About Dog Packs

Dogs have been in existence for thousands of years. Since the beginning of recorded history, dogs have been hunting partners, protectors, tools and friends to humans around the world. While most dogs in civilized society live one or two dogs to a family, canines are naturally pack animals. Dog packs closely resemble wolf packs, with a fairly rigid structure that helps to maintain order and safety for all pack members.

  1. Significance

    • Dog packs are found on nearly every continent, and range in size from three or four dogs to well over twenty. Many dog packs start out as strays or abandoned dogs that band together for comfort and stability. Dog packs are much more prevalent in poverty-stricken areas, as people in poor regions often turn their pets loose as they do not have the means to properly care for them. The majority of dog packs become feral and choose to avoid human contact, although it is not unheard of for dogs to become aggressive and threaten humans as a pack.

    Function

    • The hierarchy of dog packs is one of the most complex in the animal kingdom. Each dog in the pack has a specific rank and place within the pack itself, and these positions are sometimes defended to the death. The top dog in the pack is known as the alpha dog, and there is most often an alpha female as well. The second-ranking dogs within the pack are known as betas, and the lowest dog in the hierarchy is the omega dog. Each successive rank within the pack has fewer and fewer privileges, with the omega dog often forced to live on the outskirts of the territory and hunt for his own food.

    Geography

    • Dogs have followed their human companions all over the world. From the highest regions of the North Pole to the cold, frozen tundra of Antarctica, canine companions have become a fixture. Packs will often travel dozens, if not hundreds of miles to settle in an appropriate territory. Dog packs do not congregate in just one area of the world, and typically thrive in areas with little supervision or human intervention to disrupt their hierarchy. Deserted places tend to attract more dog packs, such as downtown back alley areas with large amounts of garbage for them to pick through. Weather influences the movement of dog packs as well. Wet or cold weather will drive dog packs towards inhabited areas, since they are able to absorb warmth from heated buildings and hide in outbuildings and under vehicles to get away from the elements. Extreme heat moves dogs to more rural areas with fewer people and more open air and water sources to cool them down.

    Misconceptions

    • People often think that all dog packs are vicious, which is incorrect. While many dogs within a pack structure become feral, that does not automatically make them vicious. Dog packs are commonly seen as unmanageable and useless due to their feral nature. Dogs living in a pack situation can be caught and reintegrated into domestication with proper time, patience and training.

    Warning

    • Pack animals are very protective of their fellow pack members and territory, and care must be taken when encountering them. One should never attempt to contain or disband a dog pack without the right training, as pack dogs will work together to maintain their pack and territory. If you have taken in a formerly feral pack dog, a trip to the vet for an exam and proper vaccinations should be done immediately to prevent transfer of any communicable illnesses the dog might have.