“I’m not going to BRIBE my dogs to do as I tell them!”

This is along the lines of my absolute most hated comments. This idea that dogs should follow our commands, just because. As for the respect thing? Don’t even get me started! I don’t want my dog to have to ‘respect’ me. I’m not looking for an underling, or someone to look up to me. What I want from my dogs is for them to enjoy my company, to want to be with me, and to want to cooperate with me.

Many people seem to look at the fact that we take dogs into our homes, we feed them, look after them, and cater to all of their needs. So they should do whatever we want out of obligation for all we do for them, right? Even if they don’t do it for that reason, there’s still the fact we’re in charge. We’re the bosses, the *grits teeth* the pack leader, the alpha.

Yeah, no. As much as just about every canine professional I know wishes it would the dominance myth will not die, despite the fact we now know it was based on faulty thinking regarding a group of wolves kept in a situation that would never occur in the wild. And the fact that, although they share a common ancestor thousands of years in the past, those same thousands of years of evolution have taken them down different paths. One living an interference free life of natural selection developing them perfectly for living in the wild, the other learning that humans could be handy to be around and then after a time entering a program of artificial selection, selectively bred by us to fulfil roles we assigned to them. Dogs did not descend from wolves; they evolved alongside them, much like different types of primates evolved from a common ancestor millennia ago.

Dogs do not see us as dogs, so even if the domestic dog DID utilise hierarchical pack structures in that way, they would not apply that thinking to humans. Dominance does exist in dogs, but not in the way that the alpha theory suggests. It is a completely fluid, contextual concept, not a fixed hierarchical structure. One dog may use canine body language and vocal communication to gain control of a resource that they want at one time, yet in a different moment, the other dog may be the one that holds the goodies. That dominance exists in that moment, but it is not the way those dogs live their lives every day. Rewarding your dog does not make them think they are ‘in charge’ of you. Neither does letting them relax on the sofa or sleep on a human bed – they don’t do these things to be the boss of us, but purely because sofas and beds are generally more comfortable than the floor.

I don’t look at using rewards for responding to my cues as bribery. I look at it as payment earned. No matter how much we as humans might respect the people we work for, the chances are we don’t choose to work for free. Obviously I’m not including voluntary work in there, as that’s something that holds its own reward for us, so I really don’t see the issue with giving dogs something they like in return for a job well done when they do as we ask them. Add to that, a reward earned by the dog stimulates a dopamine release in the brain, a chemical neurotransmitter associated with learning and memory, and a feel good hit. When your dog does what you ask of them, they have earned something nice and get a feeling of pleasure at the same time. When they know something they really like will be coming after they respond to a cue, they will be more engaged and keen to get it right. You will both enjoy working together more, and the bond between you will strengthen.

I do love an engaged dog!

What’s not to love about that idea?

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