Somewhere, somehow it got into peoples heads that if you let your dog sleep on the bed, walk in front of you, eat first, or heaven-forbid taste human food that they would instantly become untrainable, power-hungry, stubborn dogs on covert mission to rule your world?
This is NOT true. Banning dogs from certain areas and/or activities is a nice way to avoid problems (guarding, begging and pulling being at the top of this list), but does not make the dog any more subordinate or the owner anymore dominant.
What do we mean by "Dominant" anyway?
When my clients tell me that there dog is dominant, I always ask, "What do you mean?" For starters there seem to be as many definitions for dominant out there as there are breeds of dogs. DOMINANT is NOT a nice neat word. It has lots of variables -depending on what books you have read, who wrote them and what they were talking about.
Here is an example. If I told you my house was painted blue, you might picture your standard color wheel, primary color blue. But, I could mean light blue, or bluish-gray, my house might even be what some people call deep turquoise. If you work as a designer or in a paint store, and you wanted to know what color blue I was talking about you might ask me for a reference # from a color-chart, show me some samples, have me pick a specific color and then mix the paint so that I got exactly what I picked (not your version of my color).
In addition to having numerous definitions, the word DOMINANT seems to be used the way my grandma used slang around my friends. It did NOT come off as intended -she did not appear younger or cooler.
When interviewing clients I am frequently told that the problem is their dog's DOMINANCE. So I inquire more.... What do you mean by that? Can you tell me more about what the dog is doing? And then its the old dictionary stumbling on itself routine:
Client: "Well he's just being dominant."
Trainer: "Really, What is he doing?"
Client: "Well he's not submissive?"
Trainer: "Hmmm... I'm not sure what you mean. What would you like him to do?"
Client: "I don't want him being dominant."
Trainer: "OK, well tell me more about a time when your dog was dominant."
Client: The other day he was on the couch."
Trainer: Do you think he was dominating the couch?"
Client: Well he wouldn't get off when I told him DOWN."
Trainer: "Oh, would you like to teach your dog an OFF-command, in addition to the command for LIE-DOWN?"
The Bottom Line
If you don't want dog hair in your bed, make your dog sleep somewhere else. If you don't care, then by all means don't worry about it! There is nothing wrong with letting your dog sleep on your bed.
If you don't want to be pulled on walks then buy a humane anti-pull harness or halter. If your dog is not pulling, then who cares where they walk, front, left, right, behind -anywhere you let them walk is fine! If they keep crossing in front of you and you find it annoying than TEACH them not to do that. They are NOT doing it to CONTROL YOU! They are doing it, because it works for them and they don't know better.
And eating first... REALLY? I don't get this one at all, my dogs eat ALL THEIR MEALS FROM KONGS! And they also get to lick plates, but I guess that since I don't want them licking the plate while I am eating I do usually finish my food first.
The good news... It is NOT Dominance!
The EVEN BETTER NEWS...
IT'S SEX!
That's RIGHT. Humping (despite the obvious implications -that it probably feels good) is S. E. X.
Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex! Did you know that dogs, like most creatures, need to have sex to reproduce?
Reproduction is just one of those things that pops out in play. Play-time is just a rehearsal stage for all of life's survival skills.
During play-time your dog will:
- Play-fight
- Play-hunt
- Play-kill
- Play-mate
For more on Humping >>>> Read my new favorite book, Oh Behave! by Jean Donaldson, author and director of The SF SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers.
Jumping is dangerous, messy and rude, but it is nothing more. Jumping is NOT a tactic dogs use to dominate people. Your dog is jumping because they want something. If your dog continues to jump (because jumping is working) they are clever, not domineering.
If you want to teach your dog to keep their paws off, you will need to outsmart your dog. Even if jumping is not a problem for you, dogs who jump up can scare and/or hurt people. Even small dogs should NOT jump up on people unless invited. You should begin teaching your dog not to jump right away!
No matter the task, a good trainer will always know what their dog wants. If you know what your dog wants, you can devise a system for controlling access to the desired person, place or thing that your dog covets.
Controlling access to rewards is how trainers get animals to do the things they want. When I am working with a highly responsive dog, the dog is responding to the history of access that I gave or denied, not to me. Don't take it personally when your dog does not listen to you; dogs who ignore commands do so because the command doesn't have significant relevance to what they want or to how they will go about getting it.
A dog's behavior is a result of their learning. Learning is a process with a resulting belief; that belief is that certain actions have predictable results. Animals (including humans) always do more of the things that lead to positive results (getting what one wants). For the purpose of training, think of the things your dog wants as tangible items or measurable activities. Avoid using complex desires in training. For example, "My dog wants to rule the world!" is a poor item-of-desire to use in training since you cannot really give or remove an abstract concept.
Good things to control access to are:
>People, especially people your dog loves -YOU are at the top of this list!
>Smells & Sniff-spots -favorite pee-mail poles and corners.
>Spaces and Places -the car, the park, the backyard.
>Dog friends -dogs your dog knows and loves to play with or greet.
>Food & Toys -usually these items trump the other items on the list, but not always.
Now that you know what your dog wants, you are ready to give and remove access to this item.
Most dogs enjoy it when people talk to them, look at them, or touch them. These are all things that we do BEFORE we give our dogs really wonderful things like. Before we toss a toy, feed a meal, lett a dog inside or out of a crate, we talk to them, look at them, and/or touch them. Eye-contact, touch and voice (especially as a group) overwhelmingly mean to your dog, "Here comes the really good stuff!" This makes voice, touch and eye-contact poor markers of your dogs bad behavior, because sometimes they also mean that your dog did something right. If your dog jumps on you, turn around and walk away -avoid giving your dog something that predicts something they will likely want. Your dog likely wanted your attention, don't give it.
If this fails (after everyone your dog comes in contact with really tries it for a week), then you can try making a bigger point. Remember, yelling at your dog probably involves voice & eye-contact; pushing your dog down, probably includes voice and touch. Dogs who continue to jump even when their owners tell them "No." and push them down, are doing what works! Or what they think works because you marked their jump with a combination of things (voice, eye, touch) that predict good things (toys, food, access). Imagine how confusing this is to your dog! Confusion equals stress. Stress leads to erratic behavior and poor judgement (ie: your dog will keep jumping).
If your dog jumps on your when you come home, leave the moment their paws look like they are going to leave the ground. If you are having guests over, don't give your dog the chance to jump on them. Leash them to a heavy piece of furniture or banister. Let your guest arrive in peace. Allow your guest to approach your dog, if the dog jumps up, the guests walks away. Repeat as many times as necessary. Then ask your dog to sit. If your dog stays in a sit, the guest can pet them. If your dog's bottom leaves the ground, your guest walks away. Un-leash your dog and if they jump, back on the leash they go.
For thoughts on why punishment is a poor response to jumping, try these other articles.
Quiet! -Barking Whose Problem Is It?
