How To Make Your Dog Know You Are The Boss - Big Y® World Class Market®

For obedience training to proceed smoothly, your dog must consider you its leader. This means that it considers you the boss. There are a number of exercises you can do to establish and maintain dominance over your dog.

Individual dogs vary in submissiveness. If your dog is very submissive, you don't need to worry about establishing dominance (in fact, you may need to tone down your own dominating behavior to help bolster its confidence). Most dogs are happy to be submissive: just be sure to show approval at the occasional signs of submission, and assert dominance if it tries to test you (most dogs will, in adolescence). A very few dogs may be dominant and continually challenge you for dominance, in which case you will actively need to assert and establish your position, but this is exceedingly rare.

More often, people will misinterpret adolescent high energy or bratty behavior as ploys for dominance when they are not. Think of two year old child testing her parents. She's finding out what the limits are rather thine actually "challenging" her parents for leadership. Puppies and young dogs do exactly the same thing. Correct them firmly, but don't go into an all out "dominance battle" - it's inappropriate and your dog will begin to distrust you. Returning to the toddler analogy, the most you might do is a sharp word to put her in line. You would not pick her up, hold her against the wall and scream at her. Remember that most dogs are still "young" (in human terms, under 20 years of age) until they are two or three. In other words, don't confuse physical maturity with mental maturity.

Never mistake being firm with punishment. A leader is fair. A leader deserves its position. A leader does not use fear, punishment or brute force to achieve and maintain its position. A leader, instead, makes it crystal clear what behaviors it approves of and which it does not. A leader expects its subordinates to follow its lead, it does not force them to.

If you get mad at your dog, or angry or furious, you've lost the leader position. Dogs do not understand fury. You have to be calm and focused.

Always show approval at signs of submission:

Praise your dog when it drops its eyes first.
Praise her when she licks you under the chin.
Give her an enthusiastic tummy rub when she rolls over on her back.

Be consistent and fair in your corrections.

You must demonstrate to your dog that it can trust your orders.
Do not ever correct the dog after the fact. Such corrections appear to be arbitrary and unfair to the dog, because it has no associative memory the way people do.
If your dog is still a puppy, socializing it is a good way to gain trust.
If you decide that some action requires correction, always give a correction when you see that action. For example, if you decide that your dog is not allowed on the sofa, then always correct her when she decides to get up onto the sofa.
Consistency can be a big challenge with a family: every family member must agree on the basic ground rules with the dog; when and for what it should be corrected, what commands to use and so on. Families must cooperate extensively to avoid confusing the dog. It is best if only one person actively trains the dog; thereafter if the commands are given the same way, everyone in the family can use them.
Finally, always use the minimum correction necessary. If a sharp "AH-AH" will do, use that rather than a leader roll.

Correct the dog's challenges

Especially during adolescence, your dog may test and/or challenge your position. Do not neglect to correct this behavior. You don't need to come down like a ton of bricks; just making it clear you don't tolerate the behavior is sufficient. For example, don't let your dog crowd you through the door, don't let her jump out of the car until you've given her permission, don't let him jump for food in your hand. Don't let him ignore commands that he knows.