Dogs and Dominance.

By The Dog Dude

Dogs and Dominance.


Dear Dog Dude

During the past week our two dogs, Jack, a 2-year-old Chihuahua and our new dog Toby, 1-year-old Terrier mix have been attacking each other. We brought Toby into our house about three months ago. Toby's past life was very hard -- best case scenario he was severely neglected; worse case he was abused and neglected by the very people who were supposed to love and take care of him. When the shelter got him one of his legs was broken in 4 places and he was completely matted.


I think my boys are fighting for dominance, but what should I do? I don't want either one hurt and I want them to be companions for each other. We've starting exercising them more and putting them in the submission position after we pull them apart. Toby starts obedience classes in two days, and we’re hoping that this all works out. Any advice you could give our family would be much appreciated!


Thank you,

Jessica Lang and Steven Andrews


 

    There are a few questions that come to mind:

  • Are they both neutered?
  • Does either one of them feel closer to you or territorial over you?
  • Does either one feel the environment in your home belongs to them?
  • Have you identified which one of the two is strongest or who is instigating?
  • Are you aware of your state of mind around the dogs and what you may be doing unconsciously when breaking the two apart?

The obedience class you are about to start is a great idea. Training is conditioning and it creates a surrendering state of mind, or calm-submission, which is what you want. Training the two dogs together would be ideal. Make it your goal to be aware of your state of mind and behavior around the dogs – which one do you say hello to first, which one do you put the leash on first?

Your dogs are asking you to step up as the pack leader. Animals select pack leaders because they instinctually know who is strong and who can best lead them. An animal pack leader is concerned for the pack, not for himself. His natural instincts are protection and direction for the entire pack. It’s an unselfish role and an instinctual role. And in return, the pack completely trusts the pack leader. You need to earn your dogs’ trust, loyalty, and respect before they will look to you as their leader and you do this by giving them rules, boundaries, and limitations.

Go back and watch some episodes of Cesar Millan Dog Whisperer (like episodes 6 and 18 of Season 3) where he helped people in your situation to practice very basic strategies where the human becomes the pack leader. In one,Cesar worked with residents of a North Hollywood apartment building with dueling canines. These dogs were experiencing an unbalanced environment, so he helped the owners learn how to assert pack leadership and take control of the situation. Similarly in another, he helped the owners of a sibling pair of basset hounds create a fight-free environment by learning their dog’s body language and energy, and assessing and correcting the situation before the fight occurs.

Once your dogs see you as their pack leader, you will know – Jack and Toby will no longer be fighting for dominance because you will be their calm-assertive leader.

Popular posts from this blog

Teaching Your Dog to Sit

By The Dog Dude
Image
Lesson 2: Teaching Your Dog to Sit Even if your dog already knows how to sit on verbal command, please don’t skip this lesson. We promise she’ll begin to learn something new! The method you’ll use to teach your dog to sit is known as the “lure and reward” method. You’ll lure your dog into a sitting position, then immediately reward her. It’s a popular method because it’s effective, easy for you to do, and easy for your dog to learn. A great “side-effect” of this method is that it allows a natural motion to become a visual cue… a form of sign language for your dog. This is so cool! Dogs are very visual and they often respond to body motions better than they do to sounds. (You’ll need to keep this in mind as sometimes it can work against you: to your dog, your voice may be saying one thing while your body language is saying the opposite. In dog communication, body language trumps verbal language every time. We’ll cover this in more detail later.) Imagine being able to use hand...
Read more

Dog Pre-Training Basics

By The Dog Dude
Dog Pre-Training Basics If you have a young puppy, we recommend that you wait until he’s at least 8 weeks old to begin formal training. Before you begin the formal training lessons with a dog of any age, please plan to follow these keys to success: 1. Be patient. Each dog is unique, and can only learn at his own pace. Some dogs learn quickly; others take more time. Patience is indeed a virtue when it comes to effective dog training! 2. Be kind. This goes hand-in-paw with “Be patient.” Don’t lose your temper if your dog doesn’t “get it” right away, or appears to be ignoring you. Please do not punish your dog for not learning quickly enough. As a matter of fact, don’t punish your dog at all. (We’ll be teaching you effective ways to stop or prevent inappropriate behavior—without punishment.) 3. Be flexible. If your dog is struggling to learn, be willing to change your training routine. The location may be too distracting. The time of day may be too close (or far from) feeding t...
Read more