The ole Alpha Roll debate.
I've never used it. Never wanted to, never had interest to, never needed to, regardless of the dog. I've seen it used though, and I have to say I'm surprised the lady using it didn't get her face ripped off. Besides the fact that I don't wish that on anyone, I almost wish she would've been bitten for her actions. Just watching her do it would make anyone realize how totally stupid it really is.
The "Alpha Roll", if used as its name implies, is for the sole purpose of showing who is "alpha". That's it. Please don't confuse it with handling procedures, or teaching the dog to lay on its back to have its nails clipped. It's not the same at all.
From the day pups are born in our home, they are held on their backs, their sides, upright, etc. When they go to their new homes they are naturally conditioned to find being on their back very, very comfortable, as lots of fun things happen on your back. All of our adults have no problems rolling over for a belly rub, to get nails done, etc. Whenever our dogs have needed to go to the vet for x-rays, whether it was knees/hips/spine, most times our dogs do not need to be sedated at all, where typically they are. There was only one time a girl had to be sedated and that was because the positioning of the legs would have been uncomfortable/painful so she was put under so as not to feel pain. Other than that, our guys will lie there and let complete strangers manipulate their bodies. All of that, and never once having been alpha rolled in their lives.
There is a difference between teaching your dog to lie on its back, or to handle minor restraint for medical procedures as an example, and forcing your dog to the ground, and holding it until it stops struggling. The ideology is different, most methods are different. Heck, even if you do pick your dog up sometimes, or lay the dog down and gently use your hands to roll over a dog, it's still not an Alpha Roll!
Considering there is no such thing as an Alpha Roll where dogs "flip" another dog physically (not in socially-adept dogs anyhow, some social rejects might attempt it). Not in the wild, not in feral dogs, not in domestic dog. The "Alpha Roll", if it were to be described between how dogs talk to other dogs, would be one dog willingly submitting to another in a particular instance. That is an Alpha Roll. It's not meant to even HAVE physical contact. Even in dogs that sometimes stand over another dog, rarely is there any physical contact to get the dog in that position. They certainly don't do what humans are told they should do in an Alpha roll. Which is the entire problem. Once again people have taken a concept that conspecifics use, and tried (and failed miserably) to adapt it to something *humans inflict upon dogs* and then make up huge stories as to why it's a great communication to dogs, when in reality it's not how dogs would communicate at all!
I have a "true pack". I have since I was very very small. And never, once in my life, have I witnessed a dog physically roll over another dog as a sign of dominance (the whole point of "Alpha" rolling, right?), or even to punish a dog for a misdeed. Ever. I have seen dogs "floor" other dogs with an eye or a posture, I've seen dogs roll themselves when they are growled at, I've seen other dogs walk up to another dog and submit willingly, I've even seen gentle muzzle grabs that led to a dog rolling itself, but never have I once seen a dog physically roll over another dog.
At the same time, the roles can reverse depending on the situation. I've seen cases where one dog caused another to submit, and cases where the roles reversed entirely and the roll-ER became the roll-EE. So much for Alpha. I think the communication is a lot more complex than that, and dogs submit (by submit I mean roll onto back and expose belly) to each other for many things (clean me, groom me, I'm sorry, yes you're bigger, I'm not a threat, play with me.....the list likely is much longer than that).
Now, the day you start being able to simply stare at your dog or give a funny face and it rolls over immediately, we'll talk about transfer of communication across species.