T
Hmm, I dunno. Alpha rolls are one of those things that people either love or hate. I believe in holding young puppies on their back, but it's to build trust, not a dominance thing.
I do not believe in doing alpha rolls to "cure" dog with dominant tendencies. If a dog is geniunely dominant, it will not submit to an alpha roll. You'll end up being bitten. From what I understand, alpha rolls are going out of style because of this.
I do not believe in doing alpha rolls to "cure" dog with dominant tendencies. If a dog is geniunely dominant, it will not submit to an alpha roll. You'll end up being bitten. From what I understand, alpha rolls are going out of style because of this.
Courtesy of Angelique:
Although there are times when an experienced dog handler might "put a dog on the ground" to diffuse an attack, get an out of control dog to relax, or deal with being bitten...
Please do not do this to your dog! Regular dog owners should not do this. You have a great chance of getting bitten or ruining your dog's trust in you.
Here is why:
Leaders do not "alpha roll" subordinates, they don't have to.
Your dog may think they are the leader, and you are an "alpha wanna be", challenging them for leadership.
You could be dealing with a dog who is afraid, and get a nice "fear bite" for your troubles, and end up with a dog who is even more afraid, and has learned to bite to protect themself.
You could not read their body language correctly, and do it to a dog who's actually showing you submission. In the dog's mind they were "attacked" by you, for no good reason. This makes you an "unstable" leader, and not to be trusted.
Most people do this in anger, the dog knows this. Again, you will be an "unstable" leader, and not to be trusted.
You could accidently hurt your dog, "aggressive, unstable" leader once again. Bye-bye trust.
Need I go on?
Although there are times when an experienced dog handler might "put a dog on the ground" to diffuse an attack, get an out of control dog to relax, or deal with being bitten...
Please do not do this to your dog! Regular dog owners should not do this. You have a great chance of getting bitten or ruining your dog's trust in you.
Here is why:
Leaders do not "alpha roll" subordinates, they don't have to.
Your dog may think they are the leader, and you are an "alpha wanna be", challenging them for leadership.
You could be dealing with a dog who is afraid, and get a nice "fear bite" for your troubles, and end up with a dog who is even more afraid, and has learned to bite to protect themself.
You could not read their body language correctly, and do it to a dog who's actually showing you submission. In the dog's mind they were "attacked" by you, for no good reason. This makes you an "unstable" leader, and not to be trusted.
Most people do this in anger, the dog knows this. Again, you will be an "unstable" leader, and not to be trusted.
You could accidently hurt your dog, "aggressive, unstable" leader once again. Bye-bye trust.
Need I go on?
alpha rolls are a misconceived idea by people who do not understand "wolf" behavior correctly.
while dogs with a good, solid temperament and laid-back disposition will probably cope without problems, it can cause the opposite effect of what people are trying to achieve by alpha-rolling in the first place.
while dogs with a good, solid temperament and laid-back disposition will probably cope without problems, it can cause the opposite effect of what people are trying to achieve by alpha-rolling in the first place.
Most heirarchy establishment is done through psychological means, not so much physical other than some subtle body positioning. Most packs are made up of a Dad, Mom and kids and a stray here and there sometimes. They are not constantly in a pack either. Packing is mainly used for hunting large game. Heirarchy is mainly needed for breeding ...not much else. So, if they're not breeding, have families or hunting large game, many times, wolves have been observed alone. It isn't the rigid pack thing that people envision.
This is based on some pretty recent studies and observations of wild wolves, not captive ones, where behavior is not always normal.
This is based on some pretty recent studies and observations of wild wolves, not captive ones, where behavior is not always normal.
I'd love to see the advocates of alpha rolls try to alpha roll a wolf. 
I don't think you need to slam a dog on its back to earn respect. In fact by showing that kind of instability you'll probably lose it. I am alpha because I control my dog's food, I control the affection/petting/belly rubs, I control when he goes out, I control the toys, I can even control where and when he sleeps if I want to. Being in control of thos important things lets my dog know that I am, in fact, the boss.
Now, if he was free fed, had a doggie door, had toys all over, was allowed to sleep anywhere he wanted, and fawned over constantly for no good reason... then of course I'd have "dominance" issues! You'd have to have a really, really laid-back dog for them not to take advantage of that.
Things like NILIF are just good common sense, but I love them because they make people aware of the fact that they don't have to be scaring their dog into submission in order to gain their respect and obedience.
That being said, I could tackle my dog right now and hold him on his back and he wouldn't care at all. Why? Because he's not a wolf. He doesn't view my rolling him over as a threat, he views it as a gesture of affection. I have rolled him on his back since the day I got him, he's used to it and thinks nothing of it.
I agree with Gempress about holding puppies on their backs. It -is- a very submissive position and I think it's a good thing to get them used to being handled in every way possible. (Which is what I really love about Dakota, I can do literally anything to that dog and he will stand for it.)
I don't think you need to slam a dog on its back to earn respect. In fact by showing that kind of instability you'll probably lose it. I am alpha because I control my dog's food, I control the affection/petting/belly rubs, I control when he goes out, I control the toys, I can even control where and when he sleeps if I want to. Being in control of thos important things lets my dog know that I am, in fact, the boss.
Now, if he was free fed, had a doggie door, had toys all over, was allowed to sleep anywhere he wanted, and fawned over constantly for no good reason... then of course I'd have "dominance" issues! You'd have to have a really, really laid-back dog for them not to take advantage of that.
Things like NILIF are just good common sense, but I love them because they make people aware of the fact that they don't have to be scaring their dog into submission in order to gain their respect and obedience.
That being said, I could tackle my dog right now and hold him on his back and he wouldn't care at all. Why? Because he's not a wolf. He doesn't view my rolling him over as a threat, he views it as a gesture of affection. I have rolled him on his back since the day I got him, he's used to it and thinks nothing of it.
I agree with Gempress about holding puppies on their backs. It -is- a very submissive position and I think it's a good thing to get them used to being handled in every way possible. (Which is what I really love about Dakota, I can do literally anything to that dog and he will stand for it.)
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