Dog owners may recognize the term “dominance training.” It refers to a theory of how we get animals to do what we want them to do (and be). I attribute the theory to the father of animal behavior studies, the branch of biology that technically calls itself “ethology” but we know it as animal psychology or animal behavior. That man was the interesting and complex Austrian biologist Konrad Lorenz. He transferred earlier studies of wolves into an idea of how his dogs behave. Dogs retain their wolf ancestry and relate to each other in packs, which are led by an “alpha” dog who dominates the pack. In order for a dog owner to relate naturally with the dog, the owner has to assert him- or herself as the pack leader (der Führer in the language that Lorenz spoke).
A remarkable researcher and thinker, Lorenz invented the idea of “imprinting” where baby goslings imprint motherhood on whatever they first see. He raised a brood of geese as their mother, taught them to swim with him and eventually taught them to fly and leave home. In the 30s, he experimented with pure and hybrid birds and found that hybrid animals tended to diminish their social interactions with each other and instead developed outsized appetites for food and sex. This observation led him to think at the time that hybridization in humans might do the same thing, which he then thought might support the Nazi ideology of racial purity. You may remember that in the 30s eugenic thinking was not uncommon, in Europe or in the US. See my earlier article on pop-eugenics in America today: https://sierracountycitizen.org/just-to-be-clear/.
Lorenz did not invent dominance training of animals (the Romans were doing it), but in the US, he was the great popularizer of the alpha dog theory of training through his two books, Man Meets Dog and King Solomon’s Ring. Both appeared in English in the 50s.
Even though dominance training is still popular today (think of the “dog whisperer” Cesar Millan), it has been criticized and opposed by a “reward-based” theory of dog training. See Pat Miller’s article “Debunking the Alpha Dog Theory” https://www.animalhealthfoundation.org/blog/2020/01/debunking-the-alpha-dog-theory-2/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12266384074&gbraid=0AAAAADy0rxB1h5xR101a7L2Z4PEVEr1sB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8__8ke-PkAMV7QnvAh1RzQmyEAAYASAAEgLqRfD_BwE. For a full, scholarly exploration of the conflict between the two schools of dog training, see Jessica Greenebaum, “Training Dogs and Training Humans: Symbolic Interaction and Dog Training,” Anthrozoös , vol 23, no. 2 (4/2/2010), p. 129: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/34273435/Greenebaum__training_dogs_copy-libre.pdf?1406114442=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DTraining_Dogs_and_Training_Humans_Symbol.pdf&Expires=1759966148&Signature=IKQr2PMbrhvyiRHS2thAaWHAQP1vHScRurS68Bj63kKsijiOphwUjazmqN6~SSHmY9bilTXBlPgvMcQt6RYjZ-BfcsqVBORlmcWSvOOMeWO4-~n56-u2~5fcpEGaeQp-h9wUQekR7PnqA~HPbSVSMcK-6V10oieegPdeERuGUhRxg4k-PIyQQp58B4Pq119Az8lNea9pvyVMbgQFx16SiR0CUZU6W7uptRiFWxLR9pL6PzFE1d8UBb~8KrzlLns1zmDPPSyPXWdGePMU7GtXu8ggpagk58nH69IdPXZuZvN7lrqQboaQzbYAuJgDqCu2waZegoa-vw8rXBs6hV5BFQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA.
While there seems an immense distance between the harsh methods advocated by William Kohler’s dominance training and the gentler methods of “dog listener” Jan Fennel, the difference is really along a spectrum, a spectrum entirely defined by the purpose of control and obedience. As a commenter on Pat Miller’s article writes, using food as a tool of control is not that different from using a leash or a training collar. The aim is training. We want the dog to do what we want it to do.
For that matter, using money to train universities, corporations, or people to do what the government wants done is not that different from using positive re-enforcement on dogs. In fact, that whole spectrum of control and obedience training, from beating a dog senseless to swinging a dog through the air by the leash to lifting it by its cheeks down to treats, pettings, hugs, and cuddles is not different from life in America today. Every media image of a masked policeman slamming someone to the ground is a lesson that the iceman cometh. Every tariff and every tariff exemption demonstrate who is master and who the slave. Every illegal detention or deportation is a conditioning mechanism. Every government shutdown shows how much our lives depend on the government. Every billion going into the coffers of the wealthy reinforces dominance training.
It’s useless to say to our trainers that they violate our freedom and rights or that they do unconstitutional things. They are redefining America and teaching us, for our own good, how to live harmoniously and at peace in that brave, new world. Those that learn their lessons well will profit by this present disruption. The others are not American. They are terrorists and damned after being put down.
P.S. If you are interested in what animal behavior studies tell us about human nature, read Konrad Lorenz’s other really famous book, On Aggression.