by Jan Fennell
It is no surprise to discover the Alpha pair are at their most dominant during hunting and feeding times. Food, after all, represents the pack’s most fundamental need, its very survival depends on it. As the strongest, most experienced and intelligent members of the pack, the Alpha pair take the lead during the search for new hunting grounds. When prey is spotted, they lead the chase and direct the kill. The Alpha pair’s status as the pack’s key decision-makers is never more in evidence than during this process. The wolf’s prey can range from mice to buffalo, from elk to moose. A pack may spend hours stalking, cornering and slaying its target, covering as far as fifty miles at a time. The organization of this operation requires a combination of determination, tactics and management skills. It is the Alpha pair’s job to provide this leadership. It is the job of the subordinates to follow and provide support.
When the kill has been made, the Alpha pair get absolute precedence when it comes to eating the carrion. The pack’s survival depends on their remaining in peak physical condition after all. Only when they are satisfied and signal their feed is over will the rest of the pack be permitted to eat – and then according to the strict pecking order, with the senior subordinates feasting first and the juniors last. Back at the camp, the pups and babysitters will be fed by the hunters’ regurgitation of their food. The order is absolute and unbreakable. A wolf will act aggressively towards any animal that attempts to eat before it. Even the fact that the pack contains its blood relatives will not stop the Alpha attacking any animal that breaks with protocol and dares to jump the queue.
The Alpha pair repay the respect the pack bestows upon them with total responsibility for its welfare. Whenever danger threatens, it is, once more, the role of the Alpha pair to protect the pack. This is the third situation in which the natural order of the pack is underlined. The Alpha pair perform their leadership role unblinkingly, and from the front. They will react to danger in one of three ways, selecting one of the ‘three Fs’ – flight, freeze or fight – and will run away, ignore the threat or defend themselves. Whichever response the Alpha pair select, the pack will again back up their leaders to the hilt.
The fourth key ritual is performed whenever a pack is reunited after being apart. As the pack reassembles, the Alpha pair remove any confusion by reasserting their dominance via clear signals to the rest of the pack. The pair have their own personal space, a comfort zone if you like, within which they operate. No other wolf is allowed to encroach into this space unless invited to do so. By rejecting or accepting the attention of other members who wish to enter their space, the Alpha pair re-establish their primacy in the pack – without ever resorting to cruelty or violence.
We may consider them to be pets but our dogs still believe they are functioning members of a community that operates according to principles directly descended from the wolf pack. Whether its ‘pack’ consists of itself and its owner, or a large family of humans and other animals, the dog believes it is part of a social grouping and a pecking order that must be adhered to at all times. What is more, all of the problems we encounter with our dogs are rooted in their belief that they rather than us, their owners, are the leaders of their particular packs.
In our modern society, we keep dogs as eternal puppies, feeding them and caring for them, so they never have to fend for themselves. This is why dogs should never be given the responsibility of being Alpha of a pack, as they will simply be unable to cope with the decisions they face. The responsibility puts immense pressure on them and leads to the behavioural problems I so often witness.
In the course of the last few years, the many dogs I have worked with have suffered symptoms ranging from biting to barking to bicycle chasing. Yet in each and every case, the root of the problem lay in the dog’s misplaced belief about its place within the pack. So in each and every case I have started the same way, by going through the process of Amichien Bonding. I have never deviated once: it is absolutely fundamental.
The bonding takes the form of four separate elements. Each correlates to the specific times I have identified when the pack’s hierarchy is established and underlined. On each occasion, the dog is confronted with a question which we must answer on its behalf.
when the pack reunites after a separation, who is the boss now?
when the pack is under attack or there is a fear of danger, who is going to protect them?
when the pack goes on a hunt, who is going to lead them?
when the pack eats food, what order do they eat in?
This is a holistic method of working: all four elements must take place in conjunction with each other, and they must be repeated constantly, day in, day out. The dog must, in effect, be blitzed with signals. It needs to learn that it is not its responsibility to look after its owner, that it is not its job to care for the house, that all it has to do is sit back and lead a comfortable and enjoyable life. It is a mantra that must be repeated over and over again. Only then will a dog get the message that it is no longer in charge, only then will it be able to exercise the most powerful form of control, self-control. After this has been achieved, the task of tackling the specific problems of the individual dog becomes infinitely easier.
1. Reuniting – The Five-Minute Rule
The first requirement of Amichien Bonding is to establish leadership during day-to-day life at home. To do this involves tackling those moments when the dog and its owner are reunited after a separation. Most people imagine these reunions happen on a handful of occasions each day, when they go out to work or to the shops for instance. In fact the act of separation occurs on countless occasions every day.
Throughout all that is to follow, the dog should be seen, not as a lovable domestic pet, but as the deeply protective, fiercely loyal leader of a wolf pack. So, regardless of whether its owner leaves the house or simply leaves the room to go to the garden or the bathroom, the dog sees it as an instance of a charge or child leaving its protective custody. While the human probably knows how long they will be absent, the dog does not. As far as it is concerned, its charge may never return and it may never see them again. So whether they are away for eight hours or eight seconds, the moment the charge reappears the dog will go through a ritual aimed at re-establishing its leadership. To redress this, the owner must begin displaying the behaviour of a leader. And the first step to establishing that leadership is learning to ignore the dog.
All dogs go through their different rituals when they are reunited with their owners. They may start leaping around or barking, licking or bringing in toys. Whatever they do, it is crucial that the owner turns a blind eye, that he or she pretends it is not happening. Failure to do this means the dog has been acknowledged, or paid homage to, that its behaviour has succeeded in getting attention and the dog has achieved what it wants. Its primacy has been confirmed. Even by turning around and saying ‘stop it’, an owner is allowing a dog to achieve its aim. The key to this then is that the dog must not be engaged with in any way. By this I mean no eye contact, no conversation, no touching unless it is to gently push the dog away. The owner must do nothing.
No matter how agitated or aggressive the dog, it will at some point decide to bring this ritual to an end and walk away. In most cases the dog will probably take a brief time out to evaluate what has happened. It may very well return and go through the same repertoire again. If it does, ignore it. What is happening is that the dog is sensing a fundamental change in its environment. Each time it returns, it does so trying to spot a chink in the aspiring new leader’s armour. I have seen dogs go through the same ritual a dozen times before giving up. Each time the performance becomes more and more muted. By the end, their bark may be barely audible. The key thing to remember is that nothing can happen until this repertoire is over. Any attempt to get the dog to co-operate with you before then will be futile.
The dog will signal that its resistance is over by relaxing or walking off somewhere and lying down. It is the first indication owners get that the dog is seeing them and
their relationship in a new light. The dog’s deferral reflects a new respect for the owner’s space. The process is far from over, but an important breakthrough has been made.
The important thing now is that nothing happens for at least five minutes. The dog can be given more time if preferred, but under no circumstances should anything else be attempted before those five minutes have elapsed. I call it ‘time out’. During this time, the owner should just carry on with their normal routine. Some get impatient, so I tell them if they can think of nothing else, they should pop into the kitchen and make a cup of tea or coffee, as that usually eats up the time. The object of this break is to allow the silent process of deposing the dog to begin. What the owner is inviting the dog to do during this time is to dwell on what has just happened. It is being given space to realise two things have occurred. Firstly, its ritual has failed to achieve any sort of response and, secondly, something has changed within its relationship with its fellow pack member. There has been a subtle shift in the pecking order.
Some dogs are quicker on the uptake than others. In some instances it may take less time, in other cases it may take longer. In my experience, however, five minutes is generally long enough for this assimilation to take place. If during that time a dog comes to its owner uninvited, it must be ignored; even if it comes to sit on its owner’s lap, it must be ejected without a word. The dog must not be allowed to demand anything anymore.
It can, of course, be a challenge, particularly with big, physical dogs. But an owner must be steadfast. If an owner is standing and the dog comes at their body, they must block it with the body and turn away from the dog. If a dog jumps up, putting its front legs onto the owner’s lap, the owner must silently put a hand on the dog’s chest and push them down gently. The owner must not shove or say anything: I cannot emphasise this point enough. Even saying ‘go away’ ensures the dog has got its way and has been acknowledged. Once the five minutes have elapsed, the job of engaging with the dog can begin. And it is by engaging with it in a specific way that an owner will be able to underline the message that a new leadership has been established.
I often hear people complain that it is cruel to ignore a dog in the manner I advocate. My response is always the same: the fact is that by establishing my relationship with the dog on the correct footing, I can enjoy its company even more. By allowing myself the time to get on with the other jobs I have to do at home undisturbed, I am able to make the time I spend with my dogs real, quality time. All owners can begin making that quality time for themselves from the very beginning. I am not saying for one moment that owners should ignore their dogs from now on; they can still fuss and pet over their companions as much as they want, but on their terms. The dogs will be happier in this type of relationship, as there is no confusion as to who looks after whom.
— The Come —
Once the five minutes have elapsed, an owner can begin interacting with their dog according to the new rules. And the first task I ask them to practise is getting the dog to come to them when they want. The principles guiding them here are request and reward. I use the word ‘request’ rather than ‘command’ advisedly because what we are talking about here is a two-way street. Always remember, we are trying to create a situation where the dog is doing things of its own free will. We want the dog to elect the owner as leader of its own volition.
The key points I ask people to remember as they move on is that they should always make eye contact and should always call the dog by its name. Most important of all, they should always remember to reward its good behaviour when it does come as requested. The choice of reward is entirely the individual’s choice. Small pieces of cheese or chopped liver or meat strips make very effective tidbits, I find, but here it is up to each owner: whatever your dog likes. A woman once asked me whether she could give her dog a whole tin of dogfood. Given the amount of rewarding involved in the early stages of the process, that would produce a rather overweight dog.
The important thing is that the second the dog comes, the reward is offered in the dog’s mouth and that the dog is told ‘good boy’ or ‘good girl’. I also suggest owners gently stroke the dog’s head and neck. From the very beginning they are establishing an important principle: the dog has done what it has been asked to do and the minute it has done so it has benefited. By rewarding the dog with food, repeating praise and stroking the dog in a hugely important area of its body, the owner is sending out a powerful message that will be replicated time and time again from now on. If the dog comes to the leader when it is asked, that leader will reward it.
This is a crucial stage in the early establishment of an owner’s leadership and should be practised until the response is exactly what he or she requires. It is quite possible, for instance, that the dog may respond to the attention and the stroking in particular by becoming agitated once more. If the dog starts to slip back into its old ways like this, the owner must at this point stop immediately and leave the process for at least an hour before starting again. The dog must understand that there are consequences to its actions and just as good behaviour is rewarded with food or affection, undesirable behaviour produces a less enjoyable consequence; it loses what it craves most, its leader’s attention. If this does happen, I ask owners to simply repeat the process from the beginning and keep on repeating it calmly and consistently until the dog understands what they want. It is vital that owners don’t rush, and most of all, don’t become angry. I ask them to keep their pulse rate low at all times; I tell them to remember Kipling and keep their heads.
An additional tool in this stage is the creation of ‘no-go areas’ within the home. Early on, a dog can be taught that certain areas of the house belong to the leader. Again, the dog will recognise the principles at work from its instinctive connection to the wolf. Within the pack, the Alpha’s space is respected at all times. Subordinates enter this space only at their leader’s invitation.
Hopefully, a dog should respond immediately to the new system. If it does, the owner simply needs to spend the next few days going through the same process again, beginning and ending it the same way. As they progress they should notice the dog beginning to respond to the call of its name without rushing. This is a good indicator that they are approaching their goal. I liken the behaviour of a dog who has grasped my method to that of a well-behaved child responding to the authority of a schoolteacher. Asked its name in class, a child will acknowledge the teacher then wait to be given its task. I want the dog to behave in precisely the same way. I want it to stand or sit there, acknowledge its owner with eye contact and then await their request, whatever it may be.
Dogs have lots of wonderful qualities but they are not – to my knowledge anyway – mind readers. They do not know what we want of them. By laying down this groundwork, by establishing leadership in this way, owners are paving the way for a new relationship. From now on, a dog will no longer have to guess what its owner wants. It is ready to listen to and co-operate with its owner’s requests. It is also ready to relax and enjoy life.
2. Danger Signals
One of the messages I emphasise when I am working with owners is that all the four elements of Amichien Bonding must act in conjunction with each other. As they begin the first part of the bonding process, they should also begin dealing with a second key area, what I categorise as moments of perceived danger. This most commonly manifests itself at home when visitors arrive. We have all witnessed dogs going berserk at the sound of a doorbell or knocker. There is not a postman or milkman alive who has not been at the receiving end of this sort of unwanted attention. Again, the key to understanding this behaviour lies in the pack. If a dog believes it is the leader of its pack, it believes it is its role to defend the pack’s den. So in instances like this, the dog is responding to an unidentified threat. Someone or something is about to enter its community and it is anxious to know precisely who or what it is. It believes it is then its responsibility to deal with the intruder.
There are two el
ements to the process I ask owners to go through here. The first involves the owner, the other the visitor. When the dog begins barking or jumping up at the sound of someone at the door, the job of the owner is to thank the dog. The point here is that the owner, as the leader, is acknowledging the vital part the dog is playing in the pack. The dog has realised there is potential danger and has alerted the decision maker. It is like a child that has told its parents there is someone at the door and has been thanked for doing so. Relieved of responsibility, the dog can get on with leaving the decision maker to decide whether this visitor will be allowed through the door.
All dogs are clearly different. Some will have developed worse habits than others so there will inevitably be different reactions – from both the dogs and the humans. Experience has taught me that there are four ways of approaching this situation. Firstly, owners can permit the dog to come to the door with them. If this is the case, however, the guest must be asked to completely disregard the dog in the same way that the owner has been doing after separations. It must be explained to them that whatever their instinct, they must not fuss over the dog.
This is, I know, very difficult, particularly for those who love animals and in the case of dogs that are right up there in people’s faces demanding attention. So the first alternative to this is to offer the owner the option of putting the dog on a lead. This will allow him or her greater control if the situation becomes difficult.
If the dog’s behaviour is truly unacceptable, the next alternative should be applied and the dog should be asked to go into another room. It is vital that this is not seen as an act of exclusion or punishment, however. The dog must not be physically shoved or lifted out of the way. It should not be thrown out of the house, into the garden for instance. Throughout the process I want the dog to be making positive associations with its behaviour in certain situations. So this should be done according to the reward principles already established. The dog should be praised for recognising the danger, then removed from the decision-making process and given a favourite tidbit for co-operating. The door can then be shut so that it is out of the way temporarily.