Dominant dog?

What is a dominant dog? Its ok I know but most dog owners don’t a lot of owners confuse dominance with prey drive below are just a few examples of subtle dominant behaviour dogs can display a dominant dog will display more than one of the listed examples but may not necessarily display all of them.

Insisting on sleeping in bed with its owner

Pushing its way through doors first

Guarding toys

Showing aggression towards certain members of the house

Trying to stand over you (ie standing on the sofa with front feet up on the arm of the sofa)

Dog challenges

Rank in an animal pack is a huge thing. A lower ranking member would not think to challenge a higher ranking member or the Alpha. Lower ranking members would not attempt to to sleep with a higher ranking member or challenge a higher ranking member. The higher ranking members of the pack get the best of everything the best food, bed etc

Translated equates to is if your dog growls at a person over their food or their bed or even at the husband and kids there is a problems brewing.

Dominant behaviour can start in the whelping box you get dominant puppies, easy going puppies and submissive puppies. This does not mean that a dominant puppy will grow into a dominant adult however there is more chance of a dominant puppy growing into a dominant adult than a submissive puppy growing into a dominant dog.

It is extremely rare for a puppy to show signs of dominant aggression you usually see this at between 15 and 36 months the most common age for it is around 18 months of age this is the age when most dogs are re-homed because of dominant aggression. All dogs experience the instinct that tells them to assume rank within their pack; however as a puppy they are more than happy to be a follower, however whether or not they decide to try and achieve a higher rank is entirely down to their owners. If dogs in their early years receive the wrong messages or inadequate training the drive to assume higher rank will take over and they will go for it. The behaviour often associated with this drive is threats towards their family members dogs often get themselves into trouble by growling, showing teeth, nipping or even biting any member of the family it perceives as a lower ranking member.

However many pups that have a high prey drive are often mistaken as having dominance high drive pups tend to chew on hands and tug on trousers using growling at the same time. I often get owners phoning or emailing me with what they perceive as dominance. With a high drive puppy you can create more behavioural problems by treating the behaviour as if it were dominance when all you really have to do is show your pup that toys are for biting and chewing on and not hands and trousers.

Too correctly deal with dominance issues you must employ a combination of behavioural therapy and training. Here at All about dogs we know that there is more than one way to deal with behavioural issues and we design programmes to deal with your individual needs. If your puppy/dog id showing any signs of aggression please do not delay contact a professional to help you deal with the problem.