Watching wolves in the wild, one has the impression, that it is a tight-knit community, that works, without many “words” have to be changed. The animals are running, to hunt, play or sleep together – seemingly without a strict guidance. But how do wolves make the many decisions in the pack, that are necessary, to keep it together and hunt? They all follow a pack leader, the "lead wolf".”, who decides alone?
It seems so. The focus of all activities is the alpha male. The other animals follow him, when it comes to, which direction they take during the hike, how fast they run, what prey to hunt or where to rest. He decides, how long they can play with the boys in their hideout and when they are all to leave in the evening.
But no other animal in the pack makes such an effort, to keep everyone together, like just the alpha male. he's the one, who waits for stragglers and possibly encourages them to continue running faster, that between two diverging groups- and runs, to bring everyone back together or who's watching, that nobody gets into a dangerous situation. Above all, it is him, who maintains constant contact with everyone in the pack, who runs past the others very often and briefly nudges them in the fur with his snout. There is no other animal in the pack that has as many contacts as there is with him, but no one makes as many contacts themselves.
The other older wolves also take on important leadership roles. Especially the alpha female is, next to the alpha male, strive for cohesion. Often the two highest ranks run together.
How to form a “Lead Group”, which has even more weight. Nevertheless it can happen, that most of the other animals suddenly take a different direction than the two alpha animals. But then these two turn around and run after the others.
The young wolves are also actively trying to keep the pack together. You take care of the puppies, when the elders are out hunting. When the puppies are big enough, to be able to run with the others, stay by your side often. They also stay as close as possible to the older animals and give preference to the alpha male. And if they go out on their own, it is the alpha male, looking for her and bringing her back.
The leadership and the decision-making processes in the wolf pack are something of a joint task for all members – except for the puppies, of course. There is no such thing as the all-determining “lead wolf”.. Rather, the pack works like clockwork with many small ones, some bigger ones and one really big cog, which are all closely interlinked and only then function to the benefit of all, if none of these cogs fail.
The wild dogs of Abruzzo
The achievements of wolves in pack cohesion, shows a comparison with feral dogs in Abruzzo, who are less successful at it, Many dogs live in the mountain villages. Again and again some of them are drawn to the mountains, where they live freely for months or years and become completely wild. They form packs of up to 15 animals, attacking and killing even adult cows and horses. Because they are "just" dogs, Grazing animals are not afraid of them and let them come within a few meters of them. The dogs then herd them up the steep slopes, so that many an animal breaks a leg and becomes easy prey.
Because the dogs also find food in the garbage dumps in the villages, so they have enough to eat. However, they have never succeeded, to raise their own puppies. As long as the puppies are small, they are cared for by the mother and sometimes by other animals in the pack. But when they start, to run with the elders, there is no more animal, that takes care of her, familiarizing them with the area or teaching them the ins and outs of canine life in the wild. You get lost, roam helplessly and die one by one. Too large, to be cared for by the mother, and too small, to take care of yourself, they have nobody, guiding them through this difficult transition period.