On a serious note. It's not as simple as that!
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There are now so many programmes and books about dog training the new puppy/dog owner has to navigate through a minefield of information, some of which is useful and some of which is downright dangerous. I would like to discuss some of these concepts to help people to make sense of all this information.
The problem is the dominance/ pack leader idea has been around for more than 50 years and it's a hard concept to move away from. However, the true meaning of dominance in animals is all about mating success so is not really the right word to use. The pecking order theory was actually started by a scientist studying chickens. Let's go through the arguments:
Be the pack leader, treat dogs like wolves. From Jan Fennell to Cesar Millan the pack theorists believe that dogs are trying to assert their authority over the members of the household and other animals in the family, or even those out and about.
It's all operant conditioning- the academics argue that dogs do not try to be pack leaders, they learn to behave in certain ways through success and failure.
The suggestions to combat this dominance problem include punishment such as harsh leash corrections, sound aversion, hissing at your dog, pinning down (Alpha roll), shouting, eating your meals before your dog, ignoring your dog, going through doorways first etc etc.
Let's go through these points and discuss what they mean to your dog.
Leash corrections: They can work if done correctly (but PLEASE DON'T). If you check hard enough it hurts the dog a lot so they avoid pulling to avoid the punishment. This can seriously injure your dog. I see dogs walking with their owners and they are walking, tail down, about as far to the side as possible to keep their distance from their owner. This makes me sad. In the main this technique is pretty unsuccessful and not good for maintaining a good relationship between the owner and their dog. Rewards techniques are far superior, clicker training being one of the most effective in my experience. And no, this doesn't mean you have to bribe them with food all the time, in fact that doesn't work well at all. Good trainers fade out the food rewards really quickly or show you how to control your dog's access to other rewards whilst on the lead so that the dog learns not to pull even without food.
The Cesar Millan Illusion collar and prong collars. Dogs walk tentatively because the collar cuts into the windpipe and if they drop their head it must feel like cheese wire. This is why the dogs hold their heads upright, not because they feel "Proud" as Cesar Millan states in his book "Be the Pack Leader". If you want to use this on your dog, try it on yourself first! Please also note that Cesar uses pinch/ prong collars (barbaric instruments of torture) which is why, although on TV it looks like mild leash corrections, these mild corrections are really painful to the dog as prongs dig into their neck and this is why often the dog cries out in pain.
Hissing at your dog. Many people tell me, "oh it worked for a few days and then my dog ignored me. How does Cesar do it?" Cesar says it's a natural snake hiss noise and dogs are innately afraid of it. Actually no they are not. Most dogs haven't a clue what a snake is. Dogs learn through "operant conditioning" which basically means they learn through experience, some things are good and somethings are bad. They do more of the stuff they enjoy and less of the stuff they don't enjoy. I have read Cesar's book. In fact, he conditions the dogs to know that a hiss is followed by being grabbed around the throat and pinned to the floor. They stop the behaviour to avoid the punishment. By the way, if a wild dog rolls another dog onto its back it is with the intention to kill. Can you imagine how a dog must feel when a human, several times the size of a dog pushes it into an Alpha roll? This can cause the dog to defensively attack its owner and should not be tried ever.
Ignoring your dog. Well this is an argument used by pack theorists who state the Alpha male ignores the pack. However, this is not really true. Dogs are pack animals and they need company. When they rejoin after a period apart, they meet and greet each other. To ignore your dog can lead to learned helplessness (depression) where the dog doesn't bother doing anything at all because nothing works!
Eating before your dog. This is a strange one. It is said because apparently wolves eat in a pecking order from the alpha to the lowest order ranking. However, in reality the cubs will be fed first. So this is nonsense. I see many problems which are caused by dogs being fed after the family. Dogs are social animals and eat as a group. If your dog is hungry and is watching you eat your food you can expect him to tell you about it by howling , barking or trying to get it from you if he can! Try feeding your dog at the same time in a kong or treatball this is much more effective! It makes no difference to his status as a leader!
However, much time is spent between academics and traditional trainers arguing about dominance and operant conditioning and it is all a bit counter productive! Because, at the end of the day it gets in the way of resolving the real problems. It doesn't matter whether a dog is called "dominant" or has just learned to behave in a pushy or aggressive way. The fact remains that nature gave the animal the motivation to behave in this way which was then reinforced by success. Whether a dog is dominant or not the fact remains that some dogs behave aggressively and are pushy. The argument should be how to resolve these problems, not what they are called. The academics are spending too much time trying to discredit TV behaviourists and not enough time creating their own message. Some of the messges coming from people like Cesar Millan are good, such as being calm and assertive, creating routine and being consistent but, sadly, many of the techniques rely on outdated and harsh methods designed to make the dog submit or back down from their so called "dominant" state. This is why the word "dominant" is such a hot word, it implies that force needs to be used to correct the state, and this is simply not true. There is plenty of research out there and proof that rewards based training delivered consistently is the best way to train dogs. Dogs consistently trained using positive techniques are less likely to develop behaviour problems and are less likely to become aggressive. This is why I get upset with the recent trend of harsh training techniques on the TV as there is really no need for them and they can make things worse not better. I often have to pick up the pieces after people have tried all these techniques seen on TV and much damage has been caused, especially with dog on dog aggression.
However, I do believe that dogs need to feel that their owners are in control of them and need to be given clear boundaries. Some rewards based trainers fail to get this message across and people are taught to bribe their dog to do everything. The real skill is in teaching how to fade rewards out to get a really motivated training response from a dog and how to convince the dog that their owner is in control. Without this dogs can become confused, fearful and frustrated which can lead to many behavioural problems including aggression.
If you doubt all this then read the link below. Scientific research is concluding all the time that the best way to train your dog is to be kind, fair, consistent and not to use punishment of any kind. Punishment causes fear and resentment which can lead to behavioural problems. I can say that when I had my puppy she was very naughty and I'm afraid we used some harsh techniques on her under the advice of a local training group. It was after this that the aggression started. I know this for myself, I just hope I can convince everyone else that rewards work best!
Finally, David Mech, the man who started all this about alpha male wolves has since revisited his own ideas and now acknowledges that he was wrong. Wolves do not operate a linear aggressive hierarchy, they actually work as a family unit. Arguments are not violent and some members will assume a higher ranking role in some situations and others in different situations. But anyway, it is all just semantics! Why? Because dogs are NOT WOLVES! They are about as close genetically to wolves as humans are to the Chimpanzee! Think about it and it should make you smile!!