Petorama: My dog steals food...

Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette,

My dog steals food from the counter and likes to rush through doors. We have been told this shows she is dominant. But she's really friendly. How can you tell a dominant animal from a submissive animal?

June

Most observations in dominance structure are derived from the primate world. Researchers who do field research in chimps and apes sometimes chart struggles over resources. These charts often represent months of observation.

For example, King and Sally the apes squabble over a banana. If King wins, he gets a point. Sally gets none. Later on King gets into a dispute with Carl over a female. If Carl wins, he gets a point. At the end of a period of time, the tallies are tabulated.

But it does not tell the whole story. Maybe King won the banana because Sally wasn't really hungry and gave up the fruit. Results may differ between times of famine and times of plenty.

Or perhaps Lucky – a quiet bystander courts the female while King and Carl fight. Brawn is not everything.

Dominance is as much about submitting as it is winning. A successful leader will command respect. Force should only be used when necessary. If everyone submits to a leader, then there really is no reason to fight is there?

That makes sense, because nature can be cruel. There is no veterinary care in the wild. Animals that fight a lot tend to die. Scratches can become infected. Minor injuries can act to clean up the gene pool. Nature likes balance. Extremes such as aggression are handled one way or another.

What does that say about stealing food? I am not convinced that stealing food alone has any relationship to dominance. If I happen to eat a whole chocolate cake, it's not likely I'm trying to improve my rank in society. Maybe I was really hungry. It could be I have no self control. Maybe I was 5 at the time and thought it was jolly fun to eat as much cake as I could sneak. But dominance? I'm not sure it holds water as a cause for eating a whole chocolate cake. It is more likely that your dog thinks the roast looks tempting, and he has not learned the self control to leave it alone.

I'm not sure the theory holds water with doorways either. Picture a group of dogs in the wild. There are no doors. Does a group sit around and devise a protocol? “Alright everybody…see that big rock. That's our dominance stone.” It seems to imply a level of cognitive ability that I find doubtful. I think a simpler explanation is that your dog is young and excited to get out the door.

Of course, it is possible you have no leadership skills, cow to your dog's every whim and voluntarily give up any level of control. But I find that hard to swallow. Most of the people I meet are quite competent. I think it's rather insulting to imply that most people are wimps.

Instead of focusing on dominance, identify the problem and fix it. If self control around food is an issue, then teach your dog to patiently ignore food. Instead of rushing through doors, teach your dog to sit and wait for your command to go. If you are not consistent and cow to your dog, then learn how to implement a leadership program like, “Nothing in Life is Free.”

The simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

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Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
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Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...