Top Dog |
Being Top-Dog Peeing on the carpet, knocking you down, or stealing dinner off the counter are all signs that your dog doesn't respect your rules. In other words, you are not the Alpha Dog. If you ever want to have a peaceful and happy relationship with your dog, you need to learn how to become top dog. It's not just a silly phrase. Dogs have a hierarchal ranking system. In simple reality, the only two ranks you need to know are top dog and not top dog.... The Ruler, and the Rule Follower. Naturally you don't want to be caught in the trap of being subject to your dog. You want your dog to respect and obey you, not to fear you. Don't confuse the two. A dog may obey you out of fear, but not respect you. That is a dangerous situation to be in. Have you ever seen the movie Iron Will? If not, watch it. It gives some great insight. There's a dog sled driver who beats his dogs into submission and treats them terribly. They respond to his beatings and he has a winning team, but at the first sign of weakness, they turn on him and... well it wasn't pretty. Of course that's a dramatization and worse case scenario. Frankly, I think anyone who beats their dogs has it coming. It's just not necessary to rule with an iron fist. When your dog disobeys, scold him. Raising your voice above normal with a stern NO usually breaks his concentration, and it lets him know quickly to stop the action. After all, his mom growls at him to stop unwanted behavior, but she will go right back to normal with the pup as soon as the action is stopped. Instantly back to the loving mom role--this lets the pup know that it’s the action--not him. You must do the samething, sometimes it’s hard not to get mad, but you must return to the loving role as soon as he stops. This can be hard, especially if he just chewed a hole in the couch. Remember to never use his name with the word no--his name needs to only be associated with pleasant stimulus. Don't allow him to beg for food. Doing this gives him the impression that it's okay to whine to get what he wants. It's not. This is very easy--never start doing it in the first place. If and when a dog should bite you, and you don't believe him to be wild or sick, then you have to take action to ensure he knows that it will not be accepted. (If there is any indication of disorientation of your dog at this time, call a vet. Dogs can bite if they are sick, hurt or scared. You should seek professional advice.) If bitten, appropriate action would be to grab his head firmly, not in anger or rage but in calm control. You are just making a point here that you are the leader and you can control his actions. Don’t release until you see submissive behavior. He needs to respect you, just as he would his mother. If you’ve ever seen two dogs have a scuffle, the dominant dog will control the other one’s motions, and the submissive dog will lay down, show his belly and begin licking the dominant dog’s chin. You must be able to completely control your dog’s behavior at this point to teach the lesson, but this could be dangerous if you aren’t physically able to handle the dog. YOU HAVE TO BECOME THE ALPHA DOG---if you don’t then your pup could run over you and develop some really nasty behaviors. If your dog has progressed to this level, then something got skipped over during puppy training. You could need professional help at this point if you are afraid to take control. Biting is best stopped at an early age. I personally don’t like a puppy putting his teeth on me, even when he’s playing, and when he does, I will take his lower jaw in my hand and insert my thumb under his tongue and apply pressure. Each pup is different--some will require more pressure than others. (In the dog world, he learns most of his rules while playing with littermates and other dogs as to what is acceptable and what is not, so it is an excellent time to start) This is very effective and will reduce mouthing to licking in a matter of days, if not minutes, and remember licking is submissive. It’s never to early to start. I usually don’t even speak when doing this and as soon as I release, I start petting the pup again. Here is another tip that I use a lot: when a mother dog licks her puppies, she does so very firmly. When you pet your puppy, put enough pressure on your hand so that his eyes will squint a little bit as your hand moves across his head. This also asserts your dominance in a very nice gesture. A old man told me this years ago and it really does seems to help. Remember that if you want to be the top dog, you have to take control. Leadership is essential in a dog's life. You are the one who gets to choose who that leader is. Leash training and basic obedience training (sit, heel, stay, down, and come) needs to start early. It’s much easier to do when they are small, and believe it or not, a couple of 10 minute training sessions a day is all that’s needed. Remember to end each session on a happy note. Never play tug of war with your puppy. This is a dominance game among litter mates: just don’t give him the chance. If you’re playing fetch, and he runs around you instead of coming to you, squat down and turn your back to him. He will soon bring it back to get you to play with him. If you need him to release something he has in his mouth, then just lift his ear, blow in it at the same time, and give the command GIVE. His mouth will pop open. Give him generous head rubs when he does this and he will soon associate the word with the action. |