Sid Gustafson
Novelist and Veterinarian

The Evolution and Domestication of the Wolf
Bozeman, MT
Nov 23-Dec 14, 2010
Museum of the Rockies
Instructor: Sid Gustafson
Course Description:
Shared geographies, social structures, survival strategies and communication skills facilitated the eventual pairing of wolves with prehistoric man. Dog became mankind’s earliest animal partner thousands of years ago. What characteristics of men and wolves led to their eventual partnership? What wolf behaviors do dogs retain after thousands of years of selective breeding? We’ll study the development of the human/​canine bond through time.
Class Format: Lecture and discussion.

Meeting Place and Times:
Museum of the Rockies
Tuesdays
November 23, 30; December 7, 14, 2010
2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Instructor(s): Sid Gustafson.
Sid Gustafson is a novelist, veterinarian, university educator and veterinary behaviorist. Dr. Gustafson has been submerged in animal culture all his life and has taught and practiced veterinary behavior. As well, he seasonally represents the health and welfare of horses at racetracks in California and New York.

Cost: $50.00 for members; $85 for non-members

Required Books/​Materials:

Of Wolves and Men
Author: Barry Holstun Lopez
For More Information:
Please contact Extended University, Office of Continuing Education at ContinuingEd@​montana.edu or (406)994-6683

How to Register: Contact the Office of Continuing Education at ContinuingEd@​montana.edu or (406) 994-6683 or (866) 540-5660 (toll free).

"Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived."
- Abraham Lincoln

Dominance in domestic dogs, useful construct or bad habit?
John W. S. Bradshaw, Emily J. Blackwell, Rachel A. Casey
Anthrozoology Institute, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, North Somerset,
United Kingdom.
Abstract The term ‘‘dominance’’ is widely used in the academic and popular literature on the behavior
of domestic dogs, especially in the context of aggression. Although dominance is correctly a property
of relationships, it has been erroneously used to describe a supposed trait of individual dogs, even
though there is little evidence that such a trait exists. When used correctly to describe a relationship
between 2 individuals, it tends to be misapplied as a motivation for social interactions, rather than simply a quality of that relationship. Hence, it is commonly suggested that a desire ‘to be dominant’ actually drives behavior, especially aggression, in the domestic dog. By contrast, many recent studies of wolf packs have questioned whether there is any direct correspondence between dominance within a relationship and agonistic behavior, and in contrast to wolves, hierarchical social structures have little relationship with reproductive behavior in feral dog packs. Nor do the exchanges of aggressive and submissive behavior in feral dogs, originally published by S. K. Pal and coworkers, fit the pattern predicted from wolf behavior, especially the submissive behavior observed between members of different packs.
In the present study of a freely interacting group of neutered male domestic dogs, pairwise relationships were evident, but no overall hierarchy could be detected. Since there seems to be little empirical
basis for wolf-type dominance hierarchies in dogs, the authors have examined alternative constructs.
Parker’s Resource Holding Potential (RHP) appears to be less useful when applied to domestic dogs
than to other species, although it has the advantage of incorporating the concept of subjective resource value (V) as a factor influencing whether or not conflicts are escalated. The authors propose that associative
learning, combined with V, can provide more parsimonious explanations for agonistic behavior
in dogs than can the traditional concept of dominance.
_ 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.