As I watched Sasha and Sandy I realised I was seeing something similar happening again. I had seen this in the past without realising what I was watching. Now, however, it was as if I was witnessing things for the first time. It was fairly obvious what was going on here: Sandy like Donna was trying to show who was the boss, it was to do with a status of some kind.
The next thing I noticed was the very intense performance my dogs would go through whenever they came together. If, for instance, I took Sasha to the vet for an injection, each time she came home she would immediately go through this performance. I didn’t know what to call it at the time but now I would say it was a ritualised greeting. There would be a lot of her licking all the other dogs’ faces with her ears pinned back: it always happened.
At first it didn’t make much sense to me. In Sasha’s case I didn’t know whether to put it down to youthful exuberance, her newness to the group or some habitual thing she had picked up before arriving in my home. Luckily Sasha’s inspiration was not confined to her actions. In her looks she reminded me very much of a wolf. I had read a little about wolf packs in the past but she made me think about it more closely.
I got out some videos on wolves, dingoes and wild dogs and was amazed when I immediately saw this same sort of behaviour. I was fascinated to see that in situation after situation they too went through this same ritualised greeting. I was fairly sure this was something to do with social status. That hunch solidified as I looked further into the mechanics of the wolf pack, a community in which everything revolves around the leaders – or the Alpha pair.
I will look at the Alpha pair in more detail later. For now I will simply explain that the two Alpha wolves are the strongest, healthiest, most intelligent and most experienced members of the pack. Their status is maintained by the fact that they are the only members of the pack who breed, thus ensuring only the healthiest genes survive. The key point here is that the Alpha pair dominate and dictate every aspect of pack life. The remainder of the pack accept the Alpha pair’s rule and defer to them without question. Below the leading pair, each subordinate member is content to know its vital place and function within this pecking order.
Watching films on wolves, it was obvious that the ritual greetings I was watching were all related to the wolves that seemed to be the Alpha pair. The wolves who seemed to be in charge did not lick the faces of the other wolves – the others all licked their faces. This licking was very specific in nature too, it was almost frantic and concentrated on the face. There were other clues in the body language too. The Alphas had a confidence level, an attitude, they carried themselves differently physically, most noticeably they carried their tails much higher than the others. The subordinates sent out their signals too. Some would simply drop their bodies below their leaders. Some wolves, presumably the younger and lower-ranking subordinates, would not even come that far forward, they would hang back. It was as if only some of the dogs were entitled to lick the leader, some of them were not.
Again I quickly realised I had seen this before. The Duchess, my dog Donna, had carried herself in exactly the same imperious way. But it was when I went back to my pack at the time that the similarities really struck home. I immediately began seeing the same thing again. I saw it was as though there were kings, knights and servants. It was clear that the lower-order dogs were being put in their place by those above them, just as within the wolf pack. I had never made the connection before. Suddenly I saw that dogs were the same. It was a huge step forward for me.
Again it was Sasha who provided the most powerful proof. It was clear to me by now, for instance, that she had acquired a higher status within the pack. She had grown enough in size and confidence to ignore Sandy’s protestations. Sandy at the same time had become more resigned about matters. She would tip her head away, dip her carriage and her tail.
The power shift was most obvious at playtime. When I threw the ball or whatever toy we were using, it would be Sasha’s job to recover it. The others would follow it and bound around it when it landed, but there was no argument over whose role it was to retrieve the ball. And if another dog came near her once she had picked it up, Sasha would give them a little look, her whole body language would shout: ‘It’s mine, now back off.’
Sandy’s body language in comparison was submissive, her body dropped lower and lower as this interaction went on. Sandy had in effect given up the fight and allowed Sasha to impose herself as the head of the pack. The younger dog had, if you like, staged a bloodless coup.
Of course my dogs were not always displaying such intriguing behaviour. There were times when they were happy in their own company. I began to understand that this hierarchy was being reinforced at particular times only. So the next step was to work out exactly when this communication was going on.
I noticed that this would happen with me whenever I got home. Watching the dogs more closely, however, I saw that the same sort of behaviour was repeated with me whenever somebody else came to the front door. As the visitor came in, the dogs would crowd around me. They would get very excited, rush to the door, rush around people. All the time they were doing this, they would be interacting, repeating this ritualised behaviour. I saw the same thing again when I got the dogs’ leads out and we got ready for a walk. All the dogs would get excited and agitated, jumping up and down and again interacting with each other as we got ready to leave the house.
Once more, I studied the wolf pack and once more I saw the same thing. In the wolves’ case this behaviour was occurring as the pack got ready to go on a hunt. There was a lot of running around and jostling for position, but ultimately it was the Alpha pair whose heads remained erect and their tail carriage high. And it was always they who led the pack away in search of the prey.
I realised the wolves were re-establishing who was in charge here. The leader was reminding the rest that it was his role to lead and theirs to follow. This was the pecking order and they must abide by it to survive. Clearly my pack was doing the same. What really interested me at this point, however, was my inclusion in all this. From the way my dogs were reacting around me it was clear that I was somehow part of this process. And of all my dogs, none was so keen to involve me in the process as Sasha.
If we were going out of the house, Sasha would invariably stand in front of me. She would place herself in a position, across my body, blocking me off. Although I could hold her back with my chain she always wanted to go ahead of me. She seemed to think it was natural for her to go forward first. Equally, if there was a loud noise or an unexpected event while we were out on a walk, such as another dog appearing in front of us, she would stand in front of me in a very protective stance. She would also bark more furiously than the others when someone went past the house in view or when the postman or milkman came to the door. And unlike the others, there seemed to be no calming her in these situations.
If I am honest about it, part of me was worried about this behaviour. It reminded me a little of Purdey who also had this habit of running around in front of me. For a while part of me feared I might let my dog down again. Fortunately this time, however, I saw what was going on. Again, memories of Donna provided a first clue. I recalled how she had behaved years earlier when I had fostered a little baby boy, Shaun. Whenever he lay on his blanket on the floor, Donna would lie next to him with her leg over his leg. If he kicked it off she would move it back. She was clearly acting as his protector, guarding over him at all times. It was now that I realised that, just as Donna had felt the little baby was her responsibility, somehow Sasha must also be feeling she had a role to perform in looking after me. Why else would I be given such specific treatment when I came in through the door or when greeting visitors? Why else would she get so hyperactive about my leading her out on a walk?
I realise now that so many of my mistakes were down to human conditioning. Like almost every other person