Pack hunting behavior, which is also herding behavior, requires the same kind of coordinated activity as flocking and it too is produced by a number of very simple rules. The first of those governs spacing, with each member of a pack of hunting wolves or herding dogs trying to remain equidistant from each other. Another of these rules is to follow the lead of the pack alpha and, in the case of our badlands hikes, I was that alpha. What’s important to remember is that this behavior is hard-wired and automatic, meaning it bypasses conscious process. A more familiar example is leg-lifting by scent marking dogs. A vertical surface that’s been pissed upon by another animal is enough to make a passing dog stop and lift their leg. Stanley Coren has pointed out that “leg-lifting behavior does not seem to be something that dogs voluntarily choose to produce.” This process of scent marking is instinctive and unconscious and for this reasons dog trainers find it extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to train dogs to do this consciously. But it happens anyway, happens automatically.