Fraternity Talk: Alpha, Beta, Omega

Axel and Abbey’s favorite game to play with me is hide and seek. Usually, Jacob will hold them in the family room and I will sneak off to the darkness of the front room to hide somewhere. They turn to catch a peek, they strain at their collar, and they chuff with excitement. When I call “find me!”, there is a thunderous flurry of paws as they race to the front of the house. They start visually searching, try to find me in some of my usual places, and eventually turn to their noses which never fail to find me in even the most clever place. I pick a spot where I can watch them search. They will often start out separately, but as the task becomes more difficult, they will pack up with Axel in the lead and Abbey following. Abbey’s pretty smart to follow Axel — he’s a pro at this game and generally finds me first. She knows she gets the same amount of praise whether she’s leading the search or providing support. For both of them, the hunt is the exciting part, the praise and love when they find me is just as rewarding.

It is an exhilarating time that ends in lots of tail wags and smiles from the dogs along with copious giggles from me. I remember the first time I asked Jacob to switch roles — I would hold the dogs while he went to hide. I wanted him to have as much fun as I was having with the hounds. He joyfully went to the front of the house, hid in plain sight, and called “find me!”. The dogs had watched him leave the room and when I released the hounds, they just stood there by my side. He called out again, “Find me!” The hounds looked in his direction even took a step, but then looked back at me. Eventually, I cued them with “Let’s go find Jacob!” and they took off at my heels to go find him. If I stopped anywhere in between, they were right there with me. We’re continuing to work on their recall to Jacob but it is one of their most difficult training tasks as it has everything to do with our group dynamic.

Pet owners disagree on a lot of things with a vehemence that one wishes someone had shown when Hitler annexed Austria. Greyhound owners foam at the mouth about small dogs on inappropriately used flexi-leads. In turn, greyhound owners are often the object of public criticism that our dogs are too skinny. The love that we share for our companions can easily turn into passionate displays of chest-thumping, superiority seeking behavior intended to keep the rest of our audience in frightful awe. Don’t kid yourself. When you sarcastically dismiss someone on a message board (or start a flame war), you’re engaging in a primal display of dominance. When you feel it is necessary to charge up to a complete stranger in a pet store to preach your truth and chastise them for their perceived wrong, you’re engaging in a primal display of dominance. You’re right and the silly, misguided, and downright stupid other person that you just rained judgment down upon should listen to you because you’re under the impression you’re better suited to lead the rest of us.

Thank goodness one of the things that makes us uniquely human is the ability to collaborate with others, even when we come from opposite points of view. And even better, we are highly adaptable creatures when presented with new knowledge. Unfortunately, we get caught up in semantics and our brains get stuck in loops. Alpha has become entrenched in the popular pet psychology as equal to dominance theory and worthy of public ridicule should an owner even utter the word alpha or try to determine the group dynamic order in their home. McConnell discusses the concept of pack dynamics quite a bit in all of her books. I think that she is one of the few animal behaviorists in the modern day that has tried to uniquely answer how do humans and their canine companions coexist as a group unit. McConnell reminds us that in her early days she was alpha-rolling her dogs with the best of them and listening to the wisdom of the Monks of New Skete. Between the lines, she reminds us that we all start somewhere on a neverending journey to somewhere better. Today, and with each new day, we have unprecedented access to the knowledge of behaviorists and animal trainers the world over.

I’m not a dog and my dogs are by no means humans. I don’t call them fur kids and I don’t compare them to kids. They are creatures who deserve to be themselves. At the same time, the dogs and humans in my house need to figure out how to coexist together. Alpha, beta, and omega are terms used in scientific, anthropological research to describe the relationships between creatures of the same species. Of the humans in the house, I am the alpha by and far. I take the reins and steer the direction we go regularly. Jacob (when at home, only, mind you) is an omega. He could often care less what we’re doing and is happy to tag along. Does it always work that way? Of course not! Jacob has free will and some days I just want to follow someone else’s lead. If you saw Jacob at work and only work, you’d peg him as an alpha hands down. It surprises me all the time how he shifts from leader to follower. The same thing goes for our hounds.

For many months after he arrived at our home, Jacob and I could not hug without Axel nosing between us. He will freeze and plant himself on walks if Jacob doesn’t do exactly what Axel wants him to do. At meet and greets, if Abbey gets attention, Axel will shove himself between the person and Abbey to get a bit of attention himself. He will do it at home if he thinks there is a treat coming Abbey’s way and not his.  I’m not sure I can remember a time that Axel hasn’t vied for the top of the totem pole. He just seems to know better than to out and out take it.

Abbey gets a happy hook in her tail and bounces along following nearly any of us. Axel finds the mischief and Abbey endorses the fun. She will drop a toy for Axel if he wants it. She will recede slightly when he noses in for affection from someone petting her. She curls up in his crate with him when she gets the chance and snuggles up near him on the floor. Abbey has a strong idea of what makes up her pack. If I make the slightest move, she will be the first to pick up and find out where I went.

Axel is my roaring beta and Abbey is my docile omega. When they interact together, Abbey never complains about Axel horning in on her treats or fun. They happily share food and toys between each other. The most I have ever heard out of Abbey or Axel is a growl of surprise when one clocks the other with a paw in the head during their sleep. Within five minutes of Abbey arriving at our home as a foster, Axel was happy with her. He didn’t try to challenge her or tell her where her place was in the order. He sniffed her and turned to walk back into the house. Abbey got in a brief sniff then was off to follow Axel inside her new home. They knew before Jacob and I that they were a special match, a content dyad. It is not always easy bringing together two dogs that have been raised apart from each other. I have many friends and neighbors who go at great lengths to keeping rules and routines that keep their hounds playing nice together. It might include separate walks, sleeping arrangements, or feedings.

Plain and simple, we lucked out with Axel and Abbey. As I continue to write about them as individual dogs, I will also be writing about them as fits their roles in relationship to each other and to the humans and other dogs that they encounter. It is easier to use alpha, beta, omega to sum up certain qualities, but it is by no means the only way to describe our complex relationships with our canine companions.