101 Negotiations

I have written in the past why the model of Dominance or the idea that dogs are pack animals in search of a “pack leader” (the owner) is not only an erroneous construct, but really bad news for all dogs.  There is so much to say about this construct, but today I want to focus on one important element about the social structure of dogs:  The 101 negotiations that take place between them on a daily basis.

First off, let me say that SOCIAL Dominance does exist in any group of animals with a complex social structure.  But the problem is that not even the scientific community can agree as to what “dominance” looks like.

So I will define here in this post what I mean by social dominance so at least we can have this as a departure point.

Social dominance is the competition for access to resources within the members of a social group. While my definition might not take into consideration all the aspects of Social dominance this is one definition I can work with.

Now, that this is settled, you might still wonder what the heck I mean by the definition above!  I will illustrate with simple, yet salient examples of how two members of the same social group - my two dogs negotiate daily for what they want.

First off: The definition of resource is anything that an individual considers valuable and wants.

Some of these resources might remain valuable throughout the life of the dog and some might change for a myriad of reasons.  Now, even the resources that remain valuable for the span of the dog’s life are less valuable if the animal had just had access to that resource and the need in obtaining and enjoying the resource has been met.

Of course, most members of a social group find many of the same things of value. Otherwise they would not have to negotiate, aggress and in some case even die over resources.

Let’s take the example of my dog’s beds.  They have beds in these locations:
2, beds in the kitchen
1, bed by the window, in the LR- looking outside the front of the property, we call this the “perch” for obvious reasons
2, beds (one smaller than the other but otherwise identical) in our bedroom
2, crates -“his" and “hers” which are identical except Deuce’s is a bit larger

So the beds are the resource. And now I will illustrate how the resource has different “weight” for Deuce and Rio:
By the window: Rio’s perch, Deuce NEVER gets on that bed
Kitchen beds: No issues, first-come, first-serve, used during the day and before meals
Bedroom beds: First-come, first-serve. Rio changes her preference for the either one of the beds on occasion Deuce as a norm prefers the larger bed, but will let Rio take that and has never “demanded” he'll surrender the bed if she is occupying it first - what a gentleman!

Here is another example with food dispensing toys of any kind except with Kongs:

Food Dispensing Toys:

• VERY important to Deuce!  He will manage Rio by giving her the Border collie “stare” and emitting a very high-pitch noise. As a result:  Dogs are given their toys in separate rooms 
• Rio needs some coaxing because she will move away from the toy if Deuce is around or if prior to her going into another room Deuce expressed his “disgust” with her having her own toy

Category: BALLS

Tennis balls:

• VERY important to Deuce but he shares all the time with Rio
• Rio enjoys taking Deuce’s ball away from him on a daily basis. One of the highlights of her existence may I add!

Big Orange ball:

• We have several very structured games with the orange ball.  Never a competition. 
• Completely cooperative set of games. With Deuce bringing the ball back to the center of the action when Rio cannot fully carry the ball the whole way because her mouth is smaller than Deuce’s.  

Big Red ball with a rope attached:

• This is Rio’s ball. She loves playing with it by having someone throw the ball for her which she will bring back, play tug with you before it is thrown again. She often runs with the rope in her mouth bouncing the ball around.
• Deuce has NEVER played with this red ball.

Edible Chews:

• These are high-value chews such as pig ears or bully sticks that they get daily at night after dinner. Now, don’t ask me why, but this is how the dispersing of the goods comes down:
• I call both dogs by saying: Do you guys want a chewy? They both know what that means and march to the laundry room from where they might be to get their chewy.  

If I present the chewy first to Rio because she got there first - which she normally does, she will not take it. Period!  I have to first give it to Deuce and then she will very politely take hers.  There has never been a fight or even a growl, etc. over the chews.  As a matter of fact, they both have their favorite spots where they eat theirs and they do not interrupt each other when doing so.

This example of the chews is a very salient one because it points to the many negotiations that take place between dogs that are lost on us.  I have a keen eye for dog behavior and these are my own pups whom I see daily and know well but in spite of this I see things sometimes that I cannot explain, as I am sure that there are other instances  where we are  missing lots of the communication between Deuce and Rio.

Illustrated by the four categories of sample resources above - and then within that, sub-categories of the resources, as in the case of the balls the reason why they behave in a certain manner over a resource is really their very well kept secret.

This is just a glimpse on the complexities of dogs' social structure and the negotiations they encounter in their daily interactions.

Most of the interactions over resources of most dogs are illustrated with one member getting either this resource right now because the other one cares less for that resources in general (Rio’s red ball) or because at that moment the resource is not as valuable to that individual as keeping the peace at home and making sure a friend remains a friend. Perhaps there are many other reasons as to how these interactions are formulated and resolved.

Of course there are some dogs that have learned that pushing their weight around by bullying another dog, terrorizing him or her pays off in happily getting the resources they want most of the time.

However, the norm between dogs is to use what I have been labeling as “negotiations” more often than sheer force of their mouths, etc.

As such, I think we have so much to learn from dogs in this department LOL…

And this is just the tip of the Social dominance iceberg… more to explore.

Oh No, Not the Dominant Thing Again, Please!

Yes, our dogs (if you have more than one dog at home) are individuals and we want to treat them as such. However, aren’t there times when we need to treat them equally? So, here is a scenario that I have heard from some of my clients and that I have witnessed with my own dogs.

Deuce and Laika get a snack mid-day. Mostly it is whatever goodies I have in the fridge that is good for them that can also be stuffed in a Kong. Or, an old-time favorite: sardines tightly packed with a dry small bone. This past week, I noticed that Deuce, who is not as good as Laika in dissecting his food out of tight Kongs, had come back from the backyard kind of soon… Mmm, I wonder what happened, I remember thinking but continued working. Shortly thereafter, I see Ms. Laika with a pretty full Kong- tossing it here and there as her favorite strategy to get the job done fast! Ah, now I know what happened. Laika went outside where Deuce was working on his Kong and basically took it away from him.

I then went and took the Kong away from Laika and gave it back to Deuce, calling Laika in with me. So here is the turn of events and my take on it:

What Laika did: perfectly normal (from a dog’s point of view).
Deuce’s response: i.e.: acquiesce without putting up a fight also a perfectly normal behavioral choice. Indeed Deuce chose NOT to fight Laika for the Kong, but instead walked away from her and came in looking for me …you will see later why I know this.

As I was washing dishes later that evening, I thought about how sad and detrimental to the welfare of a dog it must be when it is being bullied on a regular basis. Bullying between dogs does not mean that there has to be physical contact, a fight or blood all over the place. Bullying is also intimidation -- most likely what Laika did to Deuce when she wanted more than her fare share.

Lucky for Deuce, I know how to handle a situation like this. It is simple! No bullying in my household. And after all I make the rules because I am the parent (pet parent that is) and I pay the mortgage. Unfortunately, for countless dogs and their guardians, some of the my clients, they have heard that they MUST support the “dominant” dog in their household. So in other words, if I (or anyone for that matter) could accurately determine which of the dogs is dominant, we should allow all sort of naughty behaviors from that dog. And, just ignore the other dog – choosing not to intervene since this will interfere with the dog’s relationship or their status.

Unfortunately, it is not that simple to figure out which of the household dogs is the “dominant” one. In essence there is not such a thing as a dominant dog. So what exactly is a “dominant” dog? The answer depends on whom you ask. The popular definition of “dominant” dog is a dog that growls when groomed, jumps or leans on people or does not come when called, is also often referred as acting “dominant” or is “dominant” by temperament.

Now, if we look at the scientific literature (and there is plenty) the definition of dominance changes. First off, the term dominant does not appear as a “stand- alone” term but it is linked with the word “social” as in social dominance. This is an important distinction and here is why: According to the scientific literature, dogs are not dominant by nature or by temperament. A dog may challenge another dog when it comes to the acquisition of a valuable resource- and it is the dog who decides what is valuable, not the human.

Dogs may also challenge a given dog in a specific context but not in another. In essence: social dominance as defined in the animal behavioral literature is fluid. It is based on the relationship between individual competition for valuable resources as well as being context specific! For example: Laika and Deuce have to share the spotlight, their toys and their home etc, whenever I have a client’s dog stay with us for training. What I have witnessed many times is how Laika or Deuce and the guest dog negotiate over resources - be it the larger bed, the privileged spot next to me when watching a video, and on and on. In other words, my dogs, which normally lay on their beds, readily allowed the visiting dog take the (larger) bed when they are more interested in lying outside in the sun. It is not that Deuce or Laika cannot lie on their beds, but in this context, they are willing to share a coveted resource because they'd rather lie somewhere else.

The good news is that dogs, for the most part, (as well as other animals with complex social structures) resolve a conflict by not having one to begin with. Instead, they learn how to negotiate  based on the specifics of the relationship with another dog(s) at a given moment in time. What these scientific findings mean to the human-dog relationship is that we too should relate to our dogs as “partners” in a life of mutual collaboration and friendship versus viewing our dog as “dominant” or adversarial.

The scientific theory of social dominance asks that dog guardians/owners recognize that the behaviors they are labeling as displays of dominance are, for the most part, ways by which a dog is either communicating, i.e. I have not been taught to like being brushed/handled so I am letting you know by snarling or growling, or the dog is just being a dog and simply wants to lay down on something soft like our beds.

Deuce, the younger of the two and a newcomer to our household has excellent social skills. He will avoid a confrontation at all costs. Good lad Deuce, good lad! What he does instead, if he wants to exit a room and Laika is laying close to the door, or if he wants a toy that is in close proximity of Laika, (even though Laika is not really that interested in toys) is to bark. I have learned to recognize when he needs my “help.” So I come and help him. The way I help him is by positioning myself between him and Laika, while Laika doses off really not that interested in harassing or hurting Deuce. Yes, I know it sounds like a pain to have to stop what I am doing and a major case of: who is training whom here – an interesting topic for another time, but there are several good reasons to do this.

1. Your dog will learn to come to you (or call you when he/she is in trouble instead of running away if he is hurt).

2. Your dog learns that you are trustworthy and that is a sweet thing.

3. You get to make decisions about interactions between your dogs and “explain” the rules when needed…. No we do not take bones (unless these have been abandoned) from each other.

4. It is really good to get up from the chair and move around when you have a home-office since it is so easy to just plug away at the computer. So, I see these interruptions from my dogs as the equivalent of taking a break at the water fountain or stopping by an office-mate’s cubicle to comment on each other’s nail polish or the upcoming elections. These interruptions, which do not happen daily, are also great opportunities for me to learn about my dogs and enjoy what they do best: being dogs.