@siggy47 I know you're a dog lover, so you might like this documentary if you've never seen it.

"Living with Wolves" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgW9ofHAxIE

It follows the story of a wolf researcher in Idaho who was caring for abandoned wolf pubs from local sanctuaries. Eventually he formed his own wolf pack and set them free.

The interesting thing is that the wolf who became pack leader was not the biggest wolf, in fact he was quite a bit smaller than the largest male. However, the researcher frequently commented that he was the most "alert" and "intent"....and well he simply seemed to command the most respect.

This cause a bit of a stir when he first documented it, as it was previously assumed that it was always might makes right.

When you think about it though, its fairly dumb for nature to simply select on size. A big stupid wolf would be much more of a detriment to pack health than a smaller clever wolf. At the end of the day its all about leading the pack to food and keeping pack dynamics in check. Intelligence works in humans success, why not wolves....