ron2
Posted : 10/30/2007 6:00:42 AM
snownose
I have no idea how much experience you or Ron have in this type of situation
Life was calling.
If I describe something as dominant, it is because that thing is in control or prevalent or most common. Sometimes, dominance is artificial as a part of a construct, such as ranking in the military. The military is not a democracy and in order to be effective, cannot be a democracy.
Between Shadow and Duke, Duke was dominant. Without any need to prove it. In fact, Shadow had no recall but Duke did. If you recalled Duke, Shadow would follow. And Shadow never tried to take the role. If he were to try, then that action would show he was not sure of what his place was, but it wouldn't make him dominant or in control of the resources just by an insurgent action.
So, when a dog acts out, they may be striving to be dominant but most times, I think they just want to feel secure that they have access to resources and occupy a special place in the group. And that can be done without most physical corrections. Sometimes, it just takes consistency of structure or environment, once again referring to 4IC's solution of providing an environment that was self-rewarding to B'asia and she extinguished the undesired behavior on her own because it was no longer necessary or rewarding and she didn't need it to know that she was secure. Which kind of gave proof to the non-linear dog theory. So what might have initially been called a "dominant-aggressive" wasn't that at all, but a matter of insecurity, which was best solved by providing methods of security. And that had less to do with constant physical corrections and more to do with the right rewards, such as inclusion, being in place as a thing to work toward.
Leader position, or even a control of something is fluid within a singular group or pack, if you will. Between Shadow and I, I dominate, even while walks out in front. Why? Because I have the resources and he knows it and he knows how easy it is to get resources. He only has to do what I ask. And some of it has become classical, in less than a year. I dominate because I have the resources, not because I can physically overpower or correct him. I know the way and his job is easy, which is to follow. And leader position is fluid in circumstance. Obviously, there are times when DW makes a decision and I follow that, too.