Dog social life

As was mentioned in other parts of this site to truly build a good relationship with a dog it is crucial that you understand certain things about them. What drives a dog to do the things it does?
There are certain preset behaviors that all dogs pass through that can be traced back to their predecessors: wolves. Let's look at some of these standard behaviors and the reasons behind them

Life in a dog pack: Looking at wolves we see more clearly why our dogs behave in the way that they do. Wolves (like domestic dogs) are predators that live in packs. The wolf packs are comprised of a complex social structure within which every wolf has its part and purpose. Each wolf understands it must do its part to provide for the pack and protect the territory of the pack if it wants have a chance of survival. The wolf pack though made up of individual wolves is highly structured with a very distinct system of hierarchy similar in many ways to the old Feudal system of the Dark Ages. The advantages of pack life far outweigh the disadvantages in that the group is able to offer better protection against potential predators, is able to control a larger territory and therefore have more prey readily available for the pack to hunt. Since the individuals of the pack work together to protect each other the survival of the pack is better assured and by hunting together the pack is able to kill larger prey than a single wolf would be able to.