Dominance Theory and Dog Training

I have noticed that a lot of people seem to subscribe to dominance theory when training their dogs. I used to believe in this theory, but after interacting with a large number of dogs through rescue, watching dogs interact with each other, learning how to train and work successfully with my own dog who is fear aggressive, and learning and reading all I can on dog behavior, it seems to me that dominance theory is simply, well, inapplicable.

First, what I have seen when observing dog-dog interactions is that dogs do not have hierarchies nor do they vie for dominance with each other. How a dog interacts with others is based on its breed (some breeds are more scrappy than others, such as terriers), whether or not it was responsibly bred, training, socialization and innate personality. And, in a basic sense, these things also dictate how a dog will interact with humans. Dogs do not want to dominate humans, they just want to do what they want to do, and humans much teach them self control and good behavior.

I have included some links for those interested in reading.

"Using Dominance Theory to Explain Dog Behavior is Old Hat"
http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2009/6361.html

"Moving Beyond the Dominance Myth" (PDF document)
http://www.4pawsu.com/MOVING%20BEYON...NCE%20MYTH.pdf

"Whatever happened to the term Alpha Wolf" (PDF Document, posits that wolf packs are just family groups, not organized with a top wolf or pair of wolves.)
http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwma.../alphawolf.pdf

"Debunking Dominance Theory in Dogs"
http://dog-training.suite101.com/art...theory_in_dogs

"Are Dogs Pack Animals?"
http://www.jeandonaldson.com/jeans-b...s-pack-animals

I hope you all find these articles interesting. Please lets keep this discussion civil and to the point, thanks.

Many people believe in this theory, especially when you get into the world of guardian breeds and mastiff types. I recall one thread where a person posted about alpha rolling their Cane Corso and how he struggled and peed all over her; this thread was viewed as an amusing training anecdote by the others on the forum. Some might say "well with those breeds you need to be tough!" But I know a woman who was raised three Fila Brasiliero (probably one of the most hard core breeds on the planet) and has done so quite successfully without using any of these techniques.

Because I have never observed a clear hierarchy in dogs, myself. As an example, I will use an experience I had petsitting for three huskies, and four horses. Horses definitely have a clear hierarchy in their herd. I have to feed them all in a certain order or risk ticked off horses. Once I fed them in the wrong order (before I realized that this was so important), and the gelding who was at the top of the pecking order put his ears back flat and gave me the nastiest look I've ever received from a horse in my life. And when he was done with his food he would attempt to take food from the others, and they would MOVE, posthaste, out of his way. He was KING and they dared not challenge this.

Now, we look at the dogs. They were two males and a female, (all fixed). They didn't care what order I fed them in as long as they got food. And you talk of walking in the door first, that is more about teaching your dog manners than being a leader. These huskies had a nice fenced in area to hang out in all day, and would come in the back door at night for a little while to hang out with me inside. There was no particular dog that would come in first always, it was just the dog who happened to be at the door first. (Typically it was the smaller male because he was much less independent and more human oriented than the other two). Some might say, well maybe the smaller male is alpha! But, sometimes the smaller male would try to mount the female and get corrected. This might make one think the female is then "alpha".

If dogs had a set hierarchy, wouldn't they care as much as the horses who got fed first (notwithstanding the fact that horses are gluttons)? And wouldn't there be a dog that always came inside the house first? Can you see how it is actually rather muddied when you try to work it all out? What I see is three animals interacting with each other in a social group, and none of them vying for "top dog".

But if you read the article I posted in the OP titled "Whatever Happened to the Term Alpha Wolf?" (which is on the website Wolf.org, the formost web authority on wolves), this view has changed.

From the article:
"Rather than viewing a wolf pack as a group of animals organized with a “top dog†that fought its way to the top, or a male-female pair of such aggressive
wolves, science has come to understand that most wolf packs are merely
family groups formed exactly the same way as human families are
formed. That is, maturing male and female wolves from different packs
disperse, travel around until they find each other and an area vacant of
other wolves but with adequate prey, court, mate, and produce their own
litter of pups."

And this, from same article (both on page 2):
"The parents then automatically fall into the leadership role
in the pack as they guide the pups throughout their territory. This leadership
role, however, does not involve anyone fighting to the top of the
group, because just like in a human family, the youngsters naturally
follow their parents’ lead."

And if you read the brief article by Jean Donaldson, there is a question as to whether the domesticated dog is a "pack animal" at all. If you look at large populations of free ranging or "pariah" dogs in other countries such as Romania and India, these dogs do not pack up. They may be brought together by a food source or a female in heat, but otherwise they pretty much wander around by themselves.