Exploring the
Nature of Dominance.
Dominance is defined as power and
influence over others, in ecology it’s defined as a plant or animalspecies
predominant in an area. But what does the term dominance mean when used in the
samesentence as the word dog? And why should we know about it?
Having been
hijacked and used with inaccuracy by an unfortunately fragmented area of the
dog
training
world, when we have learned better, we hear the term and shudder. This is
because
dominance has
been sold via many media outlets and their followers as the only language
that dogs
understand. The term is associated with all-sorts of odd ideas, ranging between
dogs
thinking we
are wolves and if we don’t dominate them they will dominate us. None of this is
accurate,
and yet all of it is repeated from person to person like it’s a golden truth
owned only by
those in the
know. When in reality, someone loosely puts a behaviour or even worse a
personality
down to
dominance, we can be pretty secure in the idea that they are following the hype
– as opposed
to the
facts.
The saddest thing about this is the misrepresentation of dog – who
really is man’s best friend. Dogs
are co-operators, lovers, companions and individuals. Our dogs are no
more dominant than we are.
Like us they might well go into a situation that they feel very strongly
about and thus be more
assertive than usual. Like us they might want something so badly that
they are prepared to
adapt their behaviour to make it theirs. With all of us though,
dominance really goes no further
than a conversation. Something simple like “I want this” – “well I want
it more than you do so am
prepared to fight for it” – “OK I don’t want it that much, you can have
the bloody thing”. Therein
lies an example of dominance, whether associated with a dog, a bird or a
human.
If the above scenario is regularly repeated, it becomes a habitual
behaviour – then we can call it
resource guarding. For example if my husband eyes my food on my plate –
and I threaten him
with a stern look, in that instance I’m the dominant presence over my
food. If I start worrying he’s
after my food to the point of anxiety, I’m not being dominant, I’m being
anxious. I’m resource
guarding through anxiety. When my husband has realised how much my food
on my plate means
to me, he respects that, accepts the
message and lets me eat in peace (as everyone should have the
right to do) and never approaches my plate again. That’s called
respectful, effective,
successful communication.
Labelling a
dog as dominant or a personality as dominant takes us onto dangerous ground. We
end up with
odd (and I would go so far as to say) cruel teachings such as physically
confrontational
training,
threats and the idea that all behaviour is because the dog is considered to be
pushing his
luck in the
imaginary pack. This viewpoint negates both the truth and
individuality. Dogs that are
scared,
stressed, worried, habitual and simply trying their very best to be understood
are so
much more
misunderstood when we incorporate a misuse of the term.
Yet not
using the term in the correct way leaves the people who do believe the hype, at
sea without a
paddle.
Imagine this, a well-meaning dog trainer goes along and tells a dog guardian
that dominance
doesn’t
exist at all. That it’s a myth. The guardian then sees the term dominance used
in the correct
way, and is
in the vulnerable position of trying to decipher the term - yet is given
information that
it does
exist at the same time as all the hype that doesn’t.
It’s
tempting to disregard the term dominance altogether – because of its hijack.
Yet saying
dominance
doesn’t exist is just as untrue. If we use it with accuracy, we would rarely
consider
the term
dominance part of our lives (with dogs or people) Yet we need to be
honest about it,
because not
being honest takes us into the realms of untruth too.
Dominance
isn’t a dirty word – it’s just been used in a dirty way.
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