A Reintroduction to Dog Listening
When I saw my dogs attacking each other with such force after Sasha’s death, I was witnessing a ritual that dates back thousands of years. It was around 12,000 BC that the modern dog, Canis familiaris, evolved from its ancient ancestor, Canis lupus, the wolf. In the centuries that have followed, the two animals have followed entirely different evolutionary paths. While the wolf has remained, to all intents and purposes, the same animal, the dog has multiplied into myriad breeds. While the wolf has remained in the wild, the dog has been domesticated. And while the wolf’s life remains rooted within the same social environment – the pack – the modern dog has become integrated into human society, often living in isolation from other members of its species. On the surface, then, it may appear that the two have very little in common today. Nothing could be further from the truth.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, our knowledge of our ancient Homo sapiens cousins deepens almost daily. Rather than fading with time, our understanding of their physiology and psychology seems to loom into focus more and more. And, as this happens, so science is growing increasingly certain that much of modern human behaviour remains rooted in this Stone-Age past. Many of our most basic instincts, from our mating rituals to our attitude to other tribes, date back to the cave-dwelling experience of our ancestors. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense. In the great scheme of things, we have existed on this planet for barely any time at all. If the lifetime of the earth is a single day, man’s time on the planet amounts to barely a few minutes. Our circumstances and surroundings may have changed rapidly, but our brains – and therefore our fundamental natures – have hardly evolved from those times. If this is the case with humans, then it makes sense to assume it applies equally – if not even more strongly – to our closest companions in the animal world, dogs.
When the wolf, Canis lupus, integrated itself into human society, the two species formed a unique partnership. Their relationship was so special that burial chambers have been unearthed containing the skeletons of men and dogs buried alongside each other. Both were hunter-gatherers, both were communal. Both understood instinctively that survival was dependent on the power of the pack. Since then, this new strain of wolf, Canis familiaris, has evolved into a multitude of breeds. Just as the roots of the entire European population can supposedly be traced to seven women, so every dog – from the Pekinese to the Saluki, the Akita to the Alaskan husky – has a bloodline that leads back to the first domesticated dogs. At the same time, the remarkably close, instinctive relationship ancient man had with the dog has deteriorated and all but disappeared.
If we accept that Canis familiaris’ basic programming remains much the same as it was when it first left its wolf-pack environment, it is not difficult to understand the forces that mould a modern dog’s behaviour. The dog may have been taken out of the wolf pack, but the wolf pack can never be taken out of the dog.
To understand the way the modern dog views its world, we must therefore begin by looking at the society from which it first emerged and evolved: the wolf pack. For the wolf, the most powerful instincts are survival and reproduction. Driven by these instincts, the species has evolved a hierarchical system as strict and successful as any in the animal world. Every wolf pack is made up of leaders and subordinates, and at the head of every pack’s pecking order are the ultimate rulers, the Alpha pair.
As the strongest, healthiest, most intelligent and most experienced members of the pack, it is the Alpha pair’s job to ensure the pack’s survival. As a result, they dominate and dictate everything the pack does, and their status is maintained by consistent displays of authority. Underlining this, the Alpha pair are the only members of the pack who breed, thus ensuring only the healthiest genes survive. They are, in effect, twin dictators. They control and direct life within the pack, and the remainder of the pack accepts that rule unfailingly. Each subordinate member is content to know its place and function within this pecking order. Each lives happily in the knowledge that it has a vital role to play in the overall wellbeing of the pack.
The hierarchy of the pack is constantly reinforced through the use of highly ritualised behaviour. The ever-changing nature of pack life, in which Alphas and their subordinates are frequently killed or replaced through age, makes this essential. As far as the wolf’s modern-day descendants are concerned, however, four main rituals hold the key to the pack instinct that lives on within them. They are central to my method.
THE FOUR RITUALS
1 The first key ritual is performed whenever a pack is reunited after being apart. As the pack reassembles, the Alpha pair remove any confusion by reasserting their dominance via clear signals to the rest of the pack. The pair have their own personal space, a comfort zone, within which they operate. No other wolf is allowed to encroach on this space unless invited to do so. By rejecting or accepting the attention of other members who wish to enter their space, the Alpha pair re-establish their primacy in the pack – without ever resorting to cruelty or violence.
2 When a kill has been made by the pack, the Alpha pair get absolute precedence when it comes to eating the carrion; the pack’s survival depends on their remaining in peak physical condition. Only when they are satisfied and signal their feed is over will the rest of the pack be permitted to eat – and then according to the strict pecking order, with the senior subordinates feasting first and the juniors last. Back at the camp, the pups and ‘babysitters’ will be fed by the hunters regurgitating their food. The order is absolute and unbreakable. A wolf will act aggressively towards any animal that attempts to eat before it. Despite the fact that the pack contains its blood relatives, an Alpha will attack any wolf that breaks with protocol and dares to jump the queue.
3 The Alpha pair repay the respect the pack bestows upon them with total responsibility for its welfare. Whenever danger threatens, it is the role of the Alpha pair to protect the pack. This is the third situation in which the natural order of the pack is underlined. The Alpha pair perform their leadership role unblinkingly, and from the front. They will react to danger in one of three ways, selecting one of the ‘three Fs’: flight, freeze or fight. Accordingly, they will run away, ignore the threat or defend themselves. Whichever response the Alpha pair select, the pack will again back up their leaders to the hilt.
4 Inevitably, the Alpha pair are at their most dominant during the hunt. Food, after all, represents the pack’s most fundamental need; its very survival depends on it. As the strongest, most experienced and intelligent members of the pack, the Alpha pair take the lead during the search for new hunting grounds. When prey is spotted, they lead the chase and direct the kill. The Alphas’ status as the pack’s key decision-makers is never more in evidence than during this process. The wolf’s prey can range from mice to buffalo. A pack may spend as long as four hours stalking, cornering and slaying its target. The logistics of this operation require a combination of organisation, determination, tactics and management skill. It is the Alpha’s job to provide this leadership. It is the job of the subordinates to follow and provide support.
A Leap of Imagination
It is little wonder that so many people encounter problems in their relationship with their dogs. The vast majority of dog owners enter that relationship having made a series of utterly false assumptions. They have assumed, for instance, that the dog is in effect a child: an incapable, illogical – if deeply lovable – dependant. As a result of this, they have also assumed that it is going to respond to a series of childlike instructions issued in their language. They are viewing the dog and its world through the prism of the human experience: they are wrong.
The dog does not understand or relate to the
