[Tophersmom]

I had mentioned this on a couple of other posts but thought I'd start a separate thread to see if anyone else had tried it.

We were having a bit of difficulty with Topher (will be one year old on the 12th of Oct)....he was showing signs that he thought he was the boss around here. We knew that if we didn't nip this in the bud that things wouldn't get better...only more difficult.

We enrolled him in obedience classes, and that's going well...hubby and I are learning alot..lol...but the most important thing I think I gained from the classes is what the trainer told us the first night....
that it's imperative that we control the dog's food. Apparently in the pack, the alpha dog always controls the food.

We'd always left Topher's food out in his dishes on the floor so he could eat anytime he wanted...well, we stopped doing that and now put the food down three times a day for 20 minute intervals. It took a bit for him to learn but he's caught on and the change that it's made in his personality is amazing.

He no longer steals things as much as he used to. If he does by chance take something that he shouldn't, he drops it right away when I tell him to. There are subtle little changes...things I can't even put into words but it's like he knows now that I'm the alpha....just from controlling his food...and it's been wonderful. A real positive change.

I honestly didn't think that doing something so small as controlling his food would make such a difference...well, I was wrong and boy, I'm glad I was!