Are Dogs More Aggressive Than Wolves?
Whether dogs or wolves are more or less aggressive is a subject of ongoing debate and there have been various studies conducted on this in hopes of shedding some light.
It has often been assumed that dogs must be less aggressive than wolves for the simple fact that dogs have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years.
The goal of domestication after all consisted of breeding for specific appealing traits, such as friendliness, sociability and reduced aggression.
While it's true that domestications has helped dogs develop better social skills, while significantly reducing their likelihood of aggressive tendencies directed towards humans, the same cannot be said about dog-to-dog interactions.
The Shift From Hunters to Scavengers
Dogs, (canis familiaris), are said to have descended from the gray wolf (canis lupus).
The process of domestication hasn't occurred overnight, rather it required several adaptations which have taken place as a result of cohabitating along with humans.
From hunting live prey as wolves do, through the process of domestication, dogs have shifted to feeding on the many food residues left behind from the first human settlements.
This alone has ultimately deeply impacted how dogs related to other dogs, considering that, by scavenging, dogs relied less on each other compared to wolves which required a certain level of cooperation between each other.
Dogs are scavengers by nature
Dogs Versus Wolf Reproductive Behavior
Reproductive behaviors of dogs and wolves are very different.
Wolves are capable of reproducing starting around their second year of life. They form bonded pairs that may last a lifetime, and mate only during breeding season with the production of only one litter of pups a year.
Mother and father wolves are committed to raising the pups together and the pups may remain in their care until their second year of life, when they detach to form their own family.
Dogs instead are capable of reproducing already during their first year, female dogs have multiple mating partners, and generally males dogs do not provide any parenting support to their offspring. Puppies are weaned quickly and are then left to fend for themselves.
Social Structures Among Dogs
From an ethological perspective, dominance is the dog's tendency for having preferential access to limited resources such as food, shelter and mating partners.
Dogs with consistent access to resources are referred to as "dominant," while those having less access are referred to as being "subordinate."
Such access to resources has been known as being maintained by aggression/agonistic interactions, but lately, ethologists have recognized that in reality, social hierarchies are maintained by dominance and subordination signals that are not in themselves aggressive or threatening by nature.
Studies have found the formation of social hierarchies among dogs at day cares and dog parks in the USA. (Trisko and Smuts, 2015, Bauer and Smuts, 2007).
In Italy, studies among free-ranging dogs found that dominant males had priority access to mates and older male dogs were "dominant' over younger female dogs.
Signs of dominance in studies were seen under the form of mounting, muzzle biting, high posture and licking, while signs of submission included lowered body posture, mouth licking, body tail wag, lowered posture and pass under the head.
What Studies Say
Interestingly, studies confirm that the interactions between dogs tend to be more competitive and hierarchical compared to the interactions among wolves.
Rather than relying on cooperation with their conspecifics the way wolves do, dogs scavenge for food and even compete for it.
These different niches may have led to such different outcomes when it comes to social interactions.
Several studies have clearly found that, when dogs are raised in social groups, they show higher rates of aggression and competition compared to wolves.
In one study, when 4-month old poodles and wolves were mixed together, the male poodles outranked the wolves when it came to access to food and certain locations.
In another study, when dogs and wolves were respectively provided with an animal carcass, the subordinate wolves were able to eat to the same extent as the more "dominant" wolves, while "dominant" dogs instead obtained control of the carcass at the expense of the subordinate dogs.
In a similar study involving access to food, "dominant" wolves showed signs of tolerating subordinate wolves eating the food item with them, whereas in dogs, "dominant" members did not allow any subordinate individuals to eat and such subordinates did not even dare to try.
Even when dogs were tested for their cooperation with other dogs to solve tasks, results proved that wolves fared better courtesy of their natural predisposition to collaborate.
Some dogs showed some success, but they required some training, suggesting that, left to their own devices, such dogs wouldn't have shown any collaborative efforts.
Dogs are Less Tolerant Than Wolves
There is therefore substantial evidence that suggests that dogs tend to be more competitive and reluctant to share resources, and this, once again has likely to do with their histories as scavengers with a reduced need for collaboration in raising young.
Wolves on the other hand, deeply rely on cooperation for both raising their young and hunting down large prey animals, whose meat is then shared among the group. A wolves' tolerance goes on to show their natural predisposition for wolf-to-wolf cooperation.
Readiness to Cooperate With People
While dogs score low when it comes to collaborating among members of their own species, they show a great readiness to cooperate with people.
Dogs act in a less fearful way and are more readily drawn to forming attachments to people compared to wolves.
Domestication of the dog has provided a good basis for the evolution of human-dog cooperation.
Nothing to Do With Being "Alpha"
When it comes to the interactions among dogs and humans, it's important to point out that there's nothing going on as popular dog trainers such as Cesar Millan and the Monks of New Skete try to portray.
Research by Range et al. (2019) suggested that the role of dogs towards humans is more likely to be “deferential," in other words, dogs are trying to avoid conflict rather than opting on vying for the top "alpha position."
Walking through a door first, eating before the dog and spitting into his meals are methods relying on outdated beliefs and make no sense based on the latest research.
References:
- Wynne CDL. The Indispensable Dog. Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 26;
- Friederike Range, Caroline Ritter and Zsófia Virányi. Testing the Myth: Tolerant dogs and aggressive wolves. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2015
- Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien. "Myth of tolerant dogs and aggressive wolves refuted." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 April 2015
Disclaimer: this article is not meant to be used as a substitute for professional veterinary advice or behavioral advice. If your dog is acting sick or aggressive please consult with a qualified professional for proper diagnosis and treatment.
