Alpha Rollovers Do NOT Work!!!

If I go through another week where people are calling in wondering why their dog tried and/or did bite them when trying to do an alpha rollover, I may lose it. For those of you who have no idea what an alpha rollover is, I will explain. It is a behaviour performed by an inhumane human whereby this human forces a dog onto its back, stares it in the eyes and then places the other hand into the groin area. It is based on wolf interactions observed during the 70s. Unfortunately, it was an artificial pack of young wolves who had the need to fight a lot.

Since then, a lot has been learned, especially since the scientists started to study real (natural) wolf packs. They were determined to be composed of a Mom and Dad with their offspring and some other family members such as aunts and uncles. If you are using terms such as pack theory, alpha, omega etc. then you have some reading to do! Please start with Dog Sense by John Bradshaw.

What I’m leading up to is that adult wolves do not roll each other. They use more subtle (and elegant) pieces of body language to get their points across. In the WILD, it is RARE to see an adult wolf offer to expose their own abdomen to another wolf. It is much more commonly shown by the babies to the adults.

HOWEVER!!!!! In CAPTIVE wolves, the belly up behaviour is shown by the outcasts of the group. In the wild, these would have been the ones who would leave and join up with a wolf of the opposite sex to create their own pack. In captivity, they have had to learn to show exaggerated puppy behaviour so they don’t get beat up. We humans have created this behaviour artificially.

It just doesn’t work – so don’t do it. Your dogs likely think you are acting like a freak – so don’t do it. You may be scaring the bejesus out of your dog – so don’t do it. You could get bit (especially if your dog is anxious) – so don’t do it. The Monks of New Skete who recommended pet owners do it 30+ years ago are now asking people to not do it – so don’t do it. If on TV, it comes with a caution of ‘please don’t do this at home’ – do not do it!

If we are going to be respectful and humane to our dogs, we need to stop doing these bloody alpha rollovers! Instead of thinking about packs, think about families. Dogs are part of our families.