Dog dominance

BeenieCat

Ruby_Moon wrote: »

Tell you what then love, as you don't seem to acknowledge anything else, why don't you give the dog up? Put her into rescue? Yeah, thats the easiest way. She won't be able to growl at you then! :rolleyes:

Nice patronising tone. Quite unnecessary, don't you think?

Is it a problem for you that i'm trying to discover a technique to ensure my dog doesn't growl at her owners? I know i'm not the only person with this mindset that my dog should be bottom of the pack. Maybe if less people sat by while their dog growled at kids there'd be less maulings in the news :rolleyes:

Lobell

BeenieCat wrote: »

But i'm not teaching her that we're a threat to her bone. This only just happened for the first time tonight, we'd not taken her bones away before. The reason i took it off her after that was to try and make sure she wasn't going to bite us, and that she was going to get it back. I didn't take it off her to punish her for the growl.

And she knows that, does she? What she knows is, she growled to tell you that she didn't wnat you to take the bone and you took it anyway. What does she do next time?

I am surprised that no one can see my POV here, my dog doesn't create the rules, whether she has a bone in her mouth or not. I don't want to stop giving her bones, i want her to be happy to hand it over when commanded to. I guess the best way to do this is ensure she learns she'll always get it back?

In order to get to that point, you have to reward her for giving it up...i.e. by giving her something equally good (like another bone). Keep doing this and you will get to the point where she'll give it up with no problem, whether there's another one coming or not.

BeenieCat

Lobell wrote: »

You are not making deals with her...you are building her trust in you.

You really need to forget the pack therories of dominance and submission. Your dog KNOWS that she is a dog and that you are not. She therefore knows that you are not a 'pack'. The sooner you realise the same thing, the better for you all.

Thanks i see your point here regarding trust. I guess having never heard my dog growl before, or look like she was about to snap then i want to nip any change in behaviour in the bud before it becomes harder to deal with.

My ex was her master and now he's gone i've been trying to work closely with her in respecting my commands everytime, something she didn't do before, only for him. Now i worry i've been working a bit too closely with her, in the sense that i'm concerned of jealousy when the baby arrives, but that's another subject i guess.

gettingready

I want her to know we are in charge!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....too much Ceasar Millan perhaps?

:cool:

My dog sleeps with me, eats with me (well, sits next to my plate ... we do nto actually share a plate), sits on sofas, gets her bones, balls etc and still knows when/how to listen.My dog is a German Shepherd - just so we know we now talking toy poodle here.

I do not believe in the "I am in charge" and "master" approach, it only works on telly with cameras running and a lot of editing before it goes on air.

Some helpful suggestions were posted here, swapping rather than taking away etc etc.

How old is the dog/what breed is it?

Different dogs respond to different approaches.

BeenieCat

Lobell wrote: »

And she knows that, does she? What she knows is, she growled to tell you that she didn't wnat you to take the bone and you took it anyway. What does she do next time?

Hopefully, gives it up voluntarily! But that goes to your next point...

In order to get to that point, you have to reward her for giving it up...i.e. by giving her something equally good (like another bone). Keep doing this and you will get to the point where she'll give it up with no problem, whether there's another one coming or not.

Thanks

giantmutantbroccoli

What Lobell has said is very good advice. She's most likely NOT growling because she thinks she is dominant over you, but because she is a bit wary of you. She's growling because she feels a bit threatened by you - she thinks you are going to take away her bone. It's a trust issue, not a dominance one. If you take her bone away, then reward her with a treat, or swap something good for the bone, she will begin to understand that you aren't going to steal her food, and she won't growl because she won't feel threatened. Taking the bone away BECAUSE she's growled is not really a good idea, because you're just reinforcing the idea that she needs to guard her food.

Growling over food like that is the sign of an insecure dog, not a dominant one. A dominant dog would only react if you actually tried to take the bone, it certainly wouldn't growl and then let you take the bone away! A dog at the bottom of the pack heirachy, who is comfortable with their position (i.e. not feeling threatened) also wouldn't growl.

If you often try to reinforce your dominance over her in situations like this, that could explain why she's uncomfortable. A comfortably dominant dog doesn't continuously threaten or bite the other dogs to make sure they know they're not dominant.

I fostered a rottie for a few months, several years ago. When we got him he guarded all his food to the point that just walking past him while he ate was a danger,as he would growl and occaisionally snap. He was even worse over his bones/chews. I started by giving him more food while he was eating his dinner - first I would wait for him to finish, then give him some gravy. Then I started doing it before he'd finished eating. Eventually he associated my presence with him getting more food - I was no longer something that threatened to take his food away, but a provider of food. By the end of his time with me I could tell him to stop eating in the middle of his dinner, or walk up to him while he was chewing on a bone, take the bone away from him and move it somewhere else - usually outside where his kennel was, because he'd snuck the bone into the kitchen where it wasn't supposed to be .

Your dog isn't as insecure as that, thank goodness, but you need to reassure her. She should associate you, in your posistion as head of the pack, with her receiving food, NOT with her food being taken away. The same with your son. Swapping the bone for other food/toys she desires is not making a deal with her, it's showing her that she can trust you. If you make this a dominance issue by removing the bone/chew/treat as a punishment she won't learn that growling gets her bone taken away, she will learn that YOU take her things away - and she will either guard her food/toys more seriously, or take to grabbing her stuff and running away from you.

BeenieCat

Thank you so much, it does make sense. Sorry if i came across as set in my opinions and stubborn, i am keen to learn all the time about dogs as the ex left me with this one and i've grown up with cats, i learned as much as i could from him but i guess his way wasn't necessarily correct.
After posting the thread she stayed busy with the bone and came to see me for a stroke still with bone in mouth, not sure what that would indicate, she did it a few times?

Thanks again to all who have replied.

gettingready

Beenie - she is just showing she is happy to share with you, she decided you are her friend now...;)

Must be tough on you, not just the dog but the whole situation. But remember it is tough on the dog too with one less in the house, as you say she was your OH's dog, she probably misses him and may play up a bit.

I am sorry if anything on this thread sounded a bit harsh, I am sure nobody meant to upset you. Sometimes the "written word" can be seen in a way that was not intended.

How old is the dog and what breed is she?

GIve her a belly rub from mu

MrsE_2

BeenieCat wrote: »

I would say overall she knows her place in the 'pack', she moves out of the way for us, never tries to take anything from us BUT there are a few things she does that i want to curb. I was never worried about her snapping but i have a new baby due next week and although she won't be left alone with baby ever (she already has restricted access with safety gates) but having seen her reaction over the bone i think she might be getting a bit big for her boots!!

You want to try a cat:D
They don't bow down to anyone:rotfl:

gettingready

MrsE wrote: »

You want to try a cat:D
They don't bow down to anyone:rotfl:

That is because dogs have owners - cats have slaves