We’ve been taking a look at Wild Wolf Society to help us understand the instinctive dog behavior (both good and bad) that we observe in our pets. We find a fascinating organization and rigid structure in wild wolf society, with fast, consistent and fair discipline and clearly drawn lines of leadership, support, and boundaries. The importance of the coordinated participation of all ranks of the wolf pack in hunting, territorial fights and really in all other occasions, helps us to understand the roles of dogs with different personalities, how they seek to interact with us and with other animals, and the kind of leadership and limits your domestic dog expects of you, without which it is miserable!

A wolf’s sense of smell is at least 20 times stronger than ours (and so is your domestic dog’s). The hearing of a wild wolf is more than 40 times better. So the scent of an invading wolf pack is picked up by the pack that owns the land, even if they are hours away from intruders. The wind carries smells and sounds.

Territory fights are rare between rival wolf packs. Nine times out of ten, the invading wolf pack flees when the wild wolf pack that owns that land appears. Even if the owning pack consists of only three wild wolves and the rival wolf pack consists of nine, the intruders will keep running. The landlord is the winner.

If the intruders refuse to leave, the male alpha leaders will start a fight. Members of the wolf pack on both sides will watch as they watch to see who will win. (Mares do the same when stallions fight.)

The two alpha leaders rarely decide to bleed each other. It’s more a question of who raises their head higher, or the first to be pinned on their back has lost.

Sometimes during the fight, in a clever tactic, a wild wolf from the side of the defending wolf pack will cross paths with the other pack and rob a couple of teenagers. The leader of the intruders will watch the robbery and thus lose the fight due to distractions. The victorious alpha leader will not allow the teens to return. They will become part of your wolf pack.

After a fight, the victors mark their borders. They completely drench the edges with a scent so potent that it would make human eyes water. They groom and lick each part of the new limbs to remove the smell of the old wolf pack, and then rub their own scent on them.

Contrary to popular belief, much of the communication between rival wolf packs is just that, communication, and not a challenge or threat. Alpha leaders constantly howl at each other about things like what that year has been like for them, if the pack is okay or have they had tough times, their victories, how much stronger the pack has grown, etc.

Wild wolves also howl friendly greetings to their relatives. For example, an adolescent female may pass into a rival wolf pack and become part of it, never to return to her birth pack. Still, those in her birth wolf pack will howl news and greetings to her. Family members can cross territorial borders for a visit if they first receive an invitation; however, without invitation, the visitor would be fought for crossing the border. Her own pack would also attack her, because that is against wolf law.

Rival wolf packs always respect each other, and their respective alpha leaders honor each other’s position as pack leader. They recognize the accomplishments and activities of the other wolf pack.

Sometimes a wolf pack is led more by its alpha female than an alpha male leader. There is no sexist attitude in the world of animals. It will scratch the ground and raise its leg to remind intruders of the proper limit. Only the alpha pair raises their legs to score. All other members (male or female) squat down. If a territorial dispute arises when one of the wolf packs is led by a female, the dispute could be resolved by a voice contest (howls) rather than a battle royale in which the pregnant leader would not be able to participate.

So as you can see, territorial fights are not that common among wild wolf packs, and when they do occur, bloodshed is rare because things are normally resolved otherwise. Wild wolf society is replete with rules that apply to all wolf packs and provide stability for their members.