Sign Of Being A Boss

[skwo2]

What sort of signs that we can see, if the puppy is trying to be bossy and trying to take leadership over you?

Whenever I feed Chelsea, I told her to sit, then I pretend to eat some from her bowl for about 10 seconds. Chelsea will then jump up, bark and growl at me. Should she be sitting still and quiet while watching me eating from her bowl (like it is shown on "It's me or the dog")?

Also, she always chew on my slipper or my feet whenever I walk to her, it is not licking, but chewing/ biting, and sometimes she will pull and chew my pants. I have say NO, but she just won't listen.

Has she already being the leader?

[arby]

I'd say you have a leadership problem on your hand.

How old is she?

[skwo2]

She is 11 weeks. My vet told me to take her to puppy school after 2nd vaccination. So she will be at puppy school soon, but I don't want her to be a boss.

What can I do now?

[p_stampy]

I always hear/read stuff about other ppl's dogs growling over food. I'm glad my pup is perfect.. she has never growled, and let me pat her and take her bowl away half way through eating :D

sorry... this doesnt help you1

[shekhina]

Some things you can do to establish pack order:

- Never let her go through small spaces/doorways before you...make her sit and wait for you to go through first, if she goes to push through shut the door in her face. It might knock her on the nose, don't worry...she'll learn fast :D

- Anytime you go to give her anything (food, pats, treats, toys etc.) make her do something for you, like sit. Don't give her anything until she does what you tell her

- Make sure you're TELLING her to do things...don't ask. Give your commands in a firm tone, if she doesn't comply after the first command make her do it, don't ask again. So if you've told her to sit and she doesn't, place her in the sit position while saying sit

- Don't let her on the couch/chair/bed while you're having pack order issues. Allowing a dog on these places can say to them that they're equal to you in the pack...don't allow this when she's trying to have it over you

- When you're telling her 'no' make it a growly voice, like a dog growls. If she's being bossy you need to be more bossy back, get stern with her. She wont dislike you for it, she will respect you

It's great that you're trying to get ontop of these problems now while she's so young, hopefully puppy school will help you out as well.

Good luck :D

Edited for spelling

Edited November 15, 2006 by shekhina

[caffiend42]

I think she knows you're just pretending to eat her food. She needs to see you actually eating it so she knows that YOU are the boss :D

Do a search on NILIF (nothing in life is free).

Be consistent in what you want her to do, and don't do.

[shekhina]

I think she knows you're just pretending to eat her food. She needs to see you actually eating it so she knows that YOU are the boss

Bad Caff :D

Don't eat the food, eat something of your own first, or run your finger through Chelsea's food while having her sit there and watch you :D

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

skwo2 - I saw Jan Fennell - the Dog Listener last night, can I recommend you read her book "The Dog Listener". It was a very informative evening. Certainly explained to me where I am going wrong.

[raz]

Ummm....why are you pretending to eat her food?

[LilyW]

When i feed Lily, i get her to sit a fair way away from her food and she stays until i say alright. Once she starts eating i pat her for a bit, even really close to her mouth - she is fine with it, even wags her tail. I don't want her to be one of those dogs when she is older that growls when you go near their food. So i have been told the patting while they are eating is helpful in calming them.

I have alot of family and friends that have dogs and some of them are so badly behaved it amazes me - from what i have been told you have to been firm and consistent and make sure they know where they stand. I had people over the other night and we were telling them all the rules for our dog - if she bites, stop giving her attention, don't let her jump at you, don't give her any of your scraps etc - they were all laughing at us - but in the end she will be a happy well behaved dog - I HOPE!

[Dogsfevr]

personally the eating from the bowl stuff is just useless.

You have giving the dog the command "sit" the dog has done this so what reward does she get,you stand there pretending to eat her food by which time her moment of listening & focus has gone & you have lost the crucial moment for reward.The dog starts to perform ,jumps up so breaks the command,i doubt she is growling as such but is humgry for her food.The end result hasnt listened to anything you have said because you took so long to reward a PUP .

I think you have missed the whole point of the exercise & are so focused on leadership that your creating a monster by confusion.

The pup is being a pup & i think you want perfection at a young age,Sammies are spitz breeds & like to push the boundries but over training with out rewarding at the moment leads the dog not to listen & not to respect exactly what is happening with the food.The dog has done whats asked but whilst you stood there pretending to eat the dog has lost the point of the exercise & performed for its food ,natural for a pup that is hungry.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Jan Fennell suggests you befriend your dog and get it to cooperate through love and kindness rather than dominate it and force it to do what you want.

She also recommends not taking the dog's food away from it, not making it sit before it eats etc etc.

She has gained her knowledge over many years of observing dogs in the wild.

I also agree with Showdog, I think you are expecting too much of a puppy. They do chew and need time and effort putting in. Any owners that don't want to do that and don't have patience by the truckload should not start out with a puppy of ANY breed.

[bloss344]

I think you have missed the whole point of the exercise & are so focused on leadership that your creating a monster by confusion.

This was my reaction as well. A pup needs to be rewarded very quickly to have any idea what you are rewarding her for. You don't have to pretend to eat the pup's food. On "It's me or the dog' it was done for a specific purpose. That was an extremely dominant dog and not a puppy. If you tell your pup to sit and she sits then reward her straight away by putting down her bowl. Timing is the essence with dog training. Soon you will be able to wait a little longer before putting the bowl down.

Is your pup getting plenty of exercise? The biting of your feet sounds more like a game she wants to play rather than dominance. She's just a baby after all. All she wants to do is eat, play and sleep.

[sas]

Sounds like the dog is expressing frustration with the barking and growling.

Becoming a leader isn't just about eating first you have to be 100% consistent in all the other areas as well.

[huski]

What we did when my dog was a pup was make him sit and stay for his food, and then we gave him a command to eat it. While he was eating I would pat him etc - now I can put my hand in his bowl while he is eating and take food out, he doesn't even blink. He is not remotely food possessive or possessive over anything at all (including bones) four years later. I never pretended to eat his food. Just get her to sit for the food and don't let her eat it until you give her the command. If she gets up/barks etc make her sit again. Reward her for her good behaviour (i.e. when she is calm and sitting) by letting her eat the food.

I agree with what sas said - being the leader is a 24/7 job that means you have to be consistent in everything you do with your pup (such as Shekhina mentioned).

[Golden Girl]

Jan Fennell suggests you befriend your dog and get it to cooperate through love and kindness rather than dominate it and force it to do what you want.

She also recommends not taking the dog's food away from it, not making it sit before it eats etc etc.

With respect, I completely disagree. Requiring a dog to sit and wait asserts leadership within the 'pack'. For me, it is akin to teaching manners to a child as they have similar disciplinary needs. Both children & dogs need to be loved and gently reminded of how they should behave. The owner should not be pussyfooting around & not demanding certain well established and maintained boundaries. Chaos is established within the heirarchy if leadership isn't routinely asserted. JMO of course.

[huski]

Jan Fennell suggests you befriend your dog and get it to cooperate through love and kindness rather than dominate it and force it to do what you want.

She also recommends not taking the dog's food away from it, not making it sit before it eats etc etc.

With respect, I completely disagree. Requiring a dog to sit and wait asserts leadership within the 'pack'. For me, it is akin to teaching manners to a child as they have similar disciplinary needs. Both children & dogs need to be loved and gently reminded of how they should behave. The owner should not be pussyfooting around & not demanding certain well established and maintained boundaries. Chaos is established within the heirarchy if leadership isn't routinely asserted. JMO of course.

I have to agree Golden Girl We failed to properly assert ourselves as 'pack leaders' when we got our Tibbie 8 years ago and she is now very food possessive, she would rather bite me then let me have her bone, we never made her sit for food or anything. We were never rough with her, we were always very gentle, but we were not assertive (I think she was spoilt with love and attention LOL, but had no discipline). When we got our husky we did the sit and stay for food technique and all the other tricks like not letting him walk through the door before us, we made sure that he knew we were the boss of him. We never forced him to do anything, we taught him manners. He happily sits for his food. He is perfectly behaved four years on He will bring his bone to me to get me to play with it with him, he has never growled at us etc. He is definately not fearful, he is a very happy young boy JM experience though...

[p_stampy]

when i started the food thing, I held onto the food bowl and made her sit, then put it down in front of her.

I'm now able to walk out, and she will sit. i can now put the food down and shout out a billion of different words, but she knows "go" is the only command to eat.

That worked for me, but my girl is pretty placid. Then again, being my first dog ever I'm surprised anything I'm doing is acutally working.

[SALTWOOD]

When you feed your dog have your own food in your pocket.

I presume you hold the dogs feed dish in your hand, so while holding the dogfood eat your own food with the other hand.

Ignore the dog, when you have finished your food, wait until your dog has settled down, then give it its food and walk away.

During all this procedure, from start to finish, you do not give your dog any eye contact or say one word.

You simply wait for the desire response and when all is quiet, you give the food.

Can take a while for dog to understand what is happening but you will get there in the end.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Just to add that JF did say to eat first to ensure you are established as pack leader.

I do this with my own dogs and I can also put my hand in their bowls and remove food but that's not because I've trained them that way, it is because they are not food aggressive. Wouldn't put my hand in every dog's bowl and if I had kids I would discourage them from going near any animal whilst it was eating/sleeping, just as my parents did.

I'm not saying she was 100% right in every category but a lot of what she said made sense. I think it is worth reading her book and any other information before embarking on dog ownership if you are completely inexperienced.