We breakdown a brief history of the alpha theory and how it bore out of antiquated research from L. David Mech about wolves both in the wild and captivity. In talking about how Mech himself has spent decades trying to have his own book removed from the shelves, we discover how we have had it all wrong and that, especially in terms of how it informs the behavior of domesticated dogs, wolves operate primarily in familial packs while the "alpha pair' are simply the mother & father of the pack, or "breeding pair." By taking this new understanding and applying it to a common dog training scenario we demonstrate that there is actively a better way.