Reflecting on 30 Years as a Pet Care Professional

The End of Dominance–No Pain, Force or Fear

By Don Hanson, PCBC-A, BFRAP

< A version of this article was published in the NOV 2025 issue of Downeast Dog News>

< Updated 2025-11-08 >

< The link to this page – https://forcefreepets.com/30Years-END-Dominance&Aversives/  >

Last month, I celebrated my 30^th anniversary as a pet care professional. This is the first of several columns where I’ll discuss how advances in scientific knowledge have improved the lives of our pets since 1995.

One of the things I have enjoyed most about the past 30 years is our increasing knowledge about our pets’ abilities and needs, the way we care for them, and the role they play in our lives. I’ve always considered myself a lifelong learner, and I believe I joined the ranks of the pet care profession in a period equivalent to the European Renaissance.

I first learned about Brambell’s Five Freedoms when studying animal behavior and training in the UK in 2002. Implemented in the UK in 1965 to improve the welfare of farm animals, they include Freedom from 1) Hunger and Thirst, 2) Discomfort, 3) Pain, Injury or Disease, 4) Fear and Distress, and 5) Freedom to Express Normal Behavior. Amazed I had never heard about them in the US, I shared them with everyone I could. Others and I have made Brambell’s Five Freedoms the foundation for how we care for our personal pets, as well as those entrusted to our care at Green Acres. [ FMI – https://forcefreepets.com/brambells-five-freedoms/ ]

The Dominance Construct Refuted – In 1947, the first study suggesting that wolves fight within a pack to establish dominance was published¹. The study, now considered severely flawed, was based on non-familial captive wolves in a zoo. Sadly, because the domestic dog is descended from the same ancestor as the Grey Wolf, many began applying the dominance construct to dogs, suggesting that dogs would try to assert dominance within their human family. This, in turn, led to the wide use of training methods and tools based on pain, intimidation (fear), and force.

In 1999, a study² was published based on observations of wolves in the wild, which found that a wolf pack operates much like a family, with parent-offspring dynamics rather than a rigid dominance hierarchy. Additional studies³ have since indicated that the concept of dominance and alpha hierarchy has been misleading and counterproductive to the human-dog relationship and is most definitely detrimental to the dog’s welfare. Today, experts on dog behavior⁴, such as the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB), American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB), and the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) all recommend that dominance play no role in training or living with a dog, as summarized by these quotes from the AVSAB statement:

“Dominance theory is an outdated and often misunderstood construct… Aggressive dogs are not trying to achieve dominance.”

“Confrontational methods… can result in owner injury and can damage the human–animal bond.”

Dr. Jean Donalson was the first person to write about the damage done by the dominance myth in her book The Culture Clash, published in 1996. This book, now considered a classic amongst pet care professionals, was one of the first books I read when I started my career.

In the book, Donaldson reveals how dominance and the idea of dogs having a pack hierarchy have been used to “explain” all of the behaviors we dislike in our dog: biting, aggression, pulling on leash, bathroom accidents, chewing, jumping, not coming when called, begging, and, LOL, going through doorways first. Donaldson explains that some of these behaviors are everyday canine actions and that dogs exhibit them because they are effective, especially when we fail to meet our dogs’ needs. 

Donaldson also indicated that a dog is NOT a pack animal with a strict social hierarchy.  Raymond and Lorna Coppinger expanded on this in their 2002 book Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution, which is based on their studies of dogs living feral throughout the world. Dogs do not live in packs, and their behavior when living feral is very different than that of wolves.

Sadly, people were also told that the only way they could be the “alpha” and dominant over their dog was to use training methods and tools that caused physical or emotional pain, to intimidate the dog intentionally, and to make them afraid of us. Experts on dog behavior⁵  all agree that aversives have no place in the management or training of a pet. This is what the AAHA states about aversives in their 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines:

This Task Force opposes training methods that use aversive techniques. Aversive training has been associated with detrimental effects on the human-animal bond, problem-solving ability, and the physical and behavioral health of the patient.

Aversive techniques include prong (pinch) or choke collars, cattle prods, alpha rolls, dominance downs, electronic shock collars, lunge whips, starving or withholding food, entrapment, and beating. None of those tools and methods should be used to either teach or alter behavior.

This Task Force strongly endorses techniques that focus on rewarding correct behaviors and removing rewards for unwanted behaviors.

Footnotes

1. Expressions Studies on Wolves” (“Ausdrucks-Studien an Wölfen”, Rudolf Schenkel (1947), https://davemech.org/wolf-news-and-information/schenkels-classic-wolf-behavior-study-available-in-english/
2. Mech, L. D. (1999). “Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs.” Canadian Journal of Zoology, https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/z99-099
3. Bradshaw, J. W. S., Blackwell, E. J., & Casey, R. A. (2009). “Dominance in Domestic Dogs—Useful Construct or Bad Habit?”, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787808001159

Mech & Boitani (eds.) (2003). Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation., Synthesized new research: family-based pack dynamics, cooperative breeding, reduced emphasis on linear dominance., https://www.docgordillopetnutrition.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/bibliografia/Mech_2003_Wolves_Behavior_Ecology_and_Conservation_Cap_4.pdf

Range F, Virányi Z (2011), Development of Gaze Following Abilities in Wolves (Canis Lupus). PLOS ONE 6(2): e16888. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016888.,

van Kerkhove W. A fresh look at the wolf-pack theory of companion-animal dog social behavior. J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2004;7(4):279-85; discussion 299-300. doi: 10.1207/s15327604jaws0704_7. PMID: 15857815., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15857815/

4. Expert Position Statements on Dominance and Dogs
   1. American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines – https://www.aaha.org/wp-content/uploads/globalassets/02-guidelines/behavior-management/2015_aaha_canine_and_feline_behavior_management_guidelines_final.pdf
   2. The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB) Position Statements – https://www.dacvb.org/page/PositionStatement
   3. American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) Position Statement on the Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals – https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dominance_Position_Statement_download-10-3-14.pdf
   4. The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) Dominance Theory in Animal Training – Position Statement – https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/resource/dominance-theory-in-animal-training-position-statement/
5. Expert Position Statements on the Use of Aversives
   1. American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines – https://www.aaha.org/wp-content/uploads/globalassets/02-guidelines/behavior-management/2015_aaha_canine_and_feline_behavior_management_guidelines_final.pdf
   2. The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB) Position Statements – https://www.dacvb.org/page/PositionStatement
   3. American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) Position Statement on Humane Dog Training – https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AVSAB-Humane-Dog-Training-Position-Statement-2021.pdf
   4. The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) The Use of Choke and Prong Collars – Position Statement – https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/resource/the-use-of-choke-and-prong-collars-position-statement/
   5. The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) The Use of Pet Correction Devices – Position Statement – https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/resource/the-use-of-pet-correction-devices-position-statement/
   6. The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) The Use of Shock – Position Statement – https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/resource/the-use-of-shock-position-statement/