Wolves and Dogs

Often in dog training, you hear about the wolf packs.  People seem to think that wolves and dogs are incredibly similar and they wrap their training theories around this idea.  While wolves are dogs' direct ancestors, they were their ancestors thousands of years ago.  Dogs have been domesticated specifically to live with and work alongside the humans.  Many times, a dog will seek their beloved human's assistance to solve a problem.  This is not something a wolf does.  In fact, if a wolf pup isn't taken from its mother within a few days to live with people, it becomes very wary of humans.  Even then, they can still be wary of humans. 

The brain in a dog has a function of living with and cooperating with humans.  It's an advanced social understanding of another being.  Studies have shown that dogs understand human gestures such as pointing and they also look at human facial expressions.  Wolves on the other hand are using their brains to survive.  Their instinct is to always be alert for danger.  They do not generally cooperate with other species.  This is quite a difference.  Dogs work with us, play with us, protect us, and love us like no other animal seems to be able to do the same way.  (My cats love me and I love them to pieces.  But that working partnership is just not the same with them.  As one scientist, Mr. Miklosi, mentioned, cats hunt for us or themselves; we do not hunt with the cats as partners.)

All this evidence shows that dominance theory style of dog training actually has no scientific basis because dogs are not wolves.  Science has proven that dogs are very different that wolves.  But even if one is insistent that they are the same, it's still not a valid type of training style.  Yes, wolves live in packs.  Yes, wolves have a type of hierarchy within their packs.  But the idea of the dominant wolf or "pack leader" as well as hierarchy has been misunderstood by many.  A wolf hierarchy is simply a group of wolves, each with a different role.  Just as a human family, each role is important.  The human mother may work to provide for the family.  The father may take care of the house and caretaking of the children.  The older children may help with the chores to clean the house.  The youngest are the babies who need to be cared.  Eventually, the oldest child may take over caring for the family.  This is a hierarchy.  But we would never call the mother in this situation dominant or the pack leader.  (Of course, wolves are very different than humans and I do not ever want to compare them to humans.  My only intention is to give an example to explain wolves.)  Essentially, the hierarchy is just a structure of who has what role.  The wolf family leader's role is to keep the family prospering.  Their goal isn't to dominate everyone.  They simply want to reproduce and take care of their families.  The wolf packs are very family oriented as most animals are. 

So, this does not go along with the idea that your dog is always out to dominate you or that you should use punishment against your dog.  Dominance is just not the proper way to train dogs.  Not only are the dogs completely different from wolves in how their brain processes things but wolves also don't go around dominating every family member in their pack.  Instead of using this style of training, why not use training methods that really let the dog flourish?  Using a positive training method that incorporates that working partnership, the cooperation that dogs love, makes much more sense.  Dogs want to work alongside humans.  It's important to be a supportive, caring leader who understands the dogs instead of being the "pack leader".  This working relationship is what the dog was breed for thousands of years ago.

Changes in Focus

Within the last three or so years, I have focused on stress in animals, mainly dogs. Because of the stressful situations that I myself was encountering, I realized how important dealing with stress really is. Not only does stress cause mental concerns, it also causes many physical health issues. Some Asian theories that deal with energy healing by using the body's meridians (energy paths and points used in acupuncture and acupressure) state that a disease is just a symptom of a block in energy or life. Stress is believed to be a major component of these blocks. But whether one believes in certain Asian healing theories or not, it's hard to dispute that stress causes blocks in life. It's common for people to stop doing hobbies, interacting socially, or even not carrying out responsibilities do to stress. The same applies to animals. I've spent much time reading, researching, observing, and experiencing stress. I've learned tons and have created an outline of notes for a possible future seminar or book about stress. But lately, my focus has changed. My husband has shown me that I often need to lighten up a lot more. I tend to be a very happy, lighthearted person but stress often weighs me down. I let it get to me instead of enjoying life. This is something I've been trying to work on for myself. I also recently came across a study by Jaak Panksepp dealing with rats. Panksepp has found that rats love to play, bounce, and wrestle with each other. They exhibit behavior very close to the way puppies and kittens like to play. During play, the rats vocalize in high pitch noises, some of which are not audible to human ears. Using equipment for detecting bat noises, scientists have been able to pick up different vocalizations in rats. But rats who play and vocalize are more fun than impressive. So what's so intriguing about Panksepp's rats that would interest a dog trainer? With Panksepp's studies and equipment, he has been able to prove that rats laugh... or as scientists prefer to say, the rats exhibit behavior and vocalizations that appear to be like laughing. This laughing has been picked up on the equipment that detects high-pitched inaudible noises. The rats also love to be tickled. Panksepp takes that rats and tickles them along their sides and belly. The rats respond by high pitched noises or laughing. Then the rat bounces around trying to get the human to tickle them more, just as the rats do when they want another rat to keep playing with them. It's such an enjoyable study that I didn't want to stop reading about it! But again, what do laughing rats have to do with dogs? The thought that animals are capable of laughing is something that I've always believed. Animals can smile and laugh with their eyes and sometimes even by grinning like humans. I often say that Oliver is smiling or even that the cats are smiling. Happiness is not just a human emotion. It's something that all animals share in my opinion. With the lesson from my husband and the fun, intriguing study of Panksepp, my focus in dog training has switched. Instead of trying my hardest to keep the stress level low for my dogs during training and daily life, I want to focus on happiness and laughter. Even if dogs do not have a vocal laughter, they certainly do laugh in my opinion. Oliver does understand laughing so I would imagine that he often has those same knee slapping moments as humans. It is just that dogs and other animals have a different way to express such laughter and happiness. For the next few years of my life, I will be taking a chapter out of the rats' book. Search for laughter and happiness to enhance your life and those around you. This lesson proves that each one of God's creatures has something to teach, as long as we are willing to listen. :)