male dominance

[Pookie's Mom]

My husband and I adopted a 3 yr old male about 6 weeks ago from our local shelter and Max appears to have some dominance issues with my husband. Max is our first dog together and the first my husband has ever lived with. From the moment we brought Max home, I displayed a more confident attitude around him while my husband was a bit timid and less confident. The two are great together so long as Max is comfortable with the situation. Meaning, if husband is coming down the stairs and Max runs to the landing to see who it is, he starts barking and growling, even after he recognizes husband. My husband is trying hard not to deliberately startle Max. When this happens,I make sure that my husband puts Max in a sit-stay for a while, then they play a bit. A related issue is that Max has been eliminating inside about 2 x a week. When he does, it is either in husband's office or on his side of the bedroom. I want to hire a dog behaviorist to help us.. any thoughts/suggestions?

[Judi W]

Yes, get help. Never owned a dog, taking an adult male from a shelter, no background information, with no professional evaluation or transition through a knowledgeable foster home - Ouch!

This dog is showing more than a bit of dominance. He is showing aggression by issuing threats and it is a bit early in the game which means he feels pretty confident in running things. His response when he doesn't like something is to threaten and as novice owners, you might not be able to read when he is willing to back those threats up. Not good. It might be that this is why he ended up in the shelter in the first place. Please be cautious in dealing with him as you do not know his limits. He might end up being the sweetest dog in the world, but you don't know that and the most important thing is to assure no one gets hurt. The next thing is to see if he can be safely integrated into your family (that's where the professional comes in). By safely, I mean that he can learn his place in the home, and it is not where he now thinks it is. People must not live with a dog that threatens them for moving about in their own home.

I hope you have a crate and are using it. That will be a start. Make sure when you have a trainer come for an evaluation, that the dog is on leash or crated. No trainer wants to show up and get nailed coming in the door - and yes, this does happen. The best of wishes, and let us know how you, your husband and Max are doing after you get an evaluation done.

[RottnKid1]

Heed Judi's advice and, by all means, find a good behaviorist. In the meantime, follow the golden rules. Do not allow Max on the furniture and don't even let him enter your bedroom. Make him earn everything - food, attention, etc., by first having him sit or perform some other command. Don't allow him to precede you through the door and don't give him any access to that stair landing you mentioned. That's not his territory - it's yours. Who is the primary care giver, you or your husband? Make it an equal proposition. You feed him one meal, have your husband feed him the next. You take him for his walk one time, have your husband do it the next, etc. Absolutely no games of tug of war. Don't give him any toys which he may be possessive of. As a matter of fact, he should only be given a ball or toy when YOU or YOUR HUSBAND want to play. Then, you end the play session when you want to, not when Max wants to, and put the toy away. I know this may sound harsh to some, but it's essential that Max learns that everything in his life is dependant upon you and your husband. Way down the road, when Max knows without a shadow of a doubt who the alphas are in his world, then you can relax these rules just a little, i.e., leaving a kong or some other toy out for him to enjoy at will. Right now, Max needs absolute structure and consistency. Please keep us posted!

[Pookie's Mom]

thanks for your responses. I'm realizing that Max requires different handling than other dogs I'm had. He's a sweet boy (that's why we chose him at the shelter--he didn't bark & he was so well mannered in the play area). He's good when visitors come over. He sits next to me when I greet friends at the door & he has never barked or growled when we do this. Max is not destructive in the house (no chewing, tearing up carpet) & we don't permit him on beds or furniture. No problems with possessiveness of toys, either. He's attached to me but that's starting to lessen now that some time has passed since he's joined our family. My husband is taking him to obedience classes & the first session went well. We both practice Max's "homework" with him each night. We usually share walking duty; I often feed Max & that will change. our obedience instructor offers private training, so we are going to schedule a session ASAP. Will keep you posted.

[gorman]

Originally posted by RottnKid1
Heed Judi's advice and, by all means, find a good behaviorist. In the meantime, follow the golden rules. Do not allow Max on the furniture and don't even let him enter your bedroom. Make him earn everything - food, attention, etc., by first having him sit or perform some other command. Don't allow him to precede you through the door and don't give him any access to that stair landing you mentioned. That's not his territory - it's yours. Who is the primary care giver, you or your husband? Make it an equal proposition. You feed him one meal, have your husband feed him the next. You take him for his walk one time, have your husband do it the next, etc. Absolutely no games of tug of war. Don't give him any toys which he may be possessive of. As a matter of fact, he should only be given a ball or toy when YOU or YOUR HUSBAND want to play. Then, you end the play session when you want to, not when Max wants to, and put the toy away. I know this may sound harsh to some, but it's essential that Max learns that everything in his life is dependant upon you and your husband. Way down the road, when Max knows without a shadow of a doubt who the alphas are in his world, then you can relax these rules just a little, i.e., leaving a kong or some other toy out for him to enjoy at will. Right now, Max needs absolute structure and consistency. Please keep us posted!

Is it wrong to tug of war w/ the dogs? I have always done this and my Rotties seem to derive great pleasure from it, I occassionally let them "win" briefly, relinquishing the rope to them; however, the game is always ended w/ a sit-stay command and "release" command where my dog releases the toy to my hand and I put the toy away. Is this always a bad idea or are you talking "bad idea" in a setting where the dog's position uncertain?

[RottnKid1]

It depends on the dog, Gorman. If you have a dominant dog who's challenging authority, tug-of-war is a bad idea. If you have a very well behaved dog who respects you as the alpha and will drop the tug toy immediately upon command, then it's fine. Tug of war can also be a helpful game to play with a dog who needs to gain confidence.

[codglvr]

Pookie's mom, I was reading your last post, and one thing jumped out at me. I never allow my dogs to greet the door with me. They are put in a down stay from a place where they do not control the entrance of guests but can view the visitor. It goes along the same lines of what Rottnkid mentioned. If your new boy has any issues, this will help him to also know that it is the alpha's job, not his to greet new people first. Congratulations!:D

[Pookie's Mom]

well, since my last post the situation worsened & then improved. The last 48 hours have been an emotional roller coaster. came close to giving Max up & have been struggling with the emotions, but we've committed to keeping him & making this work. we will see the behaviorist Sunday but have made some changes in the routine. I had the last 2 days off from work & Max continued the aggression toward Kevin (husband) but this behavior occurs only at the foot & top of the stairs. Problem stems from fact we let him have the run of the house way too early. Max became territorial & whenever Kevin wants to come downstairs to be with me, Max barks/growls & the reverse also happens going up. Away from the stairs, Max & Kevin get along fine. Kevin has been feeding, walking, doing everything for Max past 2 days & I have been giving Max the "silent treatment." No eye contact, petting, anything. I read an article a while back that suggested doing this in an effort to minimize the dependency on one person in the household & establish another alpha. To help Max & Kevin bond, we have Max on a leash with Kevin holding it all day. This way, they are together going up & down the stairs & Max doesn't get the chance to be territorial (no barking/growling since !). I realize this is not a permanent solution but it was the best we could do until Sunday. He's not permitted to sleep in our bedroom any more & he seems to be fine with that. :)