What are these new theories that I am hearing about that claim dogs are not pack animals? Dogs are social animals and are descended from wolves (pack-orientated). Their social pack behaviour is what makes them such devoted companions.
At any rate, all the snippets I have seen mysteriously refer to "loads" of studies that have proven domestic dogs do not have pack behaviour, but I have been unable to locate these "studies" and none of the snippets offer so much as a clue of the alleged scientific basis. What are all these people talking about?
Cathy Goessman Webboard User Reg: 12-03-2007
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If you could post the source of a few of those snippets that would be helpful.
Most of the people I've seen claiming that dogs are not pack animals tend to be part of the "all positive" crowd.
The wolf pack structure is not identical to dog pack structure and that leads some people to claim that dogs are not pack animals. All those studies do is prove that dogs are not wolves.
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
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Quote: Tiffany Aiche
What are these new theories that I am hearing about that claim dogs are not pack animals? Dogs are social animals and are descended from wolves (pack-orientated). Their social pack behaviour is what makes them such devoted companions.
At any rate, all the snippets I have seen mysteriously refer to "loads" of studies that have proven domestic dogs do not have pack behaviour, but I have been unable to locate these "studies" and none of the snippets offer so much as a clue of the alleged scientific basis. What are all these people talking about?
Duane Hull Webboard User Reg: 09-23-2011
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"That's not to say that the domestic dog is not a hunter because it is, but dogs are scavenger carnivores and so left to their own devices, domestic dogs do not mass together to hunt and eat large prey. If domestic dogs do hunt, it's a solitary or pair affair, and the prey is small enough for just one or two dogs to catch and kill without sustaining injury."
IDK. Even if it's "just for fun", feral dogs seem to revert to some instinctive inclination to work together to hunt and kill other animals. This is just the tip of the iceberg; it's becoming more common...
Yup ^^ Packs of domestic dogs reverting to wild behavior are certainly not unheard of. Also the whole dog park mayhem that errupts when dogs that are otherwise pretty normal family pets join up and start attacking a dog together.
Duane Hull Webboard User Reg: 09-23-2011
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This author has no problem with a dog needing leadership; she advocates that the owner needs to be a leader. However, she has some visceral reaction to the term "pack leader".
I'm no psychologist, but she seems to have some obsessive disdain for any mention of pack mentality or pack leadership. She starts out rather objective-sounding, but her postulating becomes more and more subjective. I don't see any scientific methodology or results.
All-in-all, a good read, but hardly a scientific or objective "study".
Tresa Hendrix Webboard User Reg: 05-08-2008
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Maybe the reason why wolves tend to do the teamwork thing more is the fact that they're RAISED into it. Since their whole family is wild and depend on large prey they learn early on how to cooperate. If a pack of dogs were raised this way I'll bet they'd do the same.
A tired dog is a good dog, a trained dog is a better dog.
Candi Campbell Webboard User Reg: 03-28-2013
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Quote: Duane Hull
This author has no problem with a dog needing leadership; she advocates that the owner needs to be a leader. However, she has some visceral reaction to the term "pack leader".
I'm no psychologist, but she seems to have some obsessive disdain for any mention of pack mentality or pack leadership. She starts out rather objective-sounding, but her postulating becomes more and more subjective. I don't see any scientific methodology or results.
All-in-all, a good read, but hardly a scientific or objective "study".
I'm with you here, Duane, in all you said -- I do not see where that author has done Any OBJECTIVE / SCIENTIFIC Study on Canine PACK Drive ... You would be dismayed to find out how much "research" is done like that, even at the University level, based on "impressive" sounding data which is entirely Conclusion-Selective while ignoring ALL RESULTS that Disprove the Theory postulated by the publisher.
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New Dog Behaviour Theories?
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