The Dog Trainers Diary

3 Common Misconceptions in Dogs 

1. “All dogs should love other dogs” 

Like people, not all dogs are social butterflies. Some are dog-neutral or some are dog-selective and that’s ok! If you see someone out walking their dog and you have your dog with you, it’s always polite to ask if their dog is friendly. Now this does play into my previous article about socialization and socializing. If you have a really excitable dog, that is not the time to meet new dogs. This behavior can come off as really forward and too much stimulation for the other party and sometimes that’s how dog fights can happen. Neutrality is where you want when meeting new friends then from there they can go crazy. 

2. “If a dog wags its tail, it’s happy” 

Not always true. Tail wagging can signal excitement, nervousness, arousal, or even aggression. You have to look at the whole body and context. Dogs give off so much information all the time and we typically miss 80% of what they are actually saying. If your dog sees another dog and its tail is wagging super high up in the air, they are really concerned about the situation. If their tail is wagging super low almost between their legs, they are super worried or nervous about the situation, but can also change depending on the dog. Look into what their face and ears are saying, what about the rest of their body? 

3. “My dog is dominant, that’s why it’s misbehaves” 

The dominance theory (or more commonly known as alpha theory) is outdated. Most behavior stems from lack of training, fear, insecurity, or unmet needs—not an alpha power struggle. Now don’t get confused with a submissive or dominant dog. That usually stems from either a lot of confidence and genetics or nervousness and low confidence. Dr. David Mech – Wildlife Biologist & Wolf Researcher. He was one of the scientists whose early work on captive wolf packs helped spark the dominance/alpha theory. BUT: His early studies were on unrelated wolves in captivity, which created artificial hierarchies and conflicts. Later, after studying wolves in the wild for decades, he retracted the idea of rigid dominance hierarchies in natural wolf packs. He publicly stated: “The concept of the alpha wolf is outdated. In natural wolf packs, the social structure is more like a family — the ‘alpha’ is simply the parent.”Source: Mech, D. L. (1999). Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs. Canadian Journal of Zoology. He even made a video titled: “Alpha Wolf: Fact or Fiction?” explaining why the model was flawed.

Thanks for reading! If any of these tips or news articles have helped you in anyway or if you would like some more help please contact Bels Dog Training @ 801-589-2735. See you in the
next one!