:Steps on soapbox:
The pack theory, and the term “dominance” in particular, are the root of many false assumptions made in dog training. Pack theory simplifies the relationship between dogs and their humans by reducing it to a master/servant concept. It assumes that any dog is constantly trying to one-up the humans, looking to climb the ladder toward leadership. As a result, there are a thousand idiotic rules out there – some trainers advise new dog owners to never let a dog win a game of tug, or not to let him sleep in your bed. Other advice includes always going through doors ahead of your dog, making him wait for his food until after you’ve eaten dinner, and putting him in “submissive down-stays” for misbehaving.
In reality, dogs pay very little attention to these games. Much of what we believe about dog behavior is wrong. Your dog is not dominant, despite what people may have told you. Dogs don’t look for an “alpha”, they aren’t constantly trying to “assert status”. Your dog can eat dinner before you do (and sleep in your bed), while still being a perfectly behaved animal.
Dogs are not even pack animals. Wolves are, but packs of wolves are organized very similar to human families – in a healthy pack, the young eat first, and while the parents do lead, they do not terrorize.
We made assumptions about dog behavior after observing wolves in captivity. Their behavior was very different from that we have since observed by studying wolves in the wild. This makes sense, actually – toss a group of ten adult humans into a small space, and they will probably turn on each other by day two.
Stepping off soapbox, after elaborating “a little” ~.