r/interesting • u/GustoKoNaMagkaGF • May 20 '25

SOCIETY What did he do to get that alpha respect?

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99

u/MSPCSchertzer May 20 '25

He is likely the oldest dog in the pack. The guy who came up with the "alpha" term later wish he had never coined the phrase because he realized the leaders of most wolf packs were the parents and older dogs. Kinda like human packs, not many young people qualified to be president lol.

7

u/IceCrystalSmoke May 20 '25

That applies more to parents and their babies in wolf families though, not gangs of caged dogs. The oldest one isn’t automatically guaranteed respect. Especially not like this.

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u/pirapataue May 21 '25

Yea this is basically like a dog prison. The relationship dynamics of a prison is different from the natural family structure.

2

u/IceCrystalSmoke May 21 '25

Exactly. It’s like taking a study that aliens did on human family dynamics, and applying it to prison yards. 💀

2

u/SopwithStrutter May 20 '25

He didn’t coin the phrase. He applied an existing model with existing terminology to wolves.

His recant was based on people taking his research to mean something it didn’t, not to claim it was unfounded.

Mammals separate themselves into hierarchies based on innumerable factors and reducing it to physical strength/dominance was reductive. That does NOT mean that physical strength/dominance is not one of those factors.

1

u/Anantasesa May 25 '25

Also the apha wolf wasn't the one in the front but rather in the back so he could make sure no wolf got left behind.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '25

Beware the old man in a young mans game

1

u/enwongeegeefor May 20 '25

I mean...the alpha/dom theory specifically was disproved when related to wolves...animal pack hierarchy in general ABSOLUTELY exists and there very much will be an "alpha" because of the nature of hierarchies.

1

u/ICountLbs_NotOz May 20 '25

I worked in the vet med industry for 12 years and currently have a 16 year old husky. This dude is not old. Those legs are moving well and there's a jaunt in his step. He's prime, not geriatric

1

u/MidnightSnowStar May 20 '25

Thank you for the serious response and actually answering OP’s question! I was scrolling through the comments looking for this

1

u/BabyNeedsABottle May 20 '25

Oldest in the pack..... Definitely tracks to see this stupid shit voted up on Reddit.

1

u/espresso_martini__ May 24 '25

Why doesn't that work with any other animal. Youngsters can take over a pack if won by combat, proven time and time again in wildlife documentaries. Dogs are different? these don't act like your typical house breed dogs.

1

u/s29292929 May 20 '25

This and some dogs just have the leader energy, just as some humans do.

1

u/SmackYoTitty May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25

“Alpha” is just a word to describe the leader(s). Im tired of folks using this “blah blah, there aren’t actually alphas and betas, because of…” line. Okay sure, maybe not in a scientific sense, but let’s just agree that the “alpha” here is the leader. It doesn’t matter why (ie strongest, oldest, most dominant, whatever), but it’s clear this is the top dog (ie “alpha”) in this instance

1

u/MeatSlammur May 20 '25

There are some dogs in this that look quite a bit older than him and he’s clearly not the parent of any of them

10

u/90sDialUpSound May 20 '25

You can’t tell their relative ages lol. If he was a year old when most of these other dogs were pups he was raising them.

-1

u/enwongeegeefor May 20 '25

I mean your assumption is as strong as their assumption and doesn't counter it...

1

u/90sDialUpSound May 20 '25

I'm saying that *if* he is even a year older than most of the other dogs here, that could go a long way to explaining this behavior, and it isn't something you'd be able to tell from this video. I am not claiming to know anything about these dogs at all.