Quote:
Originally Posted by RedFawnRising  Rosamburg asked: "Do you kiss your dog around the face area?"
I'm curious, why would you believe that to be a problem?
Alpha does not have to be adversarial.
Books to read, for the OP: Pat Miller's The Power of Positive Dog Training; Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson's My Smart Puppy (comes with free DVD), Jean Donaldson's The Culture Clash.
It's about communicating such that you get what the dog is saying to you and you can make it easier for her to understand what you require of her--and dealing in a currency that matters to her.
Just in case anyone thinks Dobes can't be good family members and great citizens with positive training methods--my 2 year old male is a certified working Service Dog. <--not trying to be defensive, just something I've heard before in other contexts and my Ez sure proves them wrong. |
I don't think it is generally a big deal, but if one is losing the battle of establishing pack order I would not do anything that could be construed by the dog as passive behavior. i could be off base in terms of my understanding or information regarding this theory but if the OP is having a tough time establishing pack order then kissing the dog about the face could be one more mixed message to the dog in terms of who is alpha.