THE MYTH OF THE ALPHA/DOMINANCE

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First of all, people, let’s get something straight: wolves and dogs are NOT the same. Dogs self-domesticated from a now-extinct species of wolf between 19,000 and 32,000 year ago! In other words, a long time...

Wolves are actually shy and less responsive to human body language than we are. So who started this whole alpha idea anyway?

It all started in 1947 with a paper (by Rudolph Schenkel) based on observing wolves in captivity. The wolves were forced to live together (kind of like MTV's The Real World), which is something that doesn't happen in the wild.  In the paper, he wrote that wolves fight within a pack to gain dominance, and the winner is the “alpha wolf.” 

However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack. In other words they are merely breeders, or parents, and that’s all we call them today: the 'breeding male,' 'breeding female,' or 'male parent,' 'female parent,' or the 'adult male' or 'adult female.'" 

Dominance is not a personality trait. It is situational, individual, and related to competing over a specific resource (e.g., food, a toy, etc.). Fighting usually only happens if the resource is of equal value to both individuals; otherwise there is deference.

So much for "pack theory." The bottom line is that I am not trying to take over the house (I can't afford the mortgage...)

https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dominance_Position_Statement_download-10-3-14.pdf