by Lee Charles Kelley

Created on: May 29, 2009   Last Updated: May 30, 2009

Since there's no such thing as a pack leader in nature it would be impossible for any dog to view any trainer, or even another dog as a pack leader. The idea of the pack leader is a complete myth, which originated in the 1930s in Germany by a Nazi biologist who had never actually observed the behaviors of wild wolves when he developed his theories. His Nazi leanings, which made him an avid fan of Hitler in particular and totalitarianism in general, colored his thinking. No wonder he saw the wolf pack as being run by a "strong leader!" That was his entire world view at the time. The idea of the pack leader has been thoroughly disproven and discredited by thousands upon thousands of hours of research on wild wolf behavior done in the last 40 years.

Here are some facts about actual wild wolf behavior:

No wolf always walks ahead of the group when they're traveling. They take turns. That's a fact.

No wolf always eats before other members of the group. That's a fact.

No wolf always goes through an opening or crosses a threshold before other members of the group. That's a fact.

No wolf ever puts one of his packmates in an alpha roll. That's a fact.

No wolf tells his packmates how to behave. That's a fact.

Dominance displays are rare in wild wolf packs and usually only take place between the mother and father over how to disburse food to their young. The female almost always wins these battles by acting "submissive," which would mean she's supposedly subservient to the male, when she's actually almost always victorious.

These are all facts. And here's what they all add up to:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PACK LEADER.

Yes, it's true that in any animal group there will be one member who is more experienced, more knowledgeable, and who has more animal magnetism than the others. And most members of the group will tend to be drawn to or gravitate toward that animal. But animal magnetism-which is felt on a visceral level-is something quite different from rank, leadership, and authority-which are almost purely mental constructs.

There's another factor. In wolf packs it was long believed that the alpha or leadership role changes hands during the hunt. We now know, through the principles of emergence theory, that the reason this seems to happen is simply because one member of the pack will have a better skill set for a certain type of terrain at some point during the hunt, or another wolf may have more emotional flexibility for adjusting to the changes in the prey

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>