Wow! You put alot of work into this post! Good Job
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On the lighter side, I am not Alpha, Rio is. He is and always has been the boss of me. I am one of those bad owners who think his personality is cute, even when he is telling me it is time to go home and what time he wants his cookie. He even tells me when it is bedtime and what time I need to take care of horses.
He is a charming bossy little dog and he has no bad behaviors. He has never bitten or even offered a growl even when small children are squeezing his guts out.
He has me trained perfectly and we get along just fine after nearly 4 yrs. I see no reason to change things now and won't. Although training is wonderful and necessary for some dogs it just wasn't for Rio. He has a very strong personality and I enjoy every second I spend with him
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Little Mignon, well thats a whole different ball game
. I think we might try that obedience class with her. Rio and I got kicked out. Our trainer said he had already made all the rules and nothing was going to change now.
I think things differ with every dog, they all have their own personalities. While I agree some alpha dogs NEED this type of training I think it would be scary to a very submissive dog.
But I am NOT a dog trainer and IF there were behavior issues I might be thinking a little differently. This is just what we are all happy with in our house. or I should say Rios house, we just pay the mortgage. LOL.