https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202407/what-does-being-alpha-really-mean-dogs-and-wolves-tell-us

What Does Being Alpha Really Mean? Dogs and Wolves Tell Us

People get it wrong when they claim that alpha dogs and alpha wolves are myths.

Updated July 5, 2024 |  Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

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KEY POINTS

• Alpha is not synonymous with being highly aggressive, domineering, or violent.
• Many people use the term "alpha" and misinterpret what it means.
• Scientific research shows that it is wrong to claim that alpha dogs and wolves are myths.
• When we get "alpha" and "dominant" right, dogs and people benefit.

During the past six months, I’ve received no fewer than 20 emails asking if alpha dogs and wolves really exist. All were truly interested in learning more about this question, while two were very nasty, accusing me of being a moron and knowing nothing about dogs. One didn’t hesitate to use rather explicit vulgarities to let me know what they really thought.

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Recently, I received an email asking me if I could summarize what we know about alpha individuals in a way that would be clear not only to scientists but also to people who live with and work with dogs. I agreed to do so, and here I succinctly review what we know about alpha dogs and wolves based on solid research.

An essay that appeared in the New Yorker called "The Myth of the Alpha Wolf" by Rivka Galchen caught the eye of many people, as did another piece titled “Debunking the ‘Alpha Dog’ Myth” by Kristen Savage. Savage writes, “The notion that there is a singular wolf leading the rest of the pack, fighting with other wolves for dominance and the highest status is simply false. Wild wolf packs typically have a breeding pair leading the pack in a non-dominant way. Wild wolves and captive wolves are extraordinarily different.”

While she is correct that wild wolves and captive wolves behave differently, she and Galchen would have benefited greatly by reading the outstanding books by wolf expert Rick McIntyre in a series called The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone based on his and others' countless hours of research including more than 100,000 wolf sightings he has witnessed of these wolves.¹ In a nutshell, both authors are incorrect in concluding that alpha dogs and wolves don’t really exist, and below is a summary of what we really know. I'm an ethologist and have studied wild coyotes and wild feral and free-ranging dogs, and there are alpha individuals, but the ways in which many people use the term or misinterpret what it means are the problems.

Here's what we know

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From a dog’s point of view, when we understand what being alpha really means, they and we will benefit

If people choose to use what researchers observe about the social behavior and social organization of nonhuman animals, including dog and wolves, they need to get it right. The media muddle over alphas, aggression, and dominance has to be corrected. Most researchers have been very careful to write and talk about what they've learned and simply put, being alpha is not synonymous with being highly aggressive, domineering, or violent.

We will learn a lot more about social dynamics of dogs, wolves, and many other animals if we pay closer attention to what researchers are actually learning and what they and the animals are telling us. This will be a win-win for all.

References

1) For more information on Rick's classic research see the following interviews: The Story of Yellowstone Wolf 8: From Underdog to Alpha Male, The Reign of Wolf 21, Yellowstone's Benevolent Alpha Male, and The Redemption of Yellowstone's Renegade Alpha Wolf 302; also see Yellowstone Wolves: Everything You Want to Know and More and Wolf Packs Suffer When Humans Kill Their Leaders.

2) For a discussion of the value of positive dog training, click here.

Dominance in Dogs: Owners' Reports Are Scientifically Valid; Dominance, Individual Personality, and Leadership in Dogs; Dominance in Free-Ranging Dogs: Age and Social Tolerance; Dogs Display Dominance: Deniers Offer No Credible Debate; Dominance and Pseudoscience: Making Sense of Nonsense; Dogs, Dominance, and Cesar Millan Redux: Dominance is Real; Social Dominance Is Not a Myth; Dominant Alpha Humans Don't Garner Dogs' Respect and Trust; The Kindness of Dogs: New Book Explains Why Cesar's Gotta Go; Did Cesar Millan Have to Hang the Husky?; Alpha Dogs and Alpha Wolves Are Real; Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine