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I think I'm not the alpha I've been playing on the floor with my 4-month old puppy, and we seem to be enjoying it. She gets her toy and likes to sit by my leg and chew on the toy. Sometimes she has bitten me when we play, probably because I was grabbing the toy and throwing it, because she likes to go get it and bring it back to me to chew. But today she bit me fairly hard, when I wasn't grabbing at her toy. I pulled my hand away, then she nipped at my arm. Then she went over to the carpet and peed. I took her back to her xpen, the she barked and yelped for a good 30 minutes. I wonder if because I've played on the floor with her that we have established peer rather than me being alpha. Any opinions? |
Don't worry about alpha nonsense. Your puppy is being a puppy... puppies bite, play rough and hard. If she bites too hard, simply yelp (like a high pitched 'Ow!' or something). If pups are taken too young from their mother, they often don't learn proper bite inhibition so it's our job to teach them :) I consider Jackson an equal to me. I am not above him nor do I force him to do anything or consider myself an "alpha"... he's my best friend, my partner, we work together as a team. Here is some of what we have accomplished through positive reinforcement and clicker training: I would check out youtube channels zakgeorge21, kikopup, pamelamarxsen, etc for some good training videos. |
Your dog is acting like a puppy. At 4 mos old expect biting, and if you got her younger than 8 weeks, she didn't learn bite inhibition from her momma or littermates. You will have to teach her that then by letting her know that biting hurts. As for alpha training, it is important that your dog recognizes that they are not on the same level as you. You are who they look up to and learn from. Just as a dog in a home with other dogs, one always tries to be the alpha. I learned with my dogs that by letting my yorkie up on the furniture, while not allowing my big dogs on the furniture, he took on the alpha role and acted accordingly. We cannot set pets on a path that they think they are human, they need to listen to someone for their safety if nothing else. I just don't think a little nip during play time shows that your angel thinks she is the alpha. Good luck! |
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