Dangers of Alpha
Rolling
Greta Kaplan,
CPDT, CDBC
I read a tragic
news article: “Puppy Owner Pleads Not Guilty for Choking Animal to Death,”
Associated Press, February 26, 2010. According to the article, the owner
admitted holding the 10-week old Labrador puppy down for 20 seconds after the
puppy bit the owner’s girlfriend on the nose, causing what the Animal Services
officer called “a minor scratch.”. According to the officer, the puppy was taken
to an emergency vet where he “couldn’t walk, was breathing poorly and had
reddish saliva and blue gums.” The puppy died.
Without further
information, of course, we do not know what motivated the owner. Perhaps he was
really angry and lost his temper, badly enough to kill the puppy. Certainly,
this does not match the description given.
If we accept the
description given, the owner deliberately held the puppy down, using quite a lot
of force. It appears this holding-down maneuver was intended as a consequence
for a bite to the girlfriend’s nose. It’s reasonable to conclude that the owner
believed two things: First, that the bite to the nose was a seriously
unacceptable, even aggressive act that justified severe discipline; and second,
that holding a puppy down with severe force is an appropriate way to discipline
a dog, including a ten-week old puppy.
Both of these
propositions are false. First, puppies this age bite. It’s developmentally
normal and almost never “aggressive.” (Serious aggression in puppies this age is
so rare that it causes a flurry on trainer email lists if observed; many
trainers simply never have seen it.) Second, holding a dog or puppy down as a
form of discipline is dangerous and unnecessary.
The danger can
be to the person if the dog is an adult, particularly a large one. Holding a
large adult dog down puts the person’s face near the dog’s mouth, and a dog who
panics, or decides not to put up with the human aggression, is very likely to
target the face simply because it’s nearby. It can also be dangerous to the dog,
as in this case, where the size and strength disparity was
extreme.
This type of
discipline is unnecessary. Dogs simply do not use “holding each other down” or
“rolling other dogs over” as a way of punishing or enforcing status. Wolves may
do it, but they do so extremely rarely; but in any case, dogs are not wolves;
and even if they were, we are not wolves and do not remotely understand
how and when to apply this type of serious, dangerous consequence. There are
numerous other safer, saner and more effective ways to influence your dog’s
behavior.
Where, then,
would an owner get the idea this was a good tactic? One popular dog training
book by The Monks of New Skete advocated the “alpha roll” in its first edition,
about three decades ago. The second edition, much more recent, retracted that
advice with an apology. However, the original edition is still out there; I
recently saw a client who’d done a few alpha rolls on her young dog, based on
that very book, which she’d picked up secondhand.
Realistically,
though, not many people read that book any more. On the other hand, every week,
millions of people watch a television star who often performs maneuvers very
like the one that killed this puppy. You can watch, on YouTube and the National
Geographic website, as this entertainer grabs dogs and pushes or slams them onto
the ground. In some clips, you can literally see the dog’s tongue turning blue
after some time on the ground. No wonder many pet owners might get the idea that
this is a potentially appropriate response to perceived aggression from the
dog.
And, this same
performer often delivers this type of consequence for behavior described as
“dominant.” I don’t doubt that he might describe normal puppy biting as
“dominant.” So again, it’s no wonder that a pet owner might be led to perceive
normal puppy biting as “dominant,” and to respond in a way he’d seen repeatedly
modeled on TV.
I do not know
whether the owner of the dead puppy, who is being charged with felony animal
abuse, has watched “The Dog Whisperer” on TV. However, I don’t know one
competent behavior consultant who did not immediately, on seeing this tragic
news story, make the same guess I did. This type of human behavior is repeatedly
modeled by a charismatic, persuasive, and apparently effective role model on an
extremely popular television show. It is inevitable that someone was going to
“try this at home” with disastrous results; and this puppy’s death might be that
disastrous result.
Permission to
cross post granted by:
Greta Kaplan,
CPDT, CDBC
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