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Pack Therapy is a process that has been in practice for a great
number of years. It is used to regress domesticated wolves and
condition orphaned wolf pups for release into the wild. Only recently
has the idea been considered to use the same methods on domestic dogs
reliant on their feral instincts to condition them for multi-species
occupation.
There are crucial stages of psychological development in which it
is essential for pups to have as much dog/dog interaction as possible.
Contrary to popular belief that the sooner you bring a pup home the
better he will adjust to a human way of life. This ignorance is where
many problems arise. Once the dog hits puberty, he is usually confused
as to his place, authority, and he vents, as many canines do, and is
ultimately misdiagnosed with a behavioral disorder.
From the first day of life, pups are learning very valuable
lessons like how to deal with the stress of struggling for optimum teat
position. As early as 2 weeks of age they are learning to wrestle for
teats with littermates, push each other off, etc.
From 6-8wks they learn proper play etiquette as in how to bite with a soft mouth. They learn this by getting into squabbles with littermates when they bite too hard and by mom's reactions to the same offence.
From 8-14wks, they receive the harshest discipline from the elders of the pack, and sometimes the Omega dog, in an effort to remind them of their place and keep them there. A lack of these very essential interactions can prevent them from having subservient dispositions and reinforce insubordinate behaviors. In fact, a variety of behavioral disorders can be directly attributed to deprivation of these elements during this stage, which is nothing more than a social malfunction. The correct course of action would be to reconnect the dog's own social instincts. The key to this is to implement dog/dog interaction.
At 3wks, the weaning process begins and discipline from mom
starts along with establishing pecking orders among littermates. From
4-6wks, their play becomes more dominant and aggressive to maintain
their ranks in the litter and all the while mom's implementation of
discipline appears to become more severe and is usually assumed to be
ferocious or dangerous to the pups. This truly isn't the case though;
the mother is simply stepping up her role as disciplinarian to prepare
the pups for life as the lowest ranking dogs within the pack. Without
this seemingly harsh treatment from mom and other elders the pups will
lose a very important social skill called greeting etiquette. They will
go into social situations without a clue on how to read other dogs, and
usually end up attempting overly gross ranking maneuvers and dominance
sparring, which can be later, misdiagnosed as dog aggression.
From 6-8wks they learn proper play etiquette as in how to bite with a soft mouth. They learn this by getting into squabbles with littermates when they bite too hard and by mom's reactions to the same offence.
From 8-14wks, they receive the harshest discipline from the elders of the pack, and sometimes the Omega dog, in an effort to remind them of their place and keep them there. A lack of these very essential interactions can prevent them from having subservient dispositions and reinforce insubordinate behaviors. In fact, a variety of behavioral disorders can be directly attributed to deprivation of these elements during this stage, which is nothing more than a social malfunction. The correct course of action would be to reconnect the dog's own social instincts. The key to this is to implement dog/dog interaction.
The process of Pack Therapy would be to acclimate an A or
Anti-social dog into a social group of dogs to reinstall "pecking
orders", discipline, subservient, and obedient behaviors. Even if the
dog is able to dominate any dog above Omega he surely won't get a
chance at Alpha. The Beta and Gamma dogs will see to that.
So regardless of his dominance level he will have to assume a
subservient role or suffer the wrath of his superiors to the point of
elimination (in the wild this would be death). In a controlled
environment this would mean isolation, and to any dog, that's worse
than death. The entire process has a 97% success rate or higher
dependent on individual personalities.
B.U.D.D.I.E.S. Inc. owns and utilizes one of only three
authentic socially active, communal, working, domestic dog packs in the
world. Our pack, known as "The Pack", has been featured in national
publications like: Dog Fancy, Rottweiler Quarterly, Protection Dog
Magazine, the ABC, and NBC news. They are responsible for successfully
rehabilitating over 7,000 dogs on the central west coast of Florida.
They are the beginning of what will be the future of canine rehab and
behavior modification.
