If you have landed here after a difficult week with your dog, you probably typed something like “how to become the pack leader”. It is worth saying straight away: the pack-leader model is out of date, and the researcher who popularised it has spent years asking people to stop using it.
That is not a technicality. The advice that follows from the model, showing a dog he is subordinate, eating before he does, withholding attention, rolling him onto his back, tends to make the exact problems it promises to fix worse. And the things that genuinely produce a dog who listens are different, more boring, and more effective.
This article covers where the idea came from, why it was dropped, what your dog is actually doing when it feels like defiance, and what to do instead. If you only take one thing away: you are not competing with your dog for rank. You are teaching it which behaviours pay.
Where the “alpha” idea came from, and who withdrew it
The alpha-wolf model came out of mid-20th-century research on captive wolves: unrelated adults, put together in an enclosure, who did compete. That picture was then applied to pet dogs.
The problem is that wild wolf packs do not work like that, and the biologist whose book made “alpha wolf” a household term, L. David Mech, has been publicly correcting it for years. On his own site he writes that “Alpha implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack” (L. David Mech, retrieved 2026-08-13).
In other words the “leaders” of a wolf pack are the parents. Mech asks for them to be called the breeding male and breeding female, not alphas. There is no contest to win.
Two further steps break the chain completely: your dog is not a wolf, and your household is not a pack. A model built on captive wolves, already wrong about wild wolves, is being applied to a domesticated animal living in a human family.
What the veterinary behaviour profession says
This is not one contrarian opinion. The professional body for veterinary behaviour has a position statement on it.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior writes that traditional training “has assumed that animals misbehave primarily because they are striving for higher rank”, an assumption that “often leads trainers to believe that force or coercion must be used”, and notes that understanding has “grown considerably, leading to updated views” (AVSAB Position Statement on the Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals, quoted by the Purdue University Center for Animal Welfare Science, retrieved 2026-08-12).
Read that middle clause again, because it is the whole problem in one line. The rank story does not just describe the dog wrongly. It licenses force as the logical response.
On method, AVSAB is direct: “based on current scientific evidence, AVSAB recommends that only reward-based training methods are used for all dog training, including the treatment of behavior problems”, and it “does not support the use of aversives in any context, regardless of the tools used or the trainer’s level of experience” (AVSAB Humane Dog Training Position Statement, retrieved 2026-08-12).
And it works better, which is the part people assume is a trade-off. AVSAB cites Hiby and colleagues (2004), who found “obedience levels of dogs highest for dogs trained exclusively with reward-based methods and lowest for dogs trained exclusively with aversive-based methods”. Mixed approaches, “often referred to as balanced in the dog training industry”, landed in between (AVSAB, 2021, retrieved 2026-08-12).
One thing this does not mean, and AVSAB says so explicitly: “use of reward-based methods does not mean dogs are allowed to do anything they want” (retrieved 2026-08-12). Rules still exist. Boundaries still exist. What changes is how you teach them.
What your dog is actually doing when it feels like defiance
Rank is a story we bring to the situation. Here is what is usually happening instead.
| What it looks like | What is usually going on | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| “He ignores me when I call” | Coming back has been less rewarding than what he was doing, or recall has only ever been practised in easy places | Pay recall properly, every time, and rebuild it in harder places gradually |
| “He pulls me down the street” | Pulling works. It has always moved him forward | Make pulling stop the walk and a loose lead continue it |
| “He jumps on visitors” | Jumping reliably produces attention, including being pushed away | Reward four feet on the floor before he jumps, not after |
| “He guards his bowl or a toy” | He has learned that people approaching means the thing disappears | Trade up, never take. This one is worth professional help early |
| “He barges out of the door first” | Nobody taught a door routine, and the door opening is exciting | Teach a wait at thresholds as a trained behaviour, not a status ritual |
| “He is stubborn” | The cue is unclear, the environment is too hard, or the pay is too low | Make it easier and pay better, then raise difficulty again |
Notice that none of the fixes require you to be more dominant, and all of them require you to be more specific.
What to do instead: four things that actually produce a dog who listens
These replace the pack-leader checklist entirely.
Dogs settle around routine. Feeding, walking, sleeping and training at broadly consistent times does more for a dog’s sense of safety than any status display. A dog that can predict what happens next does not need to test what happens next.
2. Make the behaviour you want the one that pays
Every interaction teaches something. If the dog gets attention for jumping and nothing for sitting, sitting will fade. Decide what you want, then pay it, immediately and generously at first, then intermittently once it is solid.
3. Get the whole household saying the same thing
The single most common cause of a dog “who does not listen” is four people with four sets of rules. Agree the cue words, agree what the dog is allowed on, agree who feeds. This is what people are reaching for when they say a dog needs a firm leader, and it turns out to be consistency, not authority.
4. Meet the needs of the dog in front of you
A German Shepherd is a working breed with real physical and mental requirements. Most “behaviour problems” in an under-exercised, under-stimulated shepherd are a bored, powerful dog inventing a job. Sniffing walks, training games, chews and problem-solving toys are not extras. Our guide to training a German Shepherd covers the routine in more depth.
The specific advice to stop following
Because this is where the old model does measurable harm, it is worth naming the individual techniques.
- Alpha rolls and pinning. Forcing a dog onto its back to “establish rank”. You are holding down a frightened animal next to your own face. AVSAB does not support aversives in any context.
- Withholding affection to lower his status. The live version of this article recommended limiting petting and attention to a puppy. There is no rank benefit, and you lose the relationship you are trying to build.
- Eating before your dog, or going through doorways first. These are status rituals invented to fit the model. A door wait is a useful trained behaviour; it just has nothing to do with rank.
- Staring a dog down. Sustained eye contact is confrontational to many dogs. It escalates rather than settles.
- Scruff shakes and nose-rubbing. These teach a dog that hands near its head are unpleasant, which is a problem you will meet again at the vet.
- Interpreting normal behaviour as a rank grab. A dog on the sofa is a dog who found somewhere comfortable. If you do not want him there, teach a mat. Do not read it as a challenge.
If a dog is growling, that is information, not insubordination. It is a warning that something is uncomfortable, and it is the most useful signal a dog has. Punishing a growl does not remove the feeling, it removes the warning, and a dog that has learned not to growl is more dangerous, not less.
When it is not a training problem at all
Before assuming a behaviour change is about attitude, rule out pain and illness. This is easy to skip and expensive to skip.
The scale is worth knowing. A Royal Veterinary College VetCompass study of 12,146 German Shepherds under UK primary veterinary care found the most common recorded disorders were “otitis externa (7.89%), osteoarthritis (5.54%), diarrhoea (5.24%), overweight/obesity (5.18%) and aggression (4.76%)” (O’Neill et al., Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, 2017, retrieved 2026-08-13).
Two things follow from that list. Aggression appears in a clinical register, recorded and worked up by vets, not settled by rank. And an ear infection or arthritic joint sits above it in frequency, either of which will change how a dog responds to being handled.
A dog that has suddenly become “disobedient”, snappy when touched, or reluctant on stairs needs a vet before a trainer. Our overview of German Shepherd health issues covers what else is common in the breed.
If you hire help, here is the filter
The dog training industry is unregulated. Anyone can use the title, which is why this screening rule is useful.
AVSAB puts it plainly: “if a trainer is observed using aversive training methods or if a trainer discusses out-dated ideas such as dominance, leader of the pack, or alpha theories, then clients should be advised against hiring them” (AVSAB Position Statement on Humane Dog Training, 2021, retrieved 2026-08-12).
That is a test you can apply in a five-minute phone call, and it is the reason this article exists in its current form. Ask what happens when the dog gets it right, and what happens when it gets it wrong. The second answer should involve making the task easier, not making the dog uncomfortable.
Worth asking before you book:
- What qualifications do you hold, and are you insured?
- Can I watch a class before enrolling?
- What equipment do you use? Be cautious of anyone who leads with a tool rather than a plan.
- What is your plan if my dog is frightened rather than distracted?
For choosing that person properly, see our guide to what dog trainer qualifications actually mean, and how reward-based training works in practice.
So what replaces “be the pack leader”?
Something less dramatic and more useful: be the most predictable, most rewarding thing in your dog’s environment.
A dog who can rely on you does not need managing into submission. It checks in because checking in has always been worth it. That is not a softer version of leadership. It is what people were reaching for with the word all along, minus the wolf mythology and minus the techniques that damage the relationship on the way.
If you are starting with a puppy, the same principle scales down. See training a German Shepherd puppy and socialising a German Shepherd puppy, and if you want to build the relationship itself, strengthening the bond with your dog.
Disclaimer: PetVR shares general information based on our contributors’ firsthand experience with German Shepherds — it is not veterinary advice. Always consult a licensed veterinarian about your dog’s health, diet, or behavior. Read our full disclaimer.
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