About the article:
Recently studies have been conducted disproving the theory that dogs, like wolves, follow the alpha. No, it's actually the contrary; a dog will follow the friendliest. This means if you assert yourself to a dog, it won't obey you. Rather, you should be kind to it in order to be seen as the leader. Again, this is the complete opposite with wolves. The compassionate pack member is often seen as a subordinate, and the more aggressive domineering ones are head honcho.
The article also points out that when training dogs, it is still very much the norm for trainers to use the alpha dog approach. The article points to several experiments disproving this theory of dominance. One experiment tested the claim saying 'if you let a dog win tug-of-war it will see you as inferior'. The procedure assessed how long it took a group of golden retriever pups to follow a command either after losing 20 games of tug-of-war. The study found that this had absolutely no effect of the puppies' ability to follow commands.
My reaction to the article:
I myself agree with the article. At my home my father is the 'alpha' in the animal's eyes where my mother would be the friendliest. My dog, Holly, normally follows my mother around rather than my father. I find it incredibly interesting that dogs are further distancing themselves from their feral relatives.
People need to stop thinking they are so alike, more and more dogs are on a divergent from their ancestors. Dogs are one of the earliest animal's people have domesticated, so naturally they're going to end up being separate from wolves. The article points out also that the 'top-dog' approach is still used when training dogs, but it shouldn't be.
this is a wolf:
this is a pug:
When juxtaposed, wolves and certain dog breeds don't even look alike. Truly we as humans have almost successfully made dogs unlike wolves.
I hope everyone found the article and my response interesting.
For those of you with dogs, perhaps you should see who it likes better: the person in your home that's the 'alpha' or the most compassionate. comment with your deductions
Thank you for reading! Who let the dogs out; they drank all my milkshakes!
-Carly
