clusters

Hi,

Boo is now 15mths old and a lovely dog. She is still learning and testing us but, in general, I think she ok for her age.

My main problem is that she will not accept me as pack leader. She accepts my OH but I still think she feels like she needs to protect me and be dominant with me.

We both are consistent in our actions, we aren't harsh but we are firm with her. I had considered it being because I am female??

She will always try to put herself or part of her on me (not in a cute way, total dominance). It's about 60/40 that she listens to me (where as it's about 80/20 for my OH). If he 'tells her off' or gives her a command like 'away' she responds, with me she comes at me and makes it clear that she is not obeying.

I am out of ideas as to what else to try.

Any help??

bonzo

Being a female has nothing to do with it....I know femalehandlers who scare the shit even out of me hahaha....no serious what do you mean by putting herself on you out of total dominance? Does she keeps looking at you then? Is she trying to evoke a conflict? First of all I think you shouldn't allow her to be on the same levelheight as yourself if you know what I mean. She always has to "look up" on you. Ignorance also seems to work in some cases when you see dominante behavior act "cocky" and don't pay attention to the dog. By cocky I mean be sure about yourself an act as a real leader. Also at 15 months I think she's just testing the situation how far she can go with everyone. Actually that's normal behavior. I've known a situation where the wife couldn't feed the cat outside when the husband wasn't at home but that's quit a different thing, I think in your case with ongoing consistency the problem will resolve itself.
Good luck

v320

I agree, sounds like she is still testing you, but I would definitely stay consistent, and nip it in the bud now.

I didn't quite understand the lay on you comment either? Can you just get up and tell her to lie down near you in "her" place?
Do you allow her on furniture?

Patches Mom

Do you do the NILF training nothing puts a dog in its place faster than this in my opinion. You can Google NILF dog training to get all the information about it. What I like about it their is no yelling, hitting or harsh corrections do you feed her or does hubby feed her? Is she interested in food?
Good Luck
Patches Mom

2RescuedDobies

I would practice nothing in life is free and do not reward her for leaning or sitting on you. I would even go so far as to not allow her through any door first. She must wait for you. Have her walk behind you and make sure she is getting plenty of exercise.

babydobie

some individual time of you controlling her resources could help: food, outside, excercise and treats, are all controlled by you. good luck

Rosamburg

What do you mean by firm? What do you use for corrections? If you use corrections, where is her threshold? Do you kiss your dog around the face area? Do you make her wait for a command before eating? Do you feed yourself before her? These questions need to be answered before you can get qualified responses.

I read through the NILF article and I think it is great advice. I take the feeding situation a bit further, at least when raising a puppy, that they not only to sit but have to wait for a command to eat. One thing I might add is that the NILF article mentions "for normal dogs" sometimes certain Dobies may not quite fit that description. I may not be PC but am not opposed to what some may describe as a "harsh" correction if the situation calls for it.

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.

__________________
It takes more than a baby and a box to make a normal monkey.—Harry F. Harlow

v320

Great suggestion on the NILF training - some interesting techniques!

I have used some of these techniques in the past, just keep my dogs calm and orderly - they have worked very well for me (I didn’t now there was a formal name for it, wonder went it came out - LOL).

Rosamburg

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.