Tips On Being The Alpha

[Pete.the.dog]

Hi all,

many of you would know me and my rescue Pete. We've been in each others lives for about 8 months, and hes about a year and a half.

He's a dog that needs a strong leader, and I'm doing NILIF and TOT with him, but I guess I am just looking for any general tips on establishing yourself as the alpha. Pete seems to have a more innate respect for my big burly male housemates then for me, and I'm not saying that women are worse at being alphas, I'm sure there are plenty who are amazingly fantastic at it (and plenty of men who are hopeless at it), but I think its something that doesn't come naturally for me in my day-to-day life and Pete reads that. So any general tips on maintaining 'alpha' day to day, e.g. tone of voice, body language etc, would be really helpful for me to improve my consistency with him. Consistency is my new years resolution with training pete

[Agility Dogs]

Hi all,

many of you would know me and my rescue Pete. We've been in each others lives for about 8 months, and hes about a year and a half.

He's a dog that needs a strong leader, and I'm doing NILIF and TOT with him, but I guess I am just looking for any general tips on establishing yourself as the alpha. Pete seems to have a more innate respect for my big burly male housemates then for me, and I'm not saying that women are worse at being alphas, I'm sure there are plenty who are amazingly fantastic at it (and plenty of men who are hopeless at it), but I think its something that doesn't come naturally for me in my day-to-day life and Pete reads that. So any general tips on maintaining 'alpha' day to day, e.g. tone of voice, body language etc, would be really helpful for me to improve my consistency with him. Consistency is my new years resolution with training pete

I don't think you need a big voice or intimidating body language to be the alpha in your pack. For me it's not about being dominant, it is about control of resources. ETA - resources are ANYTHING that Pete wants - whether it is a game or a piece of food you need to control it.

NILF and TOT are great starting points. The other thing we practice in our house is ABSOLUTE adherence to rules.

My dogs do not live in a democracy and do not have choices, unless they are told they do (released from working). If they are not asked to get onto the lounge they are TAKEN off the lounge, if they are told to stay on a chair and choose to get off, they are PUT back on the chair. NOTE - taken and put - they are physically moved back to where they should have been, not asked to get back there. I don't use a correction, I don't even talk to them, they are just put back there - gently, but firmly. To do anything else is to give them another command and to me is to have accepted their previous action as OK - inconsistency.

The other thing you can do is make sure you don't ask Pete for anything he cannot be expected to do 100% of the time unless you are in control of the situation/have set up the situation so he can learn. eg: If his recall is perhaps a little bit suspect in a certain circumstance then don't set him up for failure by putting him in that situation and then calling him. You know he won't come and you have just reinforced to him that he does not have to come. Work up to things like this by setting him slightly easier tasks under similar distraction.

I think you hit the nail on the head though when you said consistency. If for any reason or in any way Pete is interacting with you then you need to be on the ball and enforcing the rules. Even if they don't seem to matter in that situation or at that time you need to stick with them. He won't know the difference between one time and another - look at the world through his eyes and provide him guidance/rules that are consistent with his view.

Hope that helps. Sounds like you are doing a great job!

Edited December 21, 2009 by Agility Dogs

[SkySoaringMagpie]

A lot of it is in how you carry yourself. Stand up straight, keep your head up, move confidently, speak clearly - don't chatter. You don't need to sound gruff or butch it up, you just need to sound confident. I'm probably paraphrasing poorly, but Ian Dunbar said while he was out here that in his head, he knows things are going to go his way and the dogs pick up on that.

The rest of it is paying attention. Who is initiating any encounter I'm having with my dog/s? On whose terms are things happening? Am I staff to this dog?

You have to read the dog's personality too. Diva can probably explain this better than I can, but with sighthounds, a sort of mildly disgusted and surprised "we don't do things that way around here" often gets through to them pretty quickly. As does making fun of them when they do something to challenge you. Just recently I stared and yelled at one of our more challenging dogs and then remembered I was being an idiot and made fun of her instead. Making fun of her worked much, much better. She dropped her head and shut up immediately.

[Pete.the.dog]

A lot of it is in how you carry yourself. Stand up straight, keep your head up, move confidently, speak clearly - don't chatter. You don't need to sound gruff or butch it up, you just need to sound confident. I'm probably paraphrasing poorly, but Ian Dunbar said while he was out here that in his head, he knows things are going to go his way and the dogs pick up on that.

The rest of it is paying attention. Who is initiating any encounter I'm having with my dog/s? On whose terms are things happening? Am I staff to this dog?

You have to read the dog's personality too. Diva can probably explain this better than I can, but with sighthounds, a sort of mildly disgusted and surprised "we don't do things that way around here" often gets through to them pretty quickly. As does making fun of them when they do something to challenge you. Just recently I stared and yelled at one of our more challenging dogs and then remembered I was being an idiot and made fun of her instead. Making fun of her worked much, much better. She dropped her head and shut up immediately.

I think Pete has sighthound in him, I will definately have to try this method with him, thank you!

And thank you for all the rest of the advice, I'm an open book really - it's all those 'little' things I need to work on!

[poodlefan]

Hi all,

many of you would know me and my rescue Pete. We've been in each others lives for about 8 months, and hes about a year and a half.

He's a dog that needs a strong leader, and I'm doing NILIF and TOT with him, but I guess I am just looking for any general tips on establishing yourself as the alpha. Pete seems to have a more innate respect for my big burly male housemates then for me, and I'm not saying that women are worse at being alphas, I'm sure there are plenty who are amazingly fantastic at it (and plenty of men who are hopeless at it), but I think its something that doesn't come naturally for me in my day-to-day life and Pete reads that. So any general tips on maintaining 'alpha' day to day, e.g. tone of voice, body language etc, would be really helpful for me to improve my consistency with him. Consistency is my new years resolution with training pete

The first thing I would eliminate from your vocabulary is the term "alpha". You are not a dog and Pete knows it. What you want to be is the leader of the team.

An effective leader is:

* One who sets boundaries and enforces them

* One who makes his/her expectations clear and consistently expects results

* One who decides where the team is going and how.

* One who can't be manipulated for concessions to rules.

Good leaders come in all shapes, sizes and tones of voice.

If you have not done any formal obedience training with Pete, I highly recommend it. It establishes patterns of requiring focus and compliance with your requirements. It also establishes patterns of request and reward.

The key to me is boundaries and consistency.

Next time you take Pete for a walk, act like a leader does.. walk purposefully and expect him to keep up. You go where you want, he follows. He does not sniff unless you stop and allow it. He stops and sits beside you at curbs and only proceeds forward when you say "ok". Don't follow his lead.. he follows you.

Ask him to do something, don't beg. Ask only once and obtain compliance. So many folk I see keep up a running dialogue.. "rover sit.. sit rover.. rover sit.. cmon now rover we know how to sit.. .. sit boy".. it becomes white noise which the dog soon learns to ignore.. and there are no consquences for doing so.

Leadership to me is more about everyday interactions than a "manner". Tone matters less than behaviour. Act like you expect him to comply and do things on your terms, not his.

Edited December 21, 2009 by poodlefan

[Aidan]

Good post Poodlefan!

The "alpha male" is the wolf who sires the cubs. That is all.

[Nekhbet]

I posted in the other one

[oceanaussi]

Hi all,

many of you would know me and my rescue Pete. We've been in each others lives for about 8 months, and hes about a year and a half.

He's a dog that needs a strong leader, and I'm doing NILIF and TOT with him, but I guess I am just looking for any general tips on establishing yourself as the alpha. Pete seems to have a more innate respect for my big burly male housemates then for me, and I'm not saying that women are worse at being alphas, I'm sure there are plenty who are amazingly fantastic at it (and plenty of men who are hopeless at it), but I think its something that doesn't come naturally for me in my day-to-day life and Pete reads that. So any general tips on maintaining 'alpha' day to day, e.g. tone of voice, body language etc, would be really helpful for me to improve my consistency with him. Consistency is my new years resolution with training pete :D

The first thing I would eliminate from your vocabulary is the term "alpha". You are not a dog and Pete knows it. What you want to be is the leader of the team.

An effective leader is:

* One who sets boundaries and enforces them

* One who makes his/her expectations clear and consistently expects results

* One who decides where the team is going and how.

* One who can't be manipulated for concessions to rules.

Good leaders come in all shapes, sizes and tones of voice.

If you have not done any formal obedience training with Pete, I highly recommend it. It establishes patterns of requiring focus and compliance with your requirements. It also establishes patterns of request and reward.

The key to me is boundaries and consistency.

Next time you take Pete for a walk, act like a leader does.. walk purposefully and expect him to keep up. You go where you want, he follows. He does not sniff unless you stop and allow it. He stops and sits beside you at curbs and only proceeds forward when you say "ok". Don't follow his lead.. he follows you.

Ask him to do something, don't beg. Ask only once and obtain compliance. So many folk I see keep up a running dialogue.. "rover sit.. sit rover.. rover sit.. cmon now rover we know how to sit.. .. sit boy".. it becomes white noise which the dog soon learns to ignore.. and there are no consquences for doing so.

Leadership to me is more about everyday interactions than a "manner". Tone matters less than behaviour. Act like you expect him to comply and do things on your terms, not his.

Can I send this one to my boss???

Just be clear an concise and don't let Pete get away with anything. I used to have a huge deal of probs with my Wei. Since I introduced the 'You do as I told you NOW' concept, he's much calmer and better behaved. Good luck!

[W Sibs]

The first thing I would eliminate from your vocabulary is the term "alpha". You are not a dog and Pete knows it. What you want to be is the leader of the team.

An effective leader is:

* One who sets boundaries and enforces them

* One who makes his/her expectations clear and consistently expects results

* One who decides where the team is going and how.

* One who can't be manipulated for concessions to rules.

Good leaders come in all shapes, sizes and tones of voice.

If you have not done any formal obedience training with Pete, I highly recommend it. It establishes patterns of requiring focus and compliance with your requirements. It also establishes patterns of request and reward.

The key to me is boundaries and consistency.

Next time you take Pete for a walk, act like a leader does.. walk purposefully and expect him to keep up. You go where you want, he follows. He does not sniff unless you stop and allow it. He stops and sits beside you at curbs and only proceeds forward when you say "ok". Don't follow his lead.. he follows you.

Ask him to do something, don't beg. Ask only once and obtain compliance. So many folk I see keep up a running dialogue.. "rover sit.. sit rover.. rover sit.. cmon now rover we know how to sit.. .. sit boy".. it becomes white noise which the dog soon learns to ignore.. and there are no consquences for doing so.

Leadership to me is more about everyday interactions than a "manner". Tone matters less than behaviour. Act like you expect him to comply and do things on your terms, not his.

Totally agree!