Seems like there has been some changes of terminology since I last
studied pack dynamics. Not how it works mind you just the terminology
you guys are using. All pack animals tend to be very similar in how they
socialize. Humans are pack animals, although they do not like to think
of themselves that way. The social structure of an extended human family
and a wolf pack are almost identical. Probably why wolfs (dogs) became
domesticated so early. Basically all they had to do was raise the pups
in the human pack and they fit right in. It is also the reason we have
so much trouble getting along, pack instinct works real well up to a
dozen or so related individuals, but it does not tell us how to relate
to thousands or millions of others.
graywolf
http://www.graywolfphoto.com
http://webpages.charter.net/graywolf
"Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof"
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William Robb wrote:
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Markus Maurer"
Subject: RE: PESO - Dash
Hi William
first, sorry to hear from your loss of Rollei, that was sad news but when
I
loaded your Powerpoint presentation in a viewer
helper application inside of Outlook instead of Powerpoint, the slideshow
did not run and I saw only some photos which did it not make clear to me.
Thanks Markus.
My understanding is that there will be one Alpha, a Beta, lots of Gamma's
(the normal members of the group) and an Omega in a "normal" group of
human,
maybe that is not true for a dog or other animal "pack"?
Your understanding is more or less correct. Not all gammas are created
equal, however, and the stronger willed dogs tend to rise above the others.
They will still recognize the Alpha and Beta dogs as pack leaders, but they
will enforce their will on the lesser dogs.
In a human/dog pack (where people take dogs into their homes as pets), the
humans are replacing the Alphas and Betas in the pack structure (or should
be or they will have "problem dogs").
The dogs still have to sort out for themselves who is the dominant among
themselves, this contest being completely independant of their pack
relationship with their people.
The mistake people make is interceding on these contests, generally taking
the side of the weaker dog, since it is the one getting beaten up. This is
very illogical behaviour as far as the dog is concerned, and can cause
problems within the pack structure.
Far better to just let the dogs figure it out for themselves, since it is
very unlikely that a dominance contest will result in any injuries to either
animal.
Using my household and family as an example, All three dogs recognized my
wife and myself as the Alpha and Beta pack leaders, but interestingly,
Rollei and Zenit recognized my wife as the Alpha and me as the Beta, while
Leica recognized me as the Alpha and my wife as the Beta.
This manifested itself in the way the dogs would respond to commands. Rollei
was much more responsive to my wife than he was to me, though there was
never any question of his compliance, Leica responds much faster to me than
to my wife, and at one point there was some questioning of compliance
between them.
This is perfectly normal, as dogs will tend to bond more strongly to one
person than another in the household, and cross gender bonding is very
common between dogs and people, and is most often much stronger than same
gender bonding.
The dogs recognized Rollei as being dominant within their relationship, and
Leica recognizes Zenit as being the dominant between themselves. Initially,
Zenit, who is a 30 pound Cocker Spaniel cross was the dominant of the three
dogs, but as she slowed down with age, she ceded her role to Rollei. I
recall she got to close to his food dish one day and he snapped at her, she
backed off and that was that.
William Robb
