{"id":10163,"date":"2021-01-05T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/?p=10163"},"modified":"2025-06-26T16:08:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T21:08:48","slug":"being-the-alpha-to-train-dog-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/culture\/myths\/being-the-alpha-to-train-dog-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"DeBarking Pet Myths: Do I Need to Be the Alpha to Train My Dog?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another installment of \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d our monthly series that addresses common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs, cats and their nutrition.<\/em><\/p>\n

To properly train a dog, do you have to be the \u201calpha\u201d of the pack?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good question, and entire training philosophies have been born out of the answer. The bullet points of the theory of alpha training are based on the belief that dogs are descended<\/a> from wolves, and wolf packs have a clear-cut hierarchy of dominance that seems hardwired into the pack. If it works for wolf packs, it should work for human\/domestic dog packs as well, right?<\/p>\n

Well, it does<\/em> work. Celebrity dog trainer Cesar Millan has written at length about how to be the pack leader<\/a>. Millan\u2019s version of alpha training is to train your dog like a mother dog trains her puppies. She controls when they eat, when they play and basically their every movement, and she never second-guesses her decisions. \u201cA pack leader doesn\u2019t project emotional or nervous energy, so neither should you,\u201d Millan says.<\/p>\n

Millan\u2019s way is framed as a positive take on being the alpha to your dog. It\u2019s about finding what fulfills your dog and then offering them the chance to earn it. \u201cTough love\u201d isn\u2019t the right description, but it\u2019s in the general ballpark. It\u2019s about making sure that your trainee knows who is in charge, but also being respectful and always with the ultimate goal of nurturing your pup.<\/p>\n

While Cesar\u2019s Way seems like a reasonable dog-training method, there are those who can take it too far. \u201cEstablishing dominance\u201d does not<\/em> mean physically or mentally abusing your dog. There are some <\/em>schools of thought that maintain that, in educated and professional hands, the more aggressive alpha training methods can help rehabilitate violently aggressive dogs. However, choke chains, shock collars and fear tactics can easily just lead to a jumpy and aggressive dog.<\/p>\n

Opposition to alpha?<\/h3>\n

There has been some opposition to the theory of the pack mentality when it comes to people and their pet dogs.\u00a0 Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, who operates the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab<\/a> and has written numerous books about dog behavior<\/a>, dismisses the alpha dog theory at its roots, because she feels that it\u2019s based on misinformation. Horowitz says that any observation of pack mentality in wolves comes from wolves held in containment, and that wolves in the wild behave much differently, favoring \u201cthe good of the pack\u201d over dominance tactics.<\/p>\n

Getting positive<\/h3>\n

Instead of the alpha method, Horowitz subscribes to the theory of positive reinforcement dog training. This popular training method is based on the idea that a dog will repeat his or her behavior if the behavior is followed by something positive. Sitting on command earns a treat, for instance. Or coming when called is met with praise. Rather than scolding for wrong behavior, an incorrect step isn\u2019t even acknowledged, so there\u2019s no true \u201cnegative\u201d to this method.<\/p>\n

There are variants of positive reinforcement training. Clicker training<\/a> is more or less positive reinforcement training with sounds attached to acknowledge the exact moment a good behavior happens. Another variation of positive reinforcement training is \u201crelationship-based\u201d training. It\u2019s built on establishing a trusting relationship with your dog; rather than force respect, you earn it. But it requires a deep understanding of your dog\u2019s every action to be truly effective. You need to know what makes your dog tick in order to best change their behavior.<\/p>\n

You know your dog best<\/h3>\n

There are arguments for and against all of the methods of training we\u2019ve mentioned, and there are plenty of other methods<\/a> that have proven to work as well. For many people, a little bit of alpha training can go a long way to teaching your dog who is in charge, but it\u2019s not the only <\/em>way. You know your dog better than anyone, so talk to your vet and a professional trainer and figure out which way is right for you and, more importantly, your best pal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

RELATED POST: Strategies that make your dog training easier<\/a><\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another installment of \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d our monthly series that addresses common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs, cats and their nutrition. To properly train a dog, do you have to be the \u201calpha\u201d of the pack? It\u2019s a good question, and entire training philosophies have been born out of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Do I Need to Be the Alpha to Train My Dog?","_seopress_titles_desc":"To properly train a dog, you may be wondering if you have to be the \u201calpha\u201d of the pack. Find out if this myth is true based on the opinion of various experts.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,275],"tags":[540,134,538,443,54,539,203],"class_list":["post-10163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-myths","tag-debarking-myths","tag-diamond-pet-foods","tag-dog-myth","tag-dog-training","tag-dogs","tag-myth","tag-training"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}