Wild Dog Behavior. Dog Herds & Herding
The Puppy in a Wild State:We can't let go of the dog's wild original behavior, when the dog is together with its family it will behave in the same wildly manner that they do. The notions of territory, hierarchical structuring, dominion, and submission apply to its relationship with the owner. We will have to consider the binomial: man-dog as a real social group. The only way to prevent some of these behavioral alterations is by knowing how the puppy acts. Another aspect that we have to have in mind is the balance of the owner and the general surroundings.
Organization of the Dog Herd: We will not fool ourselves: it is an aspect that interests the owner enormously. The relationships that are established inside the heard are similar to those the owner will have to impose. The concept of hierarchy is fundamental to understand these relationships, in which it is important to know the notions of dominator and dominated. When two dogs find each other they don't stand still, especially if they belong to the same sex. When of them will impose its domination, which is not more than being superior to another animal or the owner. The dominated dog recognized the dominating dog as its superior and follows it, without taking any initiative. The human being, in his relationship with the dog, has to assume the position of dominator. The concept of dominion implies the priority in feeding, and the protection of the dominated. It is easy to deduct the consequences of a dominating dog. There will be some thatwill try to invert the hierarchical order of the herd. For this reason there will be dogs that will try to test the owner in order to occupy the position of dominator. We will refer to these kinds of dog breeds as difficult breeds.
Dog Herds: Let's see how the dominating dog behaves in the herd when a difficult situation appears. This will allow us to understand the attitude of the dominating dog with its owner and why we have to avoid these circumstances. The dominant tries everything it can to intimidate the dominated with a threatening, physical attitude: retracted lips, bristled hair, sticking up ears, etc. The owner must not accept this situation under any concept.
The Behavior of the Herd
The Rule of 3: The behavior of the dog in a herd does not reproduce when it is domesticated, but the dog conserves this attitude. Interpreting the meaning of these attitudes is useful to prevent finding a dog that controls the family's life as it wishes. By observing how the dog acts at home we will be able to realize instinctively that the dog tries to find the three zones, which we will describe below.
The Central Zone: This is always occupied by the dominant male (which in this case should be the owner). The most appreciated females also occupy this zone together with their puppies that are less than 7 months old and sexually immature. The male controls this zone to preserve it from any invasion. Some extreme cases have been registered in which the owners could not access their bedroom because the dog was inside. This situation can seem funny at first, but it is not funny at all.
The Intermediate Zone: In this zone we find some gestating females and some males. The females fight frequently to be in the central zone.
The Peripheral Zone: This is occupied by young males. They don't share the herd's food, they are autonomous. The periods of heat are propitious for the hierarchical restructuring, and fights are frequent.The Fearful Dog
