You shouldn’t worry about your dog going first through a doorway or any other signs of ‘dominant behavior’. The idea that you should be the alpha dog is based outdated wolf research, which studies now show does not apply to dogs.

For a long time many people thought that because dogs evolved from wolves, wolves were a good model to understand dog behavior. Although they do share much of the same DNA, we have since learned that their pack structures and social behavior are actually very different.

If you look at packs of feral dogs, or dogs who live without human interference, research shows that they look to the dog with the most friends. There is no single dominant pair that uses violence and dominant behavior, instead when deciding where to go feral dogs follow the dog with the largest social network. Being friendly, rather than fierce, seems to count more with our best friends.

For more on this see chapter 8 in my book, the Genius of Dogs.

Dr. Brian Hare

Chief Science Officer, Canines, Inc.
Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, Canines Inc.
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University

Research Studies***
http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/article/S0168-1591(08)00371-7/abstract

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347210000783

You shouldn’t worry about your dog going first through a doorway or any other signs of ‘dominant behavior’. The idea that you should be the alpha dog is based outdated wolf research, which studies now show does not apply to dogs.

For a long time many people thought that because dogs evolved from wolves, wolves were a good model to understand dog behavior. Although they do share much of the same DNA, we have since learned that their pack structures and social behavior are actually very different.

If you look at packs of feral dogs, or dogs who live without human interference, research shows that they look to the dog with the most friends. There is no single dominant pair that uses violence and dominant behavior, instead when deciding where to go feral dogs follow the dog with the largest social network. Being friendly, rather than fierce, seems to count more with our best friends.

For more on this see chapter 8 in my book, the Genius of Dogs.

Dr. Brian Hare

Chief Science Officer, Canines, Inc.
Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, Canines Inc.
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University

• Research Studies***
  http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/article/S0168-1591(08)00371-7/abstract

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347210000783