Doggie Dominatrix

Dominance...once the buzzword of popular dog training; it was both the cause and the solution for all canine behaviour problems. The theory was born from 1940’s wolf pack research* and a general lack of understanding dog behaviour. The basic concept was that if a dog misbehaved, regardless of the reason, the owner was not the leader of the pack. The popularity of “Dominance Theory” stemmed from fear propaganda- without proper control, dogs would eventually organize a mutiny against their owners-like Animal Farm run amok. To control these scheming, wild beasts (a.k.a. Pet Dogs) aggressive and forceful physical corrections to "establish dominance" over the dog were recommended. An owner using an “Alpha Roll” on their dog is an example of this type of forceful training.

The bad news for dominance theory started when researchers studying wolves and wolf-dogs (also called wolf hybrids) quickly learned that wolves get seriously irked when handled aggressively by humans. Aggressive physical corrections forced dogs to choose between survival and surrender. Survival dogs fought back and their aggression escalated as they “fought for their lives.” On the other end of the spectrum, surrender dogs gave up quickly, and to cope with the fear, they disconnected from the handler and their experience. Translation: you can’t whip your dog into shape without destroying the essence of who the dog is, and could have been, in the process.

The truth is that a misbehaving dog is not a dominant dog, it’s an untrained dog. There is no shortage of humane ways to teach dogs how to respect clear rules and limitations. Healthy human relationships do not involve force or intimidation tactics. The same holds true for our lives with dogs. The majority of dogs will not look for ways to control a situation if they are raised with consistent and fair boundaries.

The moral of the story: If you want to be a dominatrix, keep it in the bedroom and out of the dog house.

*The original 1940’s wolf studies were flawed. They were captive wolves from different wolf packs, creating an unnatural and unstable social dynamic. These manmade circumstances provided the researchers with skewed and grossly inaccurate views of normal wolf pack behaviour.