Within research over the past few decades, there has been much discussion re: dominant and submissive behaviours within and between species. This debate has resulted in several anomalies such as: Dominance, as in the exhibition of ‘aggressive’ behaviours

1/ is not a universal phenomenon (see Syme, 1974; Francis et al, 1992) and therefore cannot be applied to all species

2/ is not always associated with circulating androgens (such as testosterone)

3/ is more often associated with low brain serotonin – a neurotransmitters found in many species for example: humans ( ), dogs (Reisner et al), monkeys (Uno et al, ) and rats

4/ can be present in humans (Dodge, 1980; Patterson, 1989; Loeber et al, 1991)), dogs (Beaver, 1983) and laboratory rats () before sexual maturity.

Furthermore, aggression in dogs is usually divided into eight subsections: territorial aggression, inter-male - , maternal - , dominance - , fear-elicited - , and pain - (Beaver, 1983). (The latter is usually associated with a medical condition.) To complicate matters, several types of aggression (in dogs) can be found simultaneously.

This raises the question when describing dominance in animals of any age from infant to adult – at what stage(s) does one consider neurotransmitters, neural structure, and/or interaction as separate entities?

Another way to approach the issue of 'dominance' is to apply ecological theory in terms of social organization (Colinvaux, 1978) or social status between two or more individuals. This allows for the interaction of

1/ social organization within the species,

2/ social organization between other species; such human-companion animal,

3/ the potential display of aggression,

4/ the neurotransmitters steroids and neural structure present within each individual’s body and brain,

and

5/ the ages of the interacting individuals

without confounding the issue of what is ‘dominance’ and how can it measured consistently within and between different species; especially when each individual within a species responds to different situations due to different anatomical and physiological parameters (for example predator-prey relationships, human-horse interaction; dog-dog). Therefore, for the purposes of this discussion, social status will be defined as the display of alpha behaviours, or exhibiting dominant and submissive behaviours.

ALPHA BEHAVIOURS

DOMINANT BEHAVIOURS
As mentioned above, dominant behaviours involving aggression (implying the need for controlling others through threatening/intimidating/interrogating behaviours) are often associated with low serotonin within the brain. This is the fundamental reason why many aggressive dogs are euthanized – the unpredictability of when the dog’s brain will have low serotonin and the dog attacks another dog and/or human; at times without provocation.

SUBMISSIVE BEHAVIOURS
On the other hand, submissive behaviours are associated with several factors: reduced hippocampal volume, depleted norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and/or the advent of abuse/trauma.