# Dominance ... a lesson



## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Here is a discussion on dominance as it pertains to humans and dogs. It's by Dr. Patricia McConnell, a certified animal behavorist and dog trainer. She is probably the person I respect more than any other in the dog world.

The Concept Formerly Described as “Dominance” TheOtherEndOfTheLeash


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

I never really thought of it much but I agree that the term "dominance" is over used with respect to dogs and dog training. Too many people seem to polarize roles as being either dominate or submissive with nothing in between. Personally, I think the social structure of a pack is much more complex than that. I also prefer the term leadership instead of dominance. Some pack members are leaders, some are followers, some are waiting their turn to be one or the other. The bottom line is that if you don't lead your dog, it will try to lead you. It needs SOMEONE to be the leader, but the leader isn't necessarily dominate in the traditional sense.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

JayJayisme said:


> I also prefer the term leadership instead of dominance. Some pack members are leaders, some are followers, some are waiting their turn to be one or the other.


In a natural wolf pack in the wild, the leaders are always the Dad and Mom of the other wolves in the pack. It's what I call the artificial packs, those made up of captive wolves thrown together by humans, that has the problems of rank within the pack.



> The bottom line is that if you don't lead your dog, it will try to lead you. It needs SOMEONE to be the leader, but the leader isn't necessarily dominate in the traditional sense.


I'm not sure one way or the other. Could be that if you don't lead, the dog drifts through life trying one thing after another and many times appearing to be dominant by human standards. In all cases, the leaderless dog will have problems interacting with the other "pack members"(humans).


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Here is a discussion on dominance as it pertains to humans and dogs. It's by Dr. Patricia McConnell, a certified animal behavorist and dog trainer. She is probably the person I respect more than any other in the dog world.
> 
> The Concept Formerly Described as “Dominance” TheOtherEndOfTheLeash


I have that book. Have not finished reading it and don't think I got to that part yet. Now I'm motivated to get back to the book and finish it! 

Thanks!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

LabbieMama said:


> I have that book. Have not finished reading it and don't think I got to that part yet. Now I'm motivated to get back to the book and finish it!
> 
> Thanks!


No, this isn't part of the book. I too have had that book for years. This is a blog entry on Trish's web page. Click the link and it will take you to it. There is quite a discussion on that blog page.


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