Dog dominance

C_Mababejive

Good advice-NEVER let a child near a dog when its eating.

lostinrates

Fire_Fox wrote: »

BeenieCat you are spending far too much time justifying yourself when you have no need to. By your own admission you don't know everything about training a dog (who does?) and so you have asked for advice. Just thank or ignore posts as you see fit - at nine months PG you shouldn't be being attacked you should be being supported. Best of luck with baby and dog!

I think thats quite true. I also never fail to be surprised at how vehement and positive in their position people are. Scientists (behaviourists included) have had to re think in the past and often have different interpretations. When some one posts and asks for advice I think we are being welcomed to state our opinion and where we feel things could be changed/improved...I do no think it gives us leave to be offensively rude and self righteous. As a former animal professional I have, and continue to so things that make me kick myself at times...my worry is, people who don't just don't see their own mistakes and thus, unknowingly and with out malice, inflict suffering themselves: the difference is they will fail to see this and make the same negative impact repeatedly.

OP here realises something was not right...she asked about it, she has had a variety of interpretations, which boil down ...essentially, to different things on the same scale. Being rude, disrespectful or unclear to people is really no different to being rude, disrespectful or unclear to a dog...neither usually have the best result!

gettingready

BeenieCat wrote: »

All the while i kept eye contact with her as i have always believed this to be a good way to maintain control of a situation, much the same as when scolding a naughty child!

As some posters have already pointed - what you call "keeping eye contact" can be quite dangerous, dogs take it as you are challenging them... do not do it.

My 2.5 yo GS girl - we kind of play that game sometimes, stare at one another and after a few minutes she gets very agitated, she does not like it. And this is the same dog who's food I always mix by hand in her dish (since she was a pup) and is generally to softest dog at home ever. Staring at a dog is a complete no no.

Raksha

gettingready wrote: »

As some posters have already pointed - what you call "keeping eye contact" can be quite dangerous, dogs take it as you are challenging them... do not do it.

My 2.5 yo GS girl - we kind of play that game sometimes, stare at one another and after a few minutes she gets very agitated, she does not like it. And this is the same dog who's food I always mix by hand in her dish (since she was a pup) and is generally to softest dog at home ever. Staring at a dog is a complete no no.

Unfortunatly though, it's human nature to stare, so one of the things I used to teach in puppy class, was to desensitise your dog to human/dog eye contact

lostinrates

Raksha wrote: »

Unfortunatly though, it's human nature to stare, so one of the things I used to teach in puppy class, was to desensitise your dog to human/dog eye contact

I actually tech a command to look at me...I find an over excited/stimulated dog is more likely to obey when you have its full attention. ''Look at me'' (not my command, I use a short, hard ended word) seems to add weight to my ask that they then retunr to me, leave what ever they are doing etc. I suppose I think of it like an imperitive with an exclamation mark.:o when they look THEN I ask them what I want from them.

giantmutantbroccoli

A bit OT I know, but you should be able to trust your own dog enough to look them in the eye without being in danger of getting bitten!
Trying to make eye-contact can tell you a fair bit about how the dog is feeling at the time, too. Normally my dogs would hold eye contact for a bit then look away, not in an agitated/frightened way but calmly. If they're worried or nervous they won't make eye contact.
My dogs have got to the point now where they can interpret you facial expression, and it's very funny. If you smile, their tails wag, if you grin they dance about the floor like they're going to be fed. If you frown, they sit and pretend to behave themselves and you can make them have a fit by waggling your eyebrows up and down. Only problem is you have to be careful on those occaisions when they do something that is both bad and funny - like diving into the bin, throwing rubbish everywhere and getting stuck in the bin. If you so much as smirk while telling them off they can tell you don't really mean it

Anyway.
OP I think you have the right attitude overall. It can be hard to interpret what's going on in a dog's mind when it does something, and growling is always unsettling even if the dog is not trying to be threatening, so although this wasn't really a dominance issue I can see why you'd think it was. When you took the bone away you rewarded the do with praise, it wasn't a punishment of the dog, so that's a good thing. I personally would have used treats, but that's me. It doesn't sound like you have any serious issues with your dog.
I trained my dogs from the point of view of the pack hierarchy as well, but one thing it's important to remember (not saying you don't do this, mind) is that as well as being in charge of the dog you are also responsible for her. If there's a danger, she should look to you to make the first move - so if you come across something that scares/upsets her while out walking for e.g., then you put yourself between the scary thing and the dog.

I think it's too easy, in a closed environment like an internet forum, to forget that different people do things differently and that doesn't mean that one way is wrong and the other way is right.

Lobell

BeenieCat wrote: »

As opposed to letting her think she's in control of me? Maybe some of my exes theories were a bit ott to some but that's one thing i agree on. Dogs know when you're afraid of them. As it happens, she looked away, which is exactly what i wanted.

Looking away may have been what you wanted her to do but her reason for doing it wasn't 'submission' as you see it, it was a calming signal from her to you...her way of communicating that she was uncomfortable with you staring at her. She may have dispalyed other subtle claming behaviours, such as licking her lips, but if you don't know what you're looking for then you won't pick up on them....which is fair enough.

I also teach my dogs a 'look' command which means they have to make eye contact with me as a way of getting their attention. However, they get rewarded instantly - either with food or praise, depending on situation. I'd never just stare one of them out because it's a very confrontational act to a dog.

ixwood

FWIW From my personal experience I do believe in the pack theory. Dogs were specially chosen for domesticating originally because they're a pack animal with a structure and a leader.

As people are always pointing out, try and tell a cat what to do!

Though having said that, food guarding isn't down to rank/dominance. In packs, possessed food is usually exempt from dominance. That is, any rank of dog will protect a meal they already posses. They may get intimidated into dropping it, if it really came to it, but they won't just automatically give it up to a higher rank as a matter of course.

mikey72

I find some of these posts surreal.
Don't look at your dog, it will take it as a challenge, then it's your own fault if it bites you.
Teach your child not to go near the dog if it's eating.
Are these really serious?

lostinrates

ixwood wrote: »

Dogs were specially chosen for domesticating originally because they're a pack animal with a structure and a leader.
.

TBF this is only one theory of domestication