Dominance in Dogs ─ Fact or Fiction?

You may have read books or seen TV shows that tell you that your dog will seek to dominate you, your family members and other pets unless you become the “alpha” and put him in his place. The theory is that since dogs evolved from wolves and wolves (supposedly) form packs with strict pecking orders and battle each other to become the pack leader, your dog will do the same within your household. In this new US edition, author Barry Eaton separates out the facts from the fiction regarding dominance in pet dogs, presenting the reader with the results of recent research into the behavior of wolves and the impacts of selective breeding on the behavior of dogs. The results may surprise you and will surely inform you.

Barry Eaton lives in England where he is an Affiliate of the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE) and a Member of the COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers. He is an expert on training deaf dogs and is the author of the popular book Hear, Hear. He is the former chair of the Wessex Sheepdog Society and enjoyed participating in sheep dog trials.