Pack Dynamics

Dog talk is easiest to see or read in it's natural state, the pack. Dogs are pack animals just like wolves, and they respond naturally into LAW OF THE PACK existence.

Living with a large group of German Shepherds at my home gives me a first-hand look at behavior that closely resembles that of wolf packs. It is quite routine for a five month old pup meeting an adult older female, to exhibit submission/dominance behavior. A mother disciplining her pups is teaching them a proper respect for authority. These and many other behaviors point back to a common ancestral past with wolves, and knowing this helps us to understand why dogs behave this way.

Wolf packs do not hold together automatically. Since wolves are meat eaters they must hunt to survive. A great deal of cooperation must exist for the pack to achieve its food requirement. Most wolf prey (deer, elk, moose, caribou, and reindeer) is too large for a single wolf to bring down, and it requires a strategic and coordinated plan of attack by a number of them. This necessitates refined communication as well as a tight social structure, wherein each member knows its' proper role. This is why leadership is so important for wolves.

Every pack has a pair of leaders, an Alpha male and an Alpha female. This pair is dominant over the other members of the pack, each over their particular sex. Generally, but not always, the Alpha male is dominant over the whole pack and is responsible for governing and directing pack activities such as traveling, hunting, feeding and sleeping. His firm dominance preserves order by eliciting submission and respect from subordinate pack members. They show this by using appropriate deferential body language. Underneath the Alpha wolf there is a loose dominance hierarchy into which each pack member fits with a particular spot and role. This structure is always changing, i.e. whenever a younger wolf matures, an older wolf gets sick or is injured, and with the onset of mating season. Wolves are always striving to achieve the highest position within the pack.

Wolves are always testing higher ranking wolves until the question of rank is settled. In order to preserve or increase position in the pack, the individual wolf must constantly assert itself by fending off upstarts or challenging the next rung in the pack hierarchy.

You might suspect that this kind of social tension would set the stage for many fights. Surprisingly, actual fights among wolves are infrequent. Challenges are usually settled ritually, without a fight, since submission postures are enough to end the dispute. Should a lesser ranking wolf challenge the Alpha, the Alpha wolf may threaten the upstart by posturing in an aggressive, dominant manner, growling and staring directly at the upstart. By staring down the youngster he is able to get it to back down without an all out fight.

Interestingly it appears that wolf packs are stronger, more secure and smoother running, precisely to the extent that the Alpha is secure and confident in his leadership role, for such dominance inspires fewer challenges. It is when there is no clear authority within the pack, as when leadership changes, that the pack is unstable and may break up. Packs work best when there is a clear and concise leadership and this is just as true with you and your pup.

Dominance and submission are absolutely central to pack life and are taught to wolf puppies from the very start. I see this with my own dogs at home. The mother of the puppies disciplines her pups at weaning. She growls, snaps, and pins her pups to the floor when they try and nurse. The pups learn to respond with submission posture and direct their oral attention toward the mother's mouth, which in turns provokes her regurgitation of partially digested food. As the pups get older, this behavior evolves into an expression of active submission given at greeting.

The older wolves help rear the pups both by feeding and by disciplining. Correction is kept basically good natured, the pups do not fear their elders but always try to be near them. This balance, a blend of leniency and instructive discipline, is a trait of the way wolves raise their pups. Puppies are presumptuous, taking liberties with adults that would never be tolerated in an older pack member. They playfully wrestle and grab their elders around the muzzle, mouthing and biting them. Every once in a while, this provokes a well timed response of dominance; with the elder grabbing the pups muzzle and pinning it to the ground (note this is not done in anger). The purpose of this expression of dominance is only to educate, to guide the pup in the ways of canine etiquette. It teaches them the vital art of submission.

Just because your pup or dog doesn't live in a pack (with other dogs) does not mean he/she will not instinctively adapt these behaviors in the new "pack" (your family home). I assure you he/she will. Living with your puppy will be much more meaningful if you understand the basic principles of pack life and how it applies to you and your family.

Establishing Leadership Of The Pack

While we all agree dogs are highly intelligent there is one fact alone they can not master our language and communicate to us in our way of talking.

But we can if we listen closely understand what dogs are saying, by watching their body language. But we have to have an open mind and understanding how dogs think and act. Even thou we as humans can talk in a range of languages our beloved pets can never master this. But the good news is that dogs all talk in a universal tongue. It is a silent and powerful language that all dogs understand. It is up to us to interpret the meaning. Once the owner understands how dog think and communicate then it is all down hill from there.

The foundation of all dog understanding is that they do not understand or comprehend democracy that we hold so dear to our hearts. But instead they understand and want a dictatorship where the smartest, strongest, bravest and over all best is the leader of the pack. And being in the pack goes back centuries to the wolf pack where they once came from. Even thou we no longer have that little wolf in our home thru 100’s years of breeding we have developed a type of dog that us, as humans wants. But they are still of the pack and understand the pack rule. The best, strongest, bravest, and smartest is the ruler and they dictate all behavior, every facet of their lives is controlled by the Alphas. Where to eat, what to eat, when to hunt, where to hunt, who is to breed, where to go, and who is to protect. The leaders control all of this, and the lesser dogs understand this and want this leadership. Most behavioral problems is due to one fact. Out side of bad breeding and temperament. The dog has gain control over the pack and does not know how or is totally over whelmed to this responsibility.

So it is our job to listen to our dogs, and talk to them in their language so they know what we want, and visa versa.

Being the Alpha

I like to call this just being, all dog communication is done threw body language and the Alphas believe they are so Alpha that there is no doubt. They just are, they believe, they act, they stand, they are the leader. Their confidences tell all in the pack who the leader is and there is no arguments. They walk tall, they walk thru all other dogs, The lesser dogs part like the Red Sea when they come into a room. But very important to note that they are not pushy or flamboyant about this role. It is very quite, if you did not know any different they would look like they were not there. They just are!

But being the Alpha is not that tough to be, it is just a state of being like I have said. And there are several tools I will give you to help you to be and stay the Alpha.

It is being the leader like I stated above, this means attitude that you have over the dog. It does not mean, hitting, kicking, yelling or pushing the dog. It is a subtle demeanor that tells the dog that you are in charge. And you use your control methods to reinforce his behavior. Such as sit, downs, heel, stay, and other obedience methods.

Being the protector of the dog in strange situations. The Alphas are the ones responsible for the safety of the pack. So as the leader you must be on the look out for situations that would be considered a threat. So before your dog can react to this threat, as the protector YOU MUST dictate to the dog that his help is not needed that your in charge not him. Stopping a dog from reacting is a lot easier to do before they act out physically and are only thinking about it. So when you have company come over, you let the dog know that his barking to let you know that a intruder has arrived. As the sentry I will thank the dog, but his continue barking is not necessary and you will now take charge and you are in control. Have the friend come into your home calm relax and confidant and to ignore the dog. Acknowledge his alertness but do not allow it to go farther. If your dog is more aggressive you may need to put him up for a bit, so you can introduce the dog after things calm down. Having the company ignoring (see the five minute rule) your dog, is telling your dog that they are over him, and with you being the calm, not yelling leader will telepath to him that your in charge not him.

When out on walks and a person is coming up to you, and the dog is about to go into alert you will take the lead and correct any undesirable behavioral that is happening. You will do this by directing his attention on to you, telling him what you don’t want and what you do want. Example is, Dog see’s threat, he is starting or thinking about reacting. You will call dogs name out loudly but calmly, Duke, then if he is not behaving you will say, NO! Then say Heel, or sit, or watch. Redirect his attention to something you want him to do. Most important tell him he did good when he does look up at you, when he does heel, or sit. Such as Good sit! Good heel! Good friend! Good watch! Make your voice happy and upbeat and very pleasant to him for the reward. I like to also use tons of treats with my dogs, and I use a lot of them. So when your going to be out with your dog have your treats with you to help reinforce the good behavior. The treats should always be small, juicy, and moist that way he can swallow it quickly and go on to the next lesson. I personally like chicken, hotdogs or string cheese for his treat.

The re-greeting ritual When dogs in a pack come back together after a hunt or exploring they have this very unique re-greeting ritual. It is reestablishing who is in charge and that they are safe and all is well. But the Alphas do not do the greeting it is the underlings that do all the greeting and the Alphas ignore the lesser dogs of the pack. This is telling them that they are still in charge and to let business be as usual. The problem with us humans when we leave to take out the garbage or go to work. Is that the dog does not know if or when we will come back. So this ritual is very important to them. But we miss-understand the rules or language they are asking us. We think of it as (oh my gosh your back I missed you so much) instead of what it really is. The re-greeting of the pack coming back together. And instead of being the boss or Alpha we put our self’s into the lesser dog by doing most of the greeting. We are saying to the dog, we missed you, and we accept you as the leader since we are paying attention to you. So the dog is getting mixed signals to what is excepted from us. What we should be doing is ignoring the dog to reestablish that we are the boss or Alpha dog in the pack. Which in turns allows the dog to relax and be a member of the pack not the leader which he is most happy to do so. So the rule to follow is, when you come home, you ignore your dog as he is acting up to get your attention. You do not make eye contact, you do not say hello or even to touch him. You are to not see your dog at all. When he has totally calmed down and goes to lay down wait five minutes and then call him to you to greet him on your terms. Same goes for when your in your chair of busy, and your dogs comes to get attention from you. He is saying to you! Hey I am the boss here acknowledge me as the boss. It is when we accept this, that we are saying in return I accept you as the Alpha. What you do is to totally ignore him, you become limp in your attitude and demeanor. You make no eye contact, or hand touching at all. You will decide when you will reestablish contact with him. It is up to you to be the Alpha and not him, when he has gone and lain down wait five minutes and then call him to you and start the play time with him. But do not allow him to tell you when to play or what to do.

Meal Times

The Alphas are reasonable for the meals and food requirements of the pack. They are the ones that plan the hunt, organize the hunt and what they hunt. And since they have to be the healthiest of the pack they eat first. Dogs understand this language of the pack. I have know this a long time but I do have a problem with feeding my dogs after we eat dinner as we eat so late. So what to do instead is prepare the meal for the dog as usual. Then right before you feed him, take out a cracker and put it in his bowl let him see you take it out and eat it over his bowl make a big deal over this. This is communicating to your dog to that you’re the Alpha and deserve and earn his respect as his leader. He will understand this subtle language and will follow you willingly. So no matter how often you feed your dog, you must eat before him to telegraph to him that you’re the boss and not him. Not to mention your dog has a better chance of not getting bloat if he eats at least twice a day instead of once a day or all day free feeding. He must learn that the food comes from you, that you’re the supplier of his meals.

Bye doing all of these things plus training your dog obedience commands, you are communicating to your dog that you’re the Alpha and that will make a most happy companion and canine friend.

MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE LIKE A GSD.