Dogs are said to be pack animals by nature. However, some experts say that they are no longer the pack animals they once were due to domestication, but
others experts believe that dogs are still pack animals and no better than wolves that have been domesticated and no longer live in the wild.
There have been recent studies and reports released that dispute this assumption because they show that dogs differ from wolves in many different ways, including in a social environment.
So, are dogs pack animals? We’ll study this claim, and you might find yourself surprised by the conclusion.
Are Dogs Pack Animals?
In the past, the answer would have been a solid yes. However, as previously stated, behaviorists and scientists are now coming to a different conclusion on this matter.
Why Do We Think of Dogs as Pack Animals?
You’re probably wondering why we ever thought of dogs as pack animals, to begin with. To answer this, you have to go all the way back to the 1970s and a study that was done on domesticated wolves.
The study concluded that there was an Alpha at the head of every wolf pack.
So, automatically researchers decided that humans who were pet owners needed to establish themselves as the Alpha when it came to training their dogs.
There are flaws with this 1970s study that no one noticed at the time, and we’ll talk about those flaws now.
50 Years Have Passed
First off, this study took place over 50 years ago, which means a lot has changed since then, especially when it comes to science. So just because we thought it was true decades ago doesn’t mean we still think it’s true today.
Dogs Aren’t Wolves
As any reasonable pet owner can tell you, dogs are not wolves, and wolves are not dogs. In fact, recent studies have shown that the animals might not even descend from the same line. And even if they did, thousands of years of evolution have changed both species.
Dogs Are Domesticated
Finally, dogs are domesticated, and wolves aren’t. An animal that’s in captivity acts completely different from an animal that’s out in the wild. So, unless you have a wolf for a pet or your dog lives in the wild, they aren’t the same.
Are Dogs Pack Animals?
This brings us back to our question of whether dogs are pack animals or not. The question isn’t as simple to answer as we once thought. Though the study is outdated, there’s still something to suggest that dogs have a pack mentality.
You see stray dogs running in packs, but those are stray dogs and apt to be wilder than the domesticated dogs we have in our homes.
Final Thoughts
While the 1970s study showed that wolves and dogs were both pack animals with Alphas to lead them, recent studies decades later seem to prove otherwise. Many people are surprised by this revelation, but further research will help scientists determine if domesticated canines are indeed pack animals.
Featured Image Credit: Eve Photography,Shutterstock
