Do dogs view humans as members of the pack? Part 2: SOCIAL DOMINANCE IN WOLF PACKS
Many believe that since dogs are in someway related to wolves, they have a natural “instinct” to use aggression to become ‘alpha’ over all individuals in their pack. With dogs, the human family is considered equivalent to a wolf pack. Turns out, this belief about wolves isn’t true at all! Back in the 1970s when the idea of ‘alpha’ and ‘beta’ wolves became popular, the research was done on a group of unrelated captive wolves forced to form an artificial pack. As scientists gathered more information, they found that wild wolf packs consist of the breeding male and female and their offspring. Since we are unable to give birth to dogs, thank goodness, it is unlikely that dogs see us as their pack and they definitely are not trying to dominate us.
Below is a video of the world’s leading authority on wolf behavior, Dr. David Mech. See what he has to say about the concept of social dominance in wolves.
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