Dominance and Submissiveness in Dogs

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." ~ Edward Hoagland

Dominant and submissive are words that are often used in relation to dogs. But there’s a big problem…these two words have a different meaning to everyone who hears them!

Much has been written and promoted in dog training circles about these two words. There are two extremes in dog trainers and how they use these two words…at one end, you have trainers that think that ALL dog behaviour has to do with status-seeking and rank behaviour. At the other end, you have trainers that think that NOTHING relating to rank or status is used by dogs on humans.

It is not logical to believe that all dog behaviour is rank/status seeking, and it is not logical to assume that a dog will ignore its inborn social programming in its interactions with humans. The reality is somewhere between those two extremes.

A dog is not "almost human" and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such. ~John Holmes

In order to truly understand relationships between dogs and people, defining the terms is necessary. Here are the two definitions in their simplest terms:

If humans wish to have safe and enjoyable pets, the human must be dominant over the dog (in other words, the human must exercise influence and control, and have power and influence over the dog). The dog must be submissive (inclined or willing to submit to the orders and wishes of the humans.) This is necessary for a number of reasons.

It’s great to have definitions of the terms dominant and submissive, but merely having the definitions does nothing to help humans learn how to create the ideal situation/relationship with their dog. In order to do that, social programming of humans and dogs must be clearly understood, because the inherent social behaviours of both species sometimes clash by giving either party the wrong idea!

Humans and dogs have genetically inherited and learned social behaviours. This means that they are born with pre-programming, and that programming is supplemented by the learning process as they grow and develop. Humans are “programmed” to have interactions with other humans. Dogs are “programmed” to have interactions with other dogs. This “programming” is really a language of social behaviour…and in many cases, human language and dog language are very different. Both humans and dogs usually learn to interpret some of each other’s language, in most homes the human is the one that needs more “language lessons” in order to be able to best manage their pet.

What is polite and acceptable in dog language can certainly be problematic when used with humans. What is polite and socially acceptable in human language can give a very different impression to the dog.

Dogs do not have verbal capability, and use primarily body language and rank structure within their social groups. It is difficult for dogs to learn to interpret verbal signals from humans, and dogs end up getting most of their information from human body language. Because human body language is so different from dog body language, dogs must learn a whole new “language” to be able to interact with humans. Fortunately, dogs do this pretty well, and can and do learn “what means what”. Unfortunately, humans rarely recognize that the dog is doing so, and often are completely unaware of how their body language and reactions are influencing the dog. Because many dogs DO learn some verbal signals, the human continues to rely on the spoken word rather than utilizing simple body language and dog-appropriate reactions to influence the dog (wasting a HUGE resource that can help manage things).

Human body language is geared toward acceptable social behaviour toward other humans, and humans mostly tend to treat their dogs as a surrogate child. This is expressed in many ways, as humans try to show their love and integrate the dog into the household as if it were a tiny human. Unfortunately, the social behaviours that humans show toward dogs are often greatly misinterpreted by the dog and actually allow him to think that the human is acting in a submissive way. This means that the dog is slowly being taught that he is the dominant member of the household…and the human usually doesn’t realize how deeply the misunderstanding is affecting how the dog behaves.

Let’s take a look at a table to show how humans treat dogs, and how dogs interpret it.

Human Language/Action	Dog Language/Interpretation of Action
Scooting over when dog jumps up on the couch. If another human wanted to sit down beside you and there wasn’t enough room, the polite thing to do would be scoot over a bit. No dominance/submissiveness is indicated by this action between humans…it’s simply polite social behaviour.	Human is submitting to dog’s wish to have space on the couch. Dogs that are dominant NEVER submit to being “moved” by lesser-ranking dogs. Higher-ranking dogs inspire reactions in lower-ranking dogs. Therefore, human is submissive to dog in dog’s mind.
Allowing free access to resources (food, toys, good sleeping spots, etc). Feeling that the dog “owns” certain things such as his bed, his toys, his spot by the window, etc. This is an attempt by the human to show love and affection for the dog in the same way they would a child…by providing resources that will entertain and provide enjoyment to the “child”. Also, humans routinely comply with requests for resources or back off when the dog demands the resource (dog grumbles when human disturbs their sleeping spot, etc).	Only the dominant dog gets free access to all resources and has “possessions.” The dominant dog has every right to defend his resources and possessions by using aggression or pushy behaviour. Therefore, the dog thinks that the human is lower in rank and submissive to him when his demands/requests are granted or when resources are freely offered/provided. Therefore, the dog thinks that the human is lower in rank and submissive to him because of the dog’s control (in his mind) of the resources.
Exercising no control over the dog’s daily activities. The dog does what he wants, when he wants. Again, this is coming from human social programming…if a child is not displaying annoying or self-dangerous behaviours, they are usually allowed to freely explore and interact with their environment. Humans just want the dog to be “happy” in the same way a human child would be happy.	Dominant dogs are allowed to do whatever they please and no control over them is exercised by the submissive dogs. Therefore, the human must be submissive, because he is exercising no control over the dog.
Allowing dog to defend “his” property…such as territorial house or yard barking, car-barking, defending human from other dogs or humans (jealousy). There is no real solid social programming in humans that corresponds to this behaviour…people defend their spouse, child and property in times of danger, but this is rare and not very necessary. Humans have no real awareness of what this dog behaviour means to the dog and often even encourage it because it makes them feel safe and even loved by the dog. Humans rarely have control over this behaviour even when they try to get it to stop.	Dogs only defend what they think belongs to them. If the human encourages these behaviours, the dog is further convinced that he is the dominant member of the household. In dog society, alarm barking is appreciated and tolerated from submissive dogs only until the dominant dog arrives to take care of the problem. If the dominant dog tells the lower-ranking dog to stop, he does. The dominant dog has responsibility for defense, not the submissive. The submissive has the right to alert the dominant dog to the problem, but then has to step out of the way of the “boss”. Therefore, humans allowing extreme territorial behaviour tells the dog that he is indeed the dominant in the household.
Sucky greetings—human arrives home and immediately makes much of the dog, cooing and stroking etc. Often these greetings are accompanied by high-pitched verbal expression “come here my darling, what a sweet dog, I missed you all day while I was at work.” This is how a human might react to a child, spouse or friend after an absence and is totally socially acceptable and a way to show love and affection between humans.	Dogs have extremely well-defined greeting behaviours within their rank system. Dominant members allow submissive members to “suck up” to them when they return to the pack and greet. Submissive dogs dance around, licking high-pitched whining, fawning and becoming excited. Therefore, when the human approaches the dog on after an absence and “sucks up” to the dog, the dog thinks that he is the dominant member.
Allowing dogs to precede or push by the human through doors of all sorts and into other environments. To humans, this is a polite gesture and means nothing in rank behaviour. Sometimes it can mean respect (such as a man opening the door for a woman) but it doesn’t mean that the door-opener is less in stature than the person going through the door.	Pushing past a fellow pack member means that the “pusher” is higher in rank than the “pushee.” If the dominant member allows a fellow pack member to proceed, it is always with direction and very plain “I am over you and I am graciously allowing you to go through,” NEVER because of rude pushing. If a lower-ranking pack member tries to push, they are disciplined immediately with ritual aggression (biting, pinning, growling, etc).
Allowing dogs to control games such as ball or Frisbee (dog retrieves ball but does not retrieve to hand, or plays keep-away). Some dogs control game by dropping ball some distance away, refusing to bring it all the way in. Owners readily comply, walk over to the ball, and throw it again.	Dog sees owner as “toy” and sees that he can readily control owner’s actions through his behaviour, further convincing him that he is the one that makes things happen in the household and is therefore dominant over the owner. The one that controls the game is the dominant party.
Owner argues/reasons with dog to get it to comply with a command. Again this is a human-to-human behaviour…and does not necessarily mean that the arguer is lesser in rank than the person they are arguing with (though sometimes it does…a king does not argue with a peasant.) When first we don’t get success, we ask again…and if we don’t get success, we try harder by pleading or arguing…normal and acceptable human/human social behaviour.	Conflicts between dogs do not occur unless they are equal or very close to equal in rank. Simply by participating in an “argument,” the human owner is telling the dog that they are potentially going to win, and that their status is equal to or higher. Dogs that are dominant do not argue with lower-ranked dogs…a lower-ranked dog wouldn’t normally think of arguing in the first place. They just comply. Or they get the crap kicked out of them for even thinking about it!
Owner allows dog to dictate when he gets up, when he goes outside, and when he gets petted. If owner wants dog to do these things, owner “bribes” or “begs” dog . If the owner wants a dog to do something, and the dog does not want to, the owner gives way, not wanting to make the dog “unhappy” or “sad.”	Dominant dogs do whatever they want, when they want, and are “asked” by lesser-ranking dogs for permission to do things. If the dog does not want to be handled and moves away, and the owner out of “politeness” allows it, the dog learns that he is in control. Lesser-ranking dogs often “beg” the dominant for resources or “ask” for things such as “can I please sleep here” or “are you done with that bone?” Dominant dogs never ask…lesser-ranking dogs simply give way. So an owner “giving way” or “begging” tells a dog that the owner is submissive.
Human allows dog to constantly lick (other than on the chin in greeting times). Human often thinks the dog is "grooming" them and "is showing love."	Mother dogs groom their (lower ranking) puppies.
Humans allow dogs to initiate play-mouthing (wrestling, horsing around) and often have trouble making dog stop.	Dogs jaw-wrestle with other dogs of different ranks, but the higher-ranking dog always has control of the game.

The examples above are but a drop in the bucket to show how many small actions by humans can add up to a dog thinking he is the dominant member of the household. When you think about the larger picture, and add in the spouse, children and all humans that come through the house and react to the dog in these ways, you can see why it would be easy for a dog to think that he is a dominant animal in the dog/human society. If he truly thinks that, owners of such a dog will see many (if not all) of the following behaviours.

The most common complaints of dog owners are that the dog is generally difficult to control, does not inhibit excitement when told, and just generally does what he pleases (and some of the things he does are bothering the people badly). Many dog owners have seen aggression that is what they consider inappropriate, either to outside people or within the family. Unfortunately, many dog trainers or obedience instructors focus on extinguishing the behaviours that are bothering the family...such as, stop the barking, stop the chewing, teach the dog to sit instead of jumping up, etc. In some cases, this is adequate and produces a by-product of the dog recognizing who is in control (which makes him much, much easier to handle). However, better results can be obtained with the recognition that dogs DO use rank and status programming to decide how they will behave. We cannot ignore the fact that if the dog thinks he's in charge, he will act as though he is...in dog language, of course!

When a dog wants to hang out the "Do Not Disturb" sign, as all of us do now and then, he is regarded as a traitor to his species. ~Ramona C. Albert

But how to change things? Many folks, when told about all the things they are doing that are adding to their problem with the dog, express dismay and even sadness. “But how can I stop doing that stuff? He’s my baby! I don’t want him to think I don’t love him!”

The answer is, owners can still express affection and enjoy their pet. They can even allow him to sleep on the bed and get up on the couch and sit on their laps. He can still have ball games and free runs and toys to play with and bones to chew. But there is ONE BIG CHANGE that must be made, a simple change that doesn’t require harshness or meanness or stopping the flow of love between a dog and his owner…the dog must perceive that the owner is in control of all things in his life.

Fortunately, this is easy to do, and doesn’t require any special skills other than consistency.

In all parts of the program, you may pet, pay attention to, and grant your dog the same privileges he is enjoying now…it’s just that he must understand that he is NOT the dominant figure in your home, YOU are. The program should not change the time it takes to deal with your dog. It’s just a slight change in HOW you are doing it. The first two weeks can be a bit of a pain in the butt until the dog settles into the routine, but usually after a few days things calm down and the human has an easy job. Whether you are an owner that has seen aggression in your dog, or an owner that is simply frustrated by your lack of control, this program should improve things for both you and your dog. If you start this program with a very young dog, problems such as aggression and wild, uninhibited behaviour usually do not present themselves.

Dogs that behave badly often end up re-homed or put to sleep. Some people look at the program above and think it’s harsh to the dog or not fair, because a HUMAN certainly wouldn’t like it. But there is one hard fact that is absolutely true. Dogs are under our control and we are the reason they live or die. We must adequately care for them so they can live alongside us in harmony. The ultimate cruelty for a human to impose on a dog is to inadequately manage his nature, and then kill him when he cannot fit into society. Proper husbandry and management are the kindest things pet owners can give to their beloved pet...a pet that is not a child, but a DOG, with all the beautiful inner workings and instinct and qualities that made him attractive to humans way back when we were all still sitting around fires and wearing loincloths.

Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. ~ Snoopy

Respect his nature, love him for what he is, and provide him with an environment that he can truly understand. He will love you back as only a dog can love; deeply, truly, in his very doggy way.

Dominance, Submissiveness, and Dog/Human Relationships