SECARE-What is a Pack?

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What is a Pack?...

Dogs are social animals. They like to live in families. If you look at the structure of a dog pack, you can see many similarities between the dog society and the people society.

In the structure of a dog pack, you will usually find two leaders--one male and one female. They are the alpha male and alpha female. These are the only two that produce puppies within the pack. The rest of the pack is there for the purpose of supporting the pack and its agenda--surviving and producing the next generation.

For this purpose, Nature has provided the means to produce the structure of this society. Only a handful of dogs are born to be alphas; the rest are born to be supporters and followers. Most dogs are born and designed by nature to be a follower. Even dogs that show signs of dominance are not necessarily born leaders. In the wild, not all canines become alpha males or females, although many will try. They just don't all have the right stuff.

This is something very important for people to understand about dog nature. Nature has programmed them that someone has to be in charge. If there is no one around to take charge, then Nature tells them that they must try. Sometimes with disastrous results. An animal that is not born to be a leader will have great difficulties when forced to step into that role. Their mental and genetic makeup is such that they are not prepared to take on the stress of being an alpha.

This is why it's important for people to step into the role of alpha--all people must be seen as alpha for a dog. Some dogs understand their place right away and others might try to fight it. With a dominant dog, it just takes a little more time, patience and stubbornness to get the message across. They must submit to people. When people are in control, dogs will actually be happier and more content and more obedient when their role in the family is clearly defined. Most behavioral problems stem in some way from a confusion of the dog's place in the family. Most dogs can be disciplined (I am not talking about punishment, but personal discipline) from normal training, but when a dog has deeper issues, a trainer with an understanding of dog behavior will be of much more benefit to the training process.

In the pack, everyone contributes to the welfare and continuation of the pack. And every subordinate is answerable to the leaders, and does nothing without the permission of the alphas. Keep this in mind when interacting with your dog. This will produce a well-mannered dog if people would keep this in mind. Dogs do not jump wildly around the leaders, they submissively ask. As a leader, it is essential that you also require those good manners. The dog must ask quietly (sit still and calmly) by the front door in order to ask permission to go out the door. The dog must ask quietly for permission to receive their food bowl. The dog must ask quietly for permission to receive affection. The dog must ask quietly for permission to jump up on the couch or chair or bed. The dog must ask quietly for permission to jump up on a person to say hello. Only a leader can do any of these things without permission. Without this permission in its life, you've seen many out-of-control dogs that do all of these things and it's a chaotic circus to see these situations. This is because these dogs are rewarded (a pat on the head or excited talk) for their behavior and it encourages them to continue in that behavior. As a leader, you must require, encourage and reward the proper behavior. Dogs that have the proper personal discipline are much more content dogs. When done right and not done in a punishing fashion, these dogs are not only content but secure because they know their place in the family.

Exercise is also an important part of the pack. The pack leaders will take the dogs are structured, focused walks--travelling for miles. The purpose of this is to reinforce the family structure. There may also be some searching for food and checking territory. But the main point of this is to remind everyone of their placement in the pack and for leaders to reconfirm their role as alphas. This also uses up a great deal of energy that might otherwise be destructive. Unused energy in dogs can become destructive. It's important that the dog owner take the dog for focused walks as well. Not fun, sniff here and there walks, but purposeful walks intended to drain excess energy. Once that is accomplished, then the fun part of the walk can begin. During this purposeful walk, all dogs keep their attention on the leaders. Because dogs read body language at an instinctive level, it's important that leaders project the proper body language. Alpha dogs in packs are always confident and competent. This is important to the other dogs in the pack because their emotional state is a direct reflection of the leaders.

This is why wild dogs domesticated so easily into human society. Our societal structures are so similar. They worked alongside the humans and played alongside them. In the deepest level of what it is to be canine, the dog understood the human society. And joined it. And humans developed the dog to fit specific needs. This allowed the dogs to become more deeply entrenched into a societal structure they understood. Where everyone works and everyone plays and everyone knows their position in the family.

For this reason, it is important to understand dog behavior and what it is they need to be content, healthy and personally disciplined.

Understand the needs of the breed you are looking at. Most breeds developed as working dogs--they had a job. You have to be prepared to meet the needs of that job. Some dogs will need to be physically challenged or mentally challenged. Some need to herd. Some need to track. Some need to dig and find. Some need to protect. Some need to run. And some need to sit pretty on your lap. There are breeds that were bred strictly for companionship. They need the attention of people.

Dogs, for thousands of years have been companions and allies of people. We worked together, played together and lived together. Whether or not in harmony depends on the leaders or alphas. For the sake of harmony in your home, the humans must be the leaders.

This is the opinion of this writer only and is based on observation and my own research.

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