If you were to observe a pack of wolves in the wild you would see body language, the positioning of the body, facial expressions, tone of voice used by the alpha male to tell the other pack members they are doing right or wrong. For us, standing in an upright position maintains us above them, thus communicating our dominance over them. A hard facial expression versus a smile can tell the dog he is doing wrong. I sometimes give a low growl or rough sound instead of the word “NO”. I think the dog better understands it. Our tone of voice can tell a dog of pleasure or displeasure for an action. Instead of going into a long rant yelling and screaming at the dog, a harsh sound or “NO” will get better results.
While communicating is one of the aspects of pack mentality, dogs will constantly test the pack leader to see if he is worthy. They do this in many different ways, but always must be put back in their place. In order to maintain even state of calm submissiveness, we can do little things to always communicate to the dog that we are the pack leader. Leaders always eat first. In the wild when a pack gets a kill, the alpha eats. When he has had enough, he will signal the others to come in and eat. If a pack of wolves is walking along, the lower pack members never get out in front of the alpha. According to their position within the hierarchy they will either be to the side and slightly behind or totally behind the alpha. In our lives, whenever we walk our dogs, they should learn to walk at heel with their shoulders even with our leg, not out in front dragging us down the street. Anytime you go through a doorway, especially when going inside or out, the dog should sit and wait for you to enter, they can come in when invited. Dogs never jump up on the alpha in the wild and your dog should not jump up and place his paws on you. Your dog should never be allowed to sit or lay above you. If you are sitting on the floor and the dog jumps onto the couch, laying his head across your shoulder. While this outwardly appears sweet and innocent, it is the dogs way of testing you as a leader by trying to set dominance. Leaders always begin and end grooming and affection. Whenever your dog comes up and nudges you to pet him, do not. This is just another means to test you as the leader.
There is much more I can write on this topic. Instead I would like to recommend a few books for reading.
* Leader of the Pack – By Nancy Baer: This is a relatively short read. I love the way each chapter gives an example of a pack of wolves in a certain situation. Then it goes into a domesticated setting with a similar comparison for you. Great read and it helps adults and kids alike to better understand their role.
*Cesar’s Way – By Cesar Millan: This is actually a biography of Cesar’s life. From his childhood living in Mexico to his celebrity status on The National Geographic Channels – “The Dog Whisperer”. In the book Cesar tells the story of many different people and their dogs that he has observed or helped along the way. This is a great read, one that you will not want to put down.
*Be The Pack Leader – By Cesar Millan: This was Cesar’s second book and a great follow up to his first. Again, he uses many real life accounts of celebrities and everyday people and how he was able to help rehabilitate their dogs, all with pack mentality.
I also urge people to watch Cesar’s TV show, The Dog Whisperer. If you will notice, there is one common denominator in every single dog he rehabilitates. Pack leadership. By training the owners how to assert themselves as pack leaders, he is able to put balance back into the dogs life allowing them to live a more peaceful existence in the human world that surrounds them.
In Cesar Millans’ book, “Cesar’s Way”, he talks in depth on the topic of humanizing dogs. Showering them with: affection, affection, affection. He goes further into the topic talking about dogs, as pack animals are actually imbalanced when not raised in a pack. As I tell people, once they get a dog, they no longer have a family, they have a pack. Now who is going to be the leader of this pack is the next question.
Dogs come into the world looking for a pack leader. If nobody steps up to be the pack leader, then the dog will. Unfortunately they usually do this in a most destructive and out of control way. They have to have this structure of the pack in order to understand their place. So it is up to us to make sure that the hierarchy is in place.
So let’s pause for a moment and look at how dogs communicate. Since dogs do not speak English, Spanish, Latin, or French they have to communicate in other ways. If you were to observe a pack of wolves in the wild you would see body language, the positioning of the body, facial expressions, tone of voice used by the alpha male to tell the other pack members they are doing right or wrong. For us, standing in an upright position maintains us above them, thus communicating our dominance over them. A hard facial expression versus a smile can tell the dog he is doing wrong. I sometimes give a low growl or rough sound instead of the word “NO”. I think the dog better understands it. Our tone of voice can tell a dog of pleasure or displeasure for an action. Instead of going into a long rant yelling and screaming at the dog, a harsh sound or “NO” will get better results.
While communicating is one of the aspects of pack mentality, dogs will constantly test the pack leader to see if he is worthy. They do this in many different ways, but always must be put back in their place. In order to maintain even state of calm submissiveness, we can do little things to always communicate to the dog that we are the pack leader. Leaders always eat first. In the wild when a pack gets a kill, the alpha eats. When he has had enough, he will signal the others to come in and eat. If a pack of wolves is walking along, the lower pack members never get out in front of the alpha. According to their position within the hierarchy they will either be to the side and slightly behind or totally behind the alpha. In our lives, whenever we walk our dogs, they should learn to walk at heel with their shoulders even with our leg, not out in front dragging us down the street. Anytime you go through a doorway, especially when going inside or out, the dog should sit and wait for you to enter, they can come in when invited. Dogs never jump up on the alpha in the wild and your dog should not jump up and place his paws on you. Your dog should never be allowed to sit or lay above you. If you are sitting on the floor and the dog jumps onto the couch, laying his head across your shoulder. While this outwardly appears sweet and innocent, it is the dogs way of testing you as a leader by trying to set dominance. Leaders always begin and end grooming and affection. Whenever your dog comes up and nudges you to pet him, do not. This is just another means to test you as the leader.
There is much more I can write on this topic. Instead I would like to recommend a few books for reading.
* Leader of the Pack – By Nancy Baer: This is a relatively short read. I love the way each chapter gives an example of a pack of wolves in a certain situation. Then it goes into a domesticated setting with a similar comparison for you. Great read and it helps adults and kids alike to better understand their role.
*Cesar’s Way – By Cesar Millan: This is actually a biography of Cesar’s life. From his childhood living in Mexico to his celebrity status on The National Geographic Channels – “The Dog Whisperer”. In the book Cesar tells the story of many different people and their dogs that he has observed or helped along the way. This is a great read, one that you will not want to put down.
*Be The Pack Leader – By Cesar Millan: This was Cesar’s second book and a great follow up to his first. Again, he uses many real life accounts of celebrities and everyday people and how he was able to help rehabilitate their dogs, all with pack mentality.
I also urge people to watch Cesar’s TV show, The Dog Whisperer. If you will notice, there is one common denominator in every single dog he rehabilitates. Pack leadership. By training the owners how to assert themselves as pack leaders, he is able to put balance back into the dogs life allowing them to live a more peaceful existence in the human world that surrounds them.
# posted by Clay Black @ 12:21 PM 
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