Dominance?
 

I've been reading about dominance, and friends have told me things like, "When your dog puts his paws on your chest he's dominating you," or," When your dog climbs to the top of the couch he's showing his dominance." Should I try and stop these behaviors, and how do I do it? BTW, he's 5 and I've had him since he was a pup. I just thought he put his paws on me because he loves me, and climbs the couch to be closer to my face. :confused:

Unless you are having behavior problems, I wouldn't worry about it. However, if you are having behavior problems or your pup will not get down when you ask, then you might be concerned. Overall, if you don't mind and your pup is a sweetheart, I would say who cares.

Thanks for the response. He does have some behavioral problems: still goes in the house and chases bicycles and whatnot, but he will get off me and climb down off the couch if I tell him to. He sits and stays and I can drop treats in front of him and he won't get them till I give him the okay (at least inside the house), so he's trainable. He'd be perfect if I could get him to pee and poop outside 100% of the time. I just think his "dominant" behavior is kinda cute, but as a novice dog owner I'm not sure if letting him do what he does makes me a bad dog owner. Yeah, yeah, I know, I do have to work on the housebreaking. My bad. I'm gonna try a dog door this year. :D

Has he been neutered? If not, this can lead to dominant behavior and can sometimes make house training more difficult as they want to mark their territory. Also, make sure you are using something like Natures Miracle to clean up messes to help remove the scent. House training is really about being consistent with whatever way you choose to do it.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, he's been neutered and I followup his accidents with NM. I was wondering if his behavior was a signal that he was trying to control me, but since I like much of his "dominant" behavior I'm going to ignore it, however I've been doing some reading and I'm going to try and exhibit more pack leader behavior. Eat before he does, etc.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...ot-way-go.html

A lot of people go around using the word 'dominance' and think it makes them a professional dog trainer. It's highly overused. Not to mention, the beliefs that some of these "dominance trainers" hold. Comparing anything that WE do with our dogs to how dogs react to other dogs is like comparing apples and oranges. We are humans. Dogs know this. We as humans can act like we're dogs, but we're not. We don't fool them. And just as humans are not dogs, dogs are NOT wolves. Dogs are highly domesticated, very intelligent, and purposely bred to work side-by-side with humans.


The actual pack leader/dominance theory phenomenon was disproved by the VERY people who created it. They now deeply regret their 'research'. (In a 2002 book, when countless dogs had been subjected to the stress of the alpha roll, the Monks of New Skete said that they regretted giving the advice to a bunch of dog owners with no idea how to use it.)

Basically, no, your dog putting his paws on you does not make him 'dominant'. Him going out the door before you doesn't make him 'dominant', it makes him excited lol. This way of thinking is so funny to me. If people really believe that eating before a dog does makes them think you're 'dominant'... I think you should remember they are DOGS. Their brains don't work that way and that's not a diss on dogs. They're simple minded creatures. They don't see you eating dinner, and think in their head, "Oh, they're eating first, so I guess I better listen to that person" or while they're eating their dinner, their mind is not thinking about the fact that you ate first. Honestly their mind is probably working more along the lines of "Food. There's food. I love food".

Train what you are bothered with, by all means, but don't fret your dog climbing to the top of the couch if it's not a behavior that bothers you. The simpler explanation is that he probably just likes sitting up there.

Lol this video is satirical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIEjuu0STf4