BY FRAN JEWELL
This is Part One of a two-part series.
W
ith almost every call I get, a voice on the other end of the phone says, “I just want my dog to be able to get along with any dog and be happy!” While this is not an unreasonable desire, it is probably not realistic for every dog. To understand why, we need to look at just who dogs are and where they came from.
Often I incorporate discussion with my clients about the wolf pack and the inherent traits dogs have from wolves. There are trainers that will not admit that the modern domestic dog is related to the wolf, even though DNA has proven that dogs are direct descendents of wolves.
From my experience with having trained over 6,000 dogs in the Wood River Valley alone and from living with a pack of seven to eight German shepherds at one time, I simply cannot discredit the factual basis of so many behaviors dogs have that come directly from wolves.
The unfortunate part is that whenever anyone even mentions the word wolf, so many incorrect connotations ascend to the forefront of our consciousness. The more I train dogs, the more I see wolf-like behaviors that come directly from the distant wolf heritage all dogs share. It doesn’t matter if you have a Yorkie or a Husky, all dogs share certain traits that come from wolves.
At this point I need to interject that not all inherent wolf behavior in dogs is aggression! Somewhere, somehow, people have come to the conclusion that inherent wolf behavior must be aggression. It is not. Inherent wolf behavior comes in many forms. The “pack” and a dog’s pack drive is one example and what we will explore and explain here. Wolf pack behavior is what we humans need to understand in order to understand our dog.
We hear that phrase often, “pack behaviour.” It is true that dogs are pack animals and find emotional comfort from their pack. Often we humans have taken that to mean that our dogs need to have other dog friends to be happy. We are further driven in this belief with the invention of doggie daycare, play groups, dog obedience classes and the insatiable need we humans have to collect multiple dogs to have in our homes.
Let’s for a minute take a look at the wolf pack and how it functions. The wolf pack is a constant for individual members. The pack cares for each other. They each have roles to perform in the group. They work together to hunt and take down prey to survive. The entire group helps to feed and care for the young. The wolf pack remains the same, each with their specific roles within the pack, for the history of the pack. The only variables happen when a wolf ages and dies, is wounded and dies, or when new young members are born into the pack. But they must have their group members to survive. They must be social with each other and understand their pack structure.
The wolf pack is very similar to the human family, with the higher-ranking male and female much like a human mother and father. The siblings also have their rank below the parents. Usually human siblings, because of their age and maturity, have different roles they play in the family, just like in the wolf pack.
We must also understand about dogs that while they distinguish that humans are different than other dogs, they do not know how to relate to people any differently than they relate to other dogs. They simply do not have sophisticated enough emotional and mental abilities to relate any differently than as a pack to humans. Therefore, any human they live with is indeed one of their pack members.
Now that we have established two things––first, that a pack remains somewhat consistent throughout the wolf lifespan, and second, that dogs relate to humans like pack members––we can now understand some basic canine behavior. Stay tuned for Part Two.
Fran Jewell is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, IAABC-certified dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor #1096 and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC, in Sun Valley. For more information, visit www.positivepuppy.com or call (208) 578-1565.