January 21, 2010

by shibashake

The Dominant Dog – Dealing with Dominance in Dogs

What is a dominant dog?

Some people attribute all problem dog behaviors to “dominance”, while others do not want to use the “dominant dog” label at all. The truth, as always, is somewhere in-between.

It is useful to recognize dominant behaviors in your dog so that you can better manage him, keep him safe, and set him up for success. Refusing to use the word dominance, or denying its existence in dogs is unhelpful.

Any pack animal, including humans and dogs, have to deal with dominance issues because it is a part of pack dynamics.

Similarly, trying to explain everything away by using the dominant dog label or excuse is also unhelpful. To really fix a problem, we must fully understand it, and correctly identify its source. For example, a dog may show aggression, because of dominance. However, dog aggression can also be the result of fear, stress, play, curiosity, boredom, or something else.

Dominant Dog - Dealing with Dominance in Dogs.

Dog Dominance

Dog Dominance - Dominance, is a fluid concept.

Dominance, is a fluid concept

.

Dogs are not dominant all of the time.

For example, many dogs will show greater dominance when they are on home turf, or when their owner is around. Under different circumstances, these same dogs will act in a less dominant fashion, or may even become submissive.

Observe your dog carefully, and identify when he is more likely to show dominance, and why.

Dominant Dog - Dogs are not dominant all of the time.

Dominance is a relative concept

.

My Shiba Inu, for example, is more dominant than most dogs I have owned. He challenges me more frequently, and is constantly testing his boundaries. He has a dominant body posture, and he will not back down when challenged by other dogs.

My Siberian Husky, is a more submissive dog. She usually stops doing whatever she is doing when I tell her to. She very quickly backs down, and uses submissive body language, when challenged by other dogs.

Dominant Dog - Dominance is a relative concept.

What is a Dominant Dog?

What is a Dominant Dog?

A dominant dog challenges me more frequently, and is constantly testing his boundaries.

1. A dominant dog challenges you more frequently and is constantly testing his boundaries. My Shiba Inu is always testing to see if particular rules (no getting on furniture, no humping other dogs) still hold true.
2. A dominant dog is more likely to fight when challenged. My Shiba Inu likes playing with other dogs, but he generally does not get along with dogs who try to dominate him. When challenged, he will not back down, and this can result in a dog fight.
3. A dominant dog will frequently respond with aggression when frustrated; and will likely redirect that aggression onto you if you try and stop him.

A dominant dog is more likely to fight when challenged.

Dealing with a Dominant Dog

Dealing with a Dominant Dog.

1. A dominant dog needs a calm and assertive pack leader.

Anger and shouting at your dog will only worsen his behavior. Fear and uncertainty will cause him to become even more dominant.

The best way to deal with a dominant dog is to remain calm, and firmly remove him from the environment or object that is causing him to act out.

2. Contrary to common belief, physical force or physical corrections is NOT a good way to deal with dominant dogs.

If not perfectly executed (with perfect timing, force, and technique), a physical correction may further frustrate your dominant dog, and cause him to get even more aggressive.

Instead, stay calm, keep physical interactions to a minimum, and quickly leave the stressful situation. Using physical force against a dominant dog may end up teaching him the wrong lesson, i.e. use violence against violence.

True alpha dogs lead by controlling the pack’s resources, for example through the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program.

3. A dominant dog should be carefully managed and supervised.

You want to step in and stop any aggressive behaviors before your dog escalates. Prevention is key when dealing with a dominant dog because it stops your dog from practicing his dominant behaviors, and it enforces the important lesson that you are calm and in charge.

A dominant dog needs a calm and assertive pack leader.

A dominant dog should have more rules.

A dominant dog should have frequent obedience training sessions.

4. A dominant dog should have more rules.

To become a good pack leader to a dominant dog it is important to develop a comprehensive set of house rules for him to follow. Always be consistent with enforcing all of those rules.

My Shiba Inu’s most important house rules include – no getting on furniture, no biting on people. no leash biting, and no food aggression or resource guarding.

5. A dominant dog should have frequent obedience training sessions.

Schedule at least two or more short (10 – 15 minutes) dog obedience training sessions with your dominant dog every day. It is a good idea to keep up with obedience training exercises throughout a dominant dog’s life, so that it is clear that you are in charge.

6. Use proper equipment to control a dominant dog.

When dealing with a dominant dog, safety should always be a primary concern.

Use whatever equipment is necessary to keep all the people around your dominant dog safe. It may be useful to leave a drag lead on your dominant dog, so that you can easily control him without physically laying hands on him or his collar; and without resorting to chasing games.

If your dominant dog bites at people, it may be necessary to use a muzzle. Use a basket muzzle so that his mouth is not overly constrained and he is not too uncomfortable. A basket muzzle will still allow your dog to eat and pant.

Be careful not to aggravate your dominant dog’s aggressive behavior by overly constraining him, and causing barrier frustration. When in doubt, consult a professional trainer.

7. Always set your dominant dog up for success.

Always try to minimize the number of dominant displays. Identify objects (e.g. other dogs, cats) and environmental conditions (e.g. loud noise) that trigger dominant behaviors, and avoid those triggers.

Then, gradually desensitize your dog to those triggers, in a controlled fashion.

Always set your dominant dog up for success.

Many dog behavioral issues including resource guarding, biting humans, dog-to-dog aggression, sensitivity to handling, growling at humans, and disobedience, are often attributed to “the dominant dog“.

However, each of these problems are unique, and complex. They are usually the result of many factors; one of which may be dominance. Many behavioral issues may also be the result of stress and fear, and not be related to dominance at all.

When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.

Observe your dog and his environment carefully, identify the triggers for his aggressive behavior, and try to understand why he is responding in this way. If your dog’s aggression is extreme (e.g. he is breaking skin, and/or causing puncture wounds) hire a professional trainer to help you carefully trouble-shoot the problems.

Dominant Dog - When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.

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51 Comments

1. shibashake

   Also, he marked for the first time at a friend’s house that has dogs. he’s never ever gone in our house before. is this part of his dominant dog behavior? and how do you stop it!

   Hmmm – it is difficult to tell. It will depend on whether he showed other signs of dominance. For example, how did he act with your friend’s dogs?

   If the pee-ing is the only thing, then it could just be a matter of smell. Maybe that was an area that your friend’s dogs have gone before, or which particularly smells like them, which will be very tempting for another dog to want to leave their own scent. Dogs have a very strong instinct to pee where other dogs have peed before. Kindda like leaving their calling card.

   When Sephy is at the training facility (in a daycare center) the first thing he will do is usually go around and explore everything in the environment, then sometimes he will mark a bit here and there where it strongly smells like other dogs. I think it is normal canine behavior.

   In terms of stopping it – you would pretty much do the same thing as you would with potty training in your own house. Dogs don’t usually generalize across different locations, so while Shiba may have learned potty rules in your house, he does not understand that the same rules apply in your friend’s house and possibly does not understand how that is different from when he is walking outside. Maybe after training him on multiple houses, he may generalize to certain types of houses.

   12:53 pm on May 5th, 2010
2. Bart

   We keep a drag leash on him at all times too. That definitely helps keep him under control when he acts up. We’ve been diligent about correcting him and not letting him control us, but he still occasionally bites at our feet. I think it will just take some time on our part to break him of this.
   Also, he marked for the first time at a friend’s house that has dogs. he’s never ever gone in our house before. is this part of his dominant dog behavior? and how do you stop it!

   Thank you for this site. It’s nice to know that it’s not just me.

   6:11 am on May 4th, 2010
3. shibashake

   One thing that has worked very well for me is to use a drag lead and a flat collar. My Shiba is now about 3 and although I don’t have to use the drag lead much anymore, I still leave it on.

   When he bites, or performs one of his Shiba moves on me I would non-mark him (No or ack-ack) and stop him with the drag lead. Then I get him to do something else – e.g. go to mat. If he ignores the command and goes back to his previous behavior, I say Timeout and put him in timeout in the laundry room. If he complies with the command he gets rewarded with attention and sometimes food rewards.

   Here is more on what I do with the drag-lead
   http://www.shibashake.com/dog/puppy-training-tips-and-advice#draglead

   However, I am not a trainer, so you may want to ask your behaviorist and see what he/she says. In general you want to use a consistent set of techniques so that there is no confusion for the dog.

   12:41 pm on April 30th, 2010
4. Bart

   We adopted an 19mo old male shiba 2 months ago. He has food aggression issues, but we’re working with a behaviorialist and have established rules for him so we’re pack leaders. We are currently hand-feeding and have a definitive feeding plan in place for next 8 weeks.

   He still will occasionally bite at our feet when he doesnt want us to go in a certain area. He’s bitten through a few shoes! I’m pretty sure it’s just him being dominant and challenging our role as the “alpha”. The behavioralist said to ignore him when he does this, but that doesnt work.

   Have you encountered this problem? If so, how did you deal with it?

   7:53 am on April 29th, 2010
5. shibashake

   Hello Karen,
   Is it possible to keep your female husky in a separate area when you are at work or not home? In this way, the Chow mix can have her own space when they are by themselves.
   When you are home, and have time to supervise, then keep a close watch on the door. As soon as the female husky approaches and tries to dominate the Chow, non-mark her (No) and body block her away. Then give her an alternate command, e.g. go to her Mat. If she keeps persisting then a time-out may be appropriate.
   If you do this consistently, she will learn that you set the house rules.

   7:30 pm on January 11th, 2010
6. shibashake

   Hello Tosha2,
   I know what you mean – my Shiba is like that. When I take him to the dog park he seems to gravitate towards the dogs who don’t want to play with him and then keeps at them.
   One thing that may help is to totally remove him from the enclosed park space when he acts out. Walk with him a bit outside, do some obedience commands, then once he is more calm, you can try again. If he goes back to pestering the same dog, repeat. In this way he learns that if he does not listen he does not get to play.

   In general, however, I am not a big proponent of enclosed dog parks. Here are some reasons why -
   http://www.shibashake.com/dog/enclosed-dog-parks-g
   As for the biting on hands, I find that it is generally most effective to follow up the non-mark (e.g. ouch or No) with an alternate command. This way he not only learns what he shouldn’t do, but also what he should do instead. Make sure to reward him with some calm play or calm affection when he complies with the alternate command. This way, he learns that doing the alternate behavior gets him attention and rewards whereas biting gets him nothing or a time-out.

   7:29 pm on January 11th, 2010
7. Karen

   We have 3 dogs, a spayed female husky who is the dominant dog (8 years old, had since she was a puppy), a neutered male husky (10 years old, had since he was 2), and a spayed husky/chow mix (5 years old, had one year).
   When we first got the husky/chow mix, she and the other female had a few spats, and then my husky laid down the law one day and everything was great for about a year. Now, the husky/chow is afraid to come in the house from the back yard, because the female husky has dominated her at the door. She lays at the door and intimidates her if she tries to come in. Since we have a dog door, they come and go as they please, and this new behavior just started about a month ago. We don’t let her do it when we see it, but I can only imagine how much of this goes on while I’m at work! Now husky/chow won’t even come in for supper.
   How can we change the behavior of either or both of them so that husky/chow feels free to come and go through the door?

   7:28 pm on January 7th, 2010
8. Tosha2

   I have a 1 year old, very hyper, Boxer/cattle dog mix. He is generally a good dog but I am having a hard time with a few things. First, he continues to mouth and play nip other dogs and humans. I’ve tried the “ouch” approach which had no effect. I’ve tried holding his mouth shut for 10 seconds and I’ve tried short time outs. Anything else? The more pressing issue at this time is his dominance over other dogs. I love to go to the dog park with him but 50% of the time he gets into it with another dog forcing us to leave. At first I though he just plays rough but I think when he really gets challenged by another dog he gets aggressive and will not leave the other dog alone. I’m getting tired of wondering if it will be a good visit to the park or an embarrassing episode. Any advice? Thanks

   7:27 pm on January 7th, 2010
9. Preggers

   Hi, Thanks for your response. Don’t know yet what the sex of the new baby is. My toddler completely dominates Charlie. That’s no problem. Our toddler can take toys from Charlie and put his own food down in front of him without worrying about the dog taking the food. My toddler is pretty calm (as far as toddlers go), and treats the dog well (again, as far as toddlers go). Charlie waits for both me and my child to go through doorways before he enters a rooms. My husband is dominated by Charlie. I’ve gotten my husband to make Charlie lie down before giving Charlie attention, but my husband is in charge at work and doesn’t want to worry about being in charge at home. He’s always complaining about Charlie being a roadblock and getting in the way whenever he wants to do something Charlie doesn’t want him to do. Charlie is his first dog. But he works so much that he doesn’t want to put any effort into dog training. I know that’s a problem. I’ve shown him Dog Whisperer and talked to him about it for 5 years, I don’t think I’m going to change his behavior.
   Personally, I’m a very calm and assertive person. I’m always being complemented for being easy going and yet authoritative and rise to leadership positions without pursuing them whenever I’m in a group. Like I said, I never had a problem with a dog before. I’ve often been the only person in a group that can deal with a troubled dog. I’ve watched Cesar Millan and feel I do a pretty good job of having calm-assertive energy.
   Our neighbors love Charlie, and we live in a rural area, he’s sort of the neighborhood mascot and we’re known in town as “Charlie’s owners”. My husband takes him on short walks every morning and evening. I often take him on 30-60 minute walks through pasture, woods and farmland most days (if I can’t do the walk, we go out to a pasture and play fetch until he can’t stand up anymore), on weekends he usually gets a long hike with my husband. We’ve got teenagers across the street that take him 3-4 times a week for a walk and play (they’re usually out 2 hours + and walk to neighboring towns with him to see friends), plus our next door neighbor takes him a couple times a month as well. So I can’t see that lack of exercise is a problem.
   His behavior has escalated in the last couple months. He never growled at me before then. We’ve also had to start locking him in the hallway (closing and locking the doors to all rooms) when we leave because he will destroy things when we’re gone. He’s learned to open doors if the doors aren’t locked and will get diapers out of the diaper pail, or toilet paper off the toilet paper holder and tear them up. He’ll also go through the trash can and shred any paper products he finds.
   His energy level has never declined since we’ve had him, which I think is really unusual for a Berner. I had a husky before and that was normal for that breed, but Charlie still has the energy level of a puppy at 5 years old. When we’re away from home, he stays at a luxury dog hotel where he gets two long group walks and group play every day and he is placed with the young dogs because the dogs his age can’t deal with his energy level. They love Charlie there, but said he breaks into their food storage area regularly.
   I guess, typing all this out, maybe the problem is perhaps my husband being inconsistent about the rules. I don’t really know how to take a different approach to him though!

   7:26 pm on January 7th, 2010
10. shibashake

    Hello Preggers,
    Congratulations on your upcoming baby Boy or girl?
    Bernese Mountain Dogs are really beautiful. Love their coat and face. And a sugar thief?! – lol – Charlie sounds like my Shiba Inu who is also very temperamental.
    One thing that could help is to get a dog walker or to put Charlie in a dog daycare a couple of days a week. This will give you a much needed break, as well as keep Charlie busy.
    I used to have a dog walker do group dog walks with my Shiba Inu at the park – 3 times a week. After these excursions – he is totally pooped and less likely to get into mischief. He also enjoys himself a lot, gets good mental and physical exercise, and gets to socialize with other dogs.
    Another thing that helped with my Shiba Inu is doing private training sessions at home with several different trainers. It helped to have a few trainers observe me interacting with him in a home setting and letting me know where my timing or technique was off. I liked getting different opinions so that I can get a fuller picture of what was going on.
    The thing that made the biggest difference with Shiba is controlling my own energy. Shiba is very smart and knows when I am angry, stressed, or frustrated. Once he sensed this, he would act out even more. Once I controlled my own energy and stayed calm, Shiba’s behavior improved significantly. Controlling my own energy was not easy.
    Here are some of the things that helped me -
    http://www.shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-ag
    How does Charlie act wrt. your toddler? and other members of the family?
    Has Charlie escalated his behavior recently?
    Has anything else in Charlie’s routine changed?

    7:25 pm on December 31st, 2009
11. shibashake

    Thanks for dropping by pst. Your comment made me think of Cesar Millan.
    I wish you and your pack all the best.

    7:24 pm on December 31st, 2009
12. pst

    After reading your post, I have to say it fully sounds like your dog dominates you. If you have to constantly reinforce the same “laws” you have implemented then you are obviously are not the “alpha dog”. If you have a significant other, then that person is breaking the rules you implied, which is in turn being learned by the dogs. Or you are showing some sort of favoritism and the “dominant” dog is getting mixed messages.

    7:23 pm on December 31st, 2009
13. Preggers

    Hi Shibashake,
    Thank you for the great article and the wonderful advice you’ve been giving everyone. I’ve had dogs all my life, including a fear-aggressive Lhasa Apso rescue, and have never had any problems, until my current dog. My husband and I knew we wanted a family, so we went to a breeder for a gentle family dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy named Charlie. He is 5 years old now, neutered, and is constantly testing boundaries and trying to show dominance. I already do everything you’ve mentioned. I practice NILIF, he has lots of rules, no getting on furniture, no going in the kitchen (he is a very practiced sneak thief and will take and eat anything, including bags of sugar). I don’t greet him immediately upon arriving home, he gets time outs when misbehaving, we practice obedience every day, no rough-housing or tug of war games, etc. We’ve taken him to obedience school (we live in Germany), and the reaction we’ve gotten from every trainer is that Charlie is sweet but extremely temperamental. I used to have the energy for dealing with him, but I’m pregnant with a toddler now and it’s getting stressful to constantly confront his testing of boundaries, not to mention I can’t control him as well on the leash anymore and sometimes just have to let go of the leash (I used to be able to get him to calm down pretty well, but now he fights a lot more). He hadn’t shown aggression either, until just recently. Now when I try to calmly move him into his time out room, he’ll growl and mouth my hand. I don’t like the way things are heading. Any advice?

    7:22 pm on December 31st, 2009
14. shibashake

    Hello Shnookey,
    I do not breed dogs, and therefore have little experience with unfixed dogs.
    The kneeing thing never worked well for me either. In fact it got my Shiba even more excited and crazy. What worked well with my Shiba whenever he got overly excited, is to stay calm, and not interact with him physically. If he did not stop, I just removed him (by drag lead with a flat collar) to time-out so that he could calm down. That way he learned that crazy behavior means don’t get to be with people or dogs, and calm behavior means he gets to play.
    Also make sure that he is very well exercised. After he gets rid of his excited energy, he will be easier to retrain while at home.
    Another thing that really helped me a lot when I was having troubles with my Shiba is visiting the Shiba breeders that lived nearby. They were very helpful and let me know what to expect from my Shiba and what were normal Shiba behaviors.
    They may be a great resource for you as well. I used the breeder directory at the AKC site. This is the site I found for bulldogs -
    http://thebca.org/breedref.html
    A professional trainer with breed specific experience can also be very helpful.

    7:21 pm on October 21st, 2009
15. Shnookey

    I just got a Olde English bulldog that is 2 years old. HE is INSANELY hyper. Obviously never had any disipline. Jumps on you constantly despite the “knee” trick. We only pet him when he is not jumping, and praise him for it, then stop as soon as he is jumping again. Anyhow, he is uncontrollably hyper. Pinning him down reluts in him thinking you are playing and him trying to bite on you (in play) which we discourage. The bigger problem is trying to introduce him to our other male dogs. We do breed, and plan on breeding him some day. So none of our dogs are neautered. And there are females present. Introducing males to the pack has usually gone pretty smooth. But being he is so hyper AND he wants to dominate everyone.,..has made it difficult. He tries to hump all the male dogs. And they don’t want any part of it. We have an English mastiff, much bigger than him, that is dominant of everyone. He is so gentle and sweet. But lets them know right off he is the bigger dog and gently grabs them to show his dominance (grabs them with his legs not mouth). Well this new hyper boy leaps nad jumps and tries to dominate everyone. We can tell him NO, pull him off, nothing works. He ignores us completely. He has no respect for us at all. It’s like we are not even there. So we don’t know how to get this hyper boy to CALM DOWN and realize he is not the leader of the pack, and respect the other dogs as well. Any help please apreciated.

    7:20 pm on October 21st, 2009
16. shibashake

    Hello Spirit Dog,
    What you say is very true. We often misinterpret our dog’s actions, and perhaps think it is dominance behavior when often, it is not. I find dogs fascinating, so I always try to observe my guys very closely and learn all I can about what they are trying to tell me. Still, I probably miss a lot of what they say because their body language goes by so rapidly.
    As for the photo – you are right that my Shiba does a lot of these things because he thinks they are fun. He also thinks that challenging his boundaries is great fun. He is a great character and is always trying out new things and testing old things. Sometimes he reminds me of that Verizon commercial – except he asks – Can I do this now?
    I understand and agree that dominance is not at the root of all ills, but I do think that dominance sometimes does apply.

    7:19 pm on September 21st, 2009
17. The Spirit Dog

    You have some very good and helpful information on your post, but part of the problem in regards to explaining behaviors is that we often misinterpret our dogs intentions as something else.
    Case in point being the above photo with the caption, “Dominant Dog – Shiba Inu Sephy testing his boundaries.” Sephy’s, not really testing boundaries in this photo, this is more or less a “This looks like it could be fun” thing, until of course he saw what I can only imagine was the photographers displeasure with this act.
    ( Of course this could also be a look of “Better get away from my stuff”, because dogs of different personalities will often display similar body languages while their intent being different.)
    Although some may describe this act as an exploratory behavior, it’s based in fun nonetheless. As I’m sure this little guy already knows there’s great fun to be had with all the cool stuff in this box.

    7:18 pm on September 21st, 2009
18. shibashake

    Hello only1dog,
    It could be any number of things – the way the other dog holds himself, (is the other dog neutered?), the way the other dog smells, or the way the other dog acts. It may be best to just keep them apart.
    Whenever you notice him focusing-on or moving towards the other dog, call him to you and play with him for a bit to distract him, then let him get back to the other dogs.
    If he doesn’t listen and keeps going after the one dog, just calmly get him and make him stay by you for a while. This will teach him that if he tries to engage the one dog, he doesn’t get to play at all. You may need to repeat this exercise more than a few times before he learns to leave the one dog alone.
    Another possibility is to slowly desensitize him to the other dog, but in order to do that, you need to do one-on-one training, in a quiet place, with just your dog and the one dog.

    7:17 pm on August 21st, 2009
19. only1dog

    Shibashake,

    when i take my dog to the off leash park he acts like the great dog i know he is but when we run into this one dog who is the same breed, just younger he’s super dominant.

    at first i thought it was because he wasn’t nuetered and he was older but now that he is nuetered, he hasnt changed his behavior.

    how do i challenge his dominace wen its only towards one dog?

    p.s.

    he plays with every other dog fine and he listens reativley well wen at home! its one dog and theyve only met twice!

    7:16 pm on August 21st, 2009
20. shibashake

    Hello katiee,
    Your situation sounds similar to what I went through with my Shiba Inu. I started out with very little discipline, and he really became a wild child Then, I started using aversive techniques including alpha rolls and leash jerks. This was taught to be by a traditional trainer. Things got a bit better for a little bit of time, then Shiba started getting aggressive with me. Here are some things that helped me -
    1. Stop doing alpha rolls. Alpha rolls are extremely difficult to implement properly and can often encourage aggression in dogs. This University of Pennsylvania study shows that using aversive techniques (including alpha rolls and leash jerks)increased aggression in 1 of the 4 dogs that they surveyed.
    http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/research/030
    2. Switch to reward based dog training. I used to think that reward training is not going to be effective for a dominant dog, but it really worked a lot better for me than the physical aversive techniques I was using. Reward training can be used to both encourage good behaviors as well as stop bad behaviors.
    3. Start small. I would stay away from dog parks for now. The dog park environment can be very high stress, very high stimulus for a dog. What you want to do is slowly desensitize him to other dogs in a more quiet and controlled environment.

    http://www.shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-greeting-aggression#desensitize

    4. With aggression issues, it can be very helpful to get a professional trainer. I would recommend getting a positive reinforcement trainer as opposed to the traditional physical force trainers. Once I switched over to reward training and started instituting some rules and routine with my Shiba, he started acting well and there was a great reduction in his bite instinct. Nowadays, his first instinct is still to use his mouth, but usually he will think and stop himself before he escalates.
    I would also highly recommend bite-inhibition training. It really saved me from my Shiba when he was leash biting, people biting, and leg humping and whatever else.

    7:15 pm on July 21st, 2009
21. katiee

    hey! awesome article, it helps alot.
    my dog is a fixed ~1.5 year old brittany. we only realise it now, but we brought him up wrong, with love, affection and praise before rules and boundaries.. and as a result, he tries to be dominant. we taught him tons of tricks and now that we’ve changed the relationship a bit, he’s becoming a lot better. except now he’s starting to show aggression.
    we brought him to the dog park today, and we went insane. he saw a smaller dog and immediately began to bark viciously, and tried to lunge through the fence. we didn’t let him in, but we left. before we left though, he bit my sister who tried to first pull him away, then tried the alpha roll. he goes into such a state that the skin around his eyes turn purple and his eye balls red.
    that’s happened a few times before, and all with smaller dogs at that same park. i want to overcome this behavior. what should we do in those situations- leave, or try to calm him and introduce him to the dogs? should we get a professional trainer?

    7:14 pm on July 21st, 2009
22. shibashake

    Hello KCDogguy,
    I think wrt. Tug-of-War and rough-housing, it is the type of behavior that it encourages and gets the dog to practice on people. Rough-housing can encourage dogs to mouth on people, and tug can encourage dogs to pull on objects held or attached to people.
    If played with proper rules on most dogs it is probably not an issue. However, problems arise when these games are played with no rules, or improper rules, which can teach dogs that if they mouth or pull hard enough, they get what they want.
    I don’t rough-house with my Shiba because he is a very mouthy dog and that is not the type of behavior that I want to encourage in him. He gets to rough-house with other dogs but not with humans. My Siberian Husky has a much calmer temperament, so I am less strict with her.
    I think it all depends on how the games are played and the temperament of the dogs involved.

    7:13 pm on July 21st, 2009
23. KCDogguy

    What studies show that tug-of-war and rough housing lead to dominance? Rooney and Bradshaw performed studies with 14 dogs and found no affect to confidence/dominance behavior. In fact, play training (including tug-of-war and controlled rough housing) leads to stronger bonds between humans and dogs. Reference pg 322-326 Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training: Adaptation and learning By Steven R. Lindsay.

    Also, nervous, undersocialized and scared dogs with little confidence show more aggressive than dominant dogs. Just a different way of looking at things. Nice site. I also have two shibas and an Akita.

    Two paws up

    Eric

    http://www.kcdogguy.com

    7:12 pm on July 21st, 2009
24. shibashake

    Hi Kay,
    How old are your Shibas and how do they usually act with other dogs? How old is your sister’s Shiba and how does he act with other dogs? This will largely determine how you approach introducing them to your sister’s dog.
    When you organize the meeting, make sure to take proper precautions so that everybody remains safe. It may be better to have the first few meetings on neutral ground.
    You may want to just start by just walking the dogs in the general vicinity of each other and see how they react. Make sure NOT to walk them head-on as that is usually seen as a challenge. Always have space between them and make sure there are no head-to-head meetings.
    Only let the dogs go if you are totally comfortable that they will get along. You may want to leave the leashes on initially, and let them drag it around, so that it will be easier to stop any misbehavior. Make sure they all have flat collars on and NOT training collars as that can cause injury during play.
    It is also a good idea to introduce the dogs one-on-one. Initially, only let your non-dominant male meet with your sister’s dominant male. If all goes well, then try only letting your female meet with your sister’s male. And if that goes well, then you can try it with them together. Note that the dynamic may totally change once your dogs are together so make sure to keep careful watch and make safety be a priority.
    Closely supervise them and interrupt them before they escalate into any kind of aggression. Do not leave them alone for any period of time.
    Make sure to stop play from time to time so that they do not get over-excited which can sometimes also lead to aggression. It is a good idea anyway to stop play from time to time and insert some human play time in-between.

    7:11 pm on July 21st, 2009
25. Kay

    Hi shibashake,

    I have two shibas one dominant female and one non-dominant male, both being fixed. My sister rescently got a male shiba that is fixed but he is dominant. We were hoping that eventually they would be able to get along. But i was wondering if they would be able to, since my female and male are so closely bonded, if it would cause a dominance fight between all the dogs. i know shibas are VERY attached to there owners and family members, so would it be a bad idea to see if they would get along all in all?

    7:10 pm on July 21st, 2009
26. shibashake

    Hello Max,

    Two things you can try – 1. Desensitization to people and ultimately 2. Socialization to a wide variety of people.

    Start with desensitization exercises first. The article below describes desensitization of a dog to other dogs, but the process is similar wrt. desensitization with a human. Just make sure that you take all the safety precautions – if you think your dog may bite, then use a basket muzzle and have him on a secure leash.

    http://www.shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-greeting-aggression#desensitize

    With the desensitization process you are trying to teach your dog to look to you for direction whenever he is stressed or unsure what to do. It is also a great way to brush up on your obedience commands, and to create a stronger bond with your dog.

    Once you progress through the desensitization process and can get close enough to the other human without your dog showing any reactive behavior, have the other person throw your dog some really good treats. This helps him make positive associations with people. If you keep repeating this, he will soon look forward to seeing people because it means good treats for him.

    Once he is comfortable around one person, you want to try having the person move around and also have a variety of different people dressed in many different ways (e.g. big hats, with umbrellas, with sunglasses, baseball cap, men, women, old people, young people etc).

    Dogs don’t tend to generalize something across multiple different situations, so we must desensitize them to a variety of different situations to help them make that generalization.

    If your dog starts to escalate his behavior, I would get a professional trainer who can observe him in real time and accurately identify the source of his reactivity.

    You may also want to consider the neutering process. It can (but not always) reduce reactive behaviors, and will also save you the hassle of really supervising your dog closely whenever there are female dogs around, especially female dogs that are going into heat.

    7:09 pm on June 21st, 2009
27. Max

    Hello shibashake,

    My familly and I have a 9 month old German Shepherd male not fixed yet. He has recently been barking a lot at people without dogs. He is fine when we take him off leash to dog parks and doesn’t even care for other people there but around the house and if we take him someplace other than dog parks he won’t stop barking when he see’s a dogless person. At first he would only bark and not come close to a person but latley he is becoming more and more fearless and getting closer and closer. He has been to obedience training a while back but the commands he does know and listen to in the home and dog park environment go out the window around people with no dogs.

    Any advice would be helpful.

    Thanks

    7:08 pm on June 21st, 2009
28. shibashake

    Hello Travis,

    Thank you for the link. I think that is a very excellent article which I am definitely going to bookmark.

    I agree with pretty much everything in the article. Following a strict dominance theory based training method is ultimately detrimental to the human-dog relationship.

    However, dominance behaviors do exist in dogs – not all the time – but sometimes they do exhibit dominance behaviors. For example, many enclosed dog parks do not allow intact males because an intact male may start posturing to the females, and incite other male dogs to posture back which could ultimately result in a fight.

    There is a strong backlash, I think, towards all dominance concepts because there are many dog owners who try to attribute everything towards dominance, and as a result develop an antagonistic relationship with their dogs as described in the article. In fact, as pointed out by the article and also by scientific studies, it is rarely about dominance.

    I think dominance behaviors do sometimes exist in dogs, as they also do sometimes exist in humans. However, I think that this only occurs very occasionally as most of the time both dogs and humans are busy living their lives and trying to be happy – not trying to pick a fight with someone else.

    The other important thing to consider, I think, is *how* to deal with dominance behaviors. Believers of dominance theory often think that the best way to deal with dominance is through physical force, which I strongly disagree with. As stated in the article, the best way to achieve leadership is through the control of resources.

    Another interesting question in the article is whether dominance=leadership. In many ways, I think it is not very helpful to get into a semantics argument about which terms to use. The dictionary defines dominance to be influence and control, and leadership to be guidance and direction. All I can say is that you say potato, I say potato.

    Ultimately, what matters most to me are which methods will bring about the best quality of life for my dogs and which will help build a strong relationship that is based on mutual trust and respect.

    Thanks for the great link!

    7:07 pm on June 21st, 2009
29. Travis

    I have heard that <a href=”http://www.askdryin.com/dominanceindogs.php“>dominance in dogs</a> is a myth. Is that true?

    7:06 pm on June 21st, 2009
30. shibashake

    Hello cutepuppypicture,

    Thanks for sharing a picture of your lovely dogs. Love their smiles and all those toys

    My dogs pounce on each other all the time in play. They both like wrestling a lot. Sometimes though, if the younger dog is bothering my older one too much, I will step in and stop her. Sometimes, the older dog just needs some rest time and a break

    7:05 pm on June 21st, 2009
31. cutepuppypicture

    How about dog that always pounced on another dog although we showered both with lots of love. These http://www.cutepuppypicture.com/about are my 2 darlings where the 2nd one always pouncing on the older one.

    7:04 pm on June 21st, 2009
32. shibashake

    You want to teach your dog what is appropriate behavior with your son. In the beginning it is best not to allow any roughhousing at all – no jumping, no biting (even in play) and no growling.

    When you son comes, ask him to totally ignore the dog. Fold his arms, and institute the no talk, no touch, and no eye-contact rule. No eye contact is especially important because that can be seen as attention and an invitation.  When the dog jumps, your son should turn away from him (not move away, just turn away, calmly).

    Also have your dog on a lead. If he tries to play-bite, or growl, you (not your son) should non-mark him (No or ack-ack). If he ignores you and continues with his biting, then say “Time-out” and remove him to a time-out area. Leave him in there for about 30 seconds and repeat the meeting exercise. If he play-bites or growls again and ignores your non-mark, then put him in time-out for a longer duration (1-2 minutes).

    The time-out teaches your dog that if he doesn’t behave well with guests, he doesn’t get to be with them or the family at all. Your dog will quickly learn that in order to be with people, he has to follow certain rules. Make sure to consistently enforce those rules.

    Only give your dog attention when he is calm and following your commands. I always follow the NILIF program with my dogs – i.e. I ask them to do something for me before I give them anything in return – even affection. This can be as simple as asking for a Sit before giving them affection.

    Make sure to always be calm and consistent when interacting with your dog.

    It is also best not to play any dominance or physical-games with your dog while you are retraining him especially tug-of-war.

    Also, many dogs are sensitive to touching, hugging, and handling. Here is an article on how to train a dog to enjoy human affection -

    http://www.shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging

    7:03 pm on June 21st, 2009
33. Dr. Jeckyll's companion

    Hi, I have a 3 year old french bulldog that is totally Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. He can be affectionate and sweet when he wants to be but when he’s off he’s off. In particular when my adult son comes home for awhile. As soon as my son walks in the house the dog is all over him and seems very, VERY happy to see him but 10 minutes later he will be most likely growling at my son the next time he tries to touch him. I can’t stand this on again off again Cujo attitude. What can I do.

    7:02 pm on June 21st, 2009
34. doglover2121

    Thanks for the advice its really helped

    7:01 pm on June 21st, 2009
35. shibashake

    Hi Doglover,

    A breeder is probably the best person to answer your questions. One thing you can try is to look up some accredited Chihuahua breeders from the AKC website, and give some of them a call.

    http://www.akc.org/breederinfo/breeder_search.cfm#

    I did that when I was having some behavior issues with my Shiba Inu and many were very helpful.

    You can also try asking your vet but I think a breeder would know more.

    7:00 pm on June 21st, 2009
36. doglover2121

    We can offord the vet bills but is it a problem if the puppys are around the other male dog that lives with my dogs mate will he kill or harm the puppys because they arnt his or should they mate at my house and should she give birth at my house.When the girl dog is pregnant my dog will stay at there house or the female come to my houseand give birth at my house.My question is it bad for the puppys to be around a male dog thats not there dad and my dogs going to be very protctive of her when she is pregnant and when the puppys are born

    6:59 pm on June 21st, 2009
37. shibashake

    Hello doglover,

    I am afraid I won’t be much help to you. I am not a breeder so I do not know much about the whole process.

    From talking to my Siberian breeder it seems that it is a very stressful affair, involving a lot of work, worry, and high vet bills. In her last litter, her dog stopped giving birth after two pups and my breeder had to rush the dog to the emergency room for a c-section. Sadly one of the pups didn’t make it, and the other one is our sweet Shania- Shania is an awesome puppy but she had a lot of complications due to her c-section birth.

    And after the birth, my breeder had to put in a lot of time caring for the puppies and finding them good homes. The vet bills were also out of this world :-/

    After hearing all this, I just want to enjoy my dogs and have no interest in breeding them

    Sorry I could not be of more help.

    6:58 pm on June 21st, 2009
38. doglover2121

    Questions about females we are going to breed my male dog with my sisters female buthe female is stubern and loves to play and i dont know if she will give him a chance to mate with her when she gos into heat. she lives with my grandparents and they have a male dog that my dog gets along with but will he hurt the puppys because there not his or should she breed and give birth at my house or let my dog stay at my sisters house.

    6:57 pm on June 21st, 2009
39. doglover2121

    We are planing to breed my dog there is this one chihuaha male non nueterd he plays with but the other dog wont play with him and he gets mad but wont fightMe nor my dad want to get him nueterd. He loves to play with big dogs even if they are nueterd or not but i dont get that.

    6:56 pm on June 21st, 2009
40. shibashake

    If you do not plan to breed your dog regularly, then it is best to neuter him. If you leave him intact and do not provide him an outlet for his sexual needs, he will get frustrated and this will manifest itself in all the things you describe and more.

    It is generally *not* a good idea to bring unneutered dogs to the dog park. Unneutered dogs tend to posture a lot more and this may trigger a fight with both neutered and unneutered dogs. It is instinct for an unneutered dog to want to claim female mates by posturing and challenge other male dogs for those mates.

    Here is a good article on the facts and myths of neutering -

    http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/myths_and_facts_

    6:55 pm on June 21st, 2009
41. dog lover2121

    My dog is a chihuaha/yorki he has a thing for attacking this terrior that is non nuertierd like him and he only plays with nuertierd dog and rarley plays with non nuetierd and i need help to get him not to attack the terrior and to become friends with all non nuertierd males at home and at the dog park and not be protective over female dogs so pleasegive me some good tips for small dogs

    6:54 pm on June 21st, 2009
42. shibashake

    Hi Tiff,

    It is possible to desensitize them to each other so that they will learn to associate something positive to the other being in the room.

    This task will require two people. Get something really yummy for each dog – they *only* get this yummy treat during desensitization exercises. Then when they are together, they both get treated. Take one of them away, and the treating stops, bring the other one back, then start treating again.

    Make sure that the dogs and people are safe at all times. Both dogs should be on leashes, and make sure they are far enough apart from each other initially that they are not reacting.

    This article has more details -

    http://www.shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-greeting-aggression#desensitize

    During training you want to manage them carefully so that they are separated at other times. You do not want them practicing aggression with each other on their own as that will set back the desensitization work you are doing.

     

    6:53 pm on May 21st, 2009
43. Tiff

    I’ve got a female dog who is very loving towards people. Yet when it comes to another of our female dogs, she’s rather aggressive. They’ve gotten into some pretty nasty fights. We think it’s a dominance issue. Is there any way to “cure” our dog from fighting the other?

    6:52 pm on May 21st, 2009
44. shibashake

    Hi Major’s Mum,

    Dog training or dog behavior modification is filled with a lot of different opinions. Here are some things that worked on my dominant dog:

    1. Follow the Nothing in Life is Free program. Always make your dog do something for you (e.g. look at you or Sit) before he gets anything including food, toys, opening the door for him, etc.

    http://ezinearticles.com/?NILIF—Nothing-in-Life-

    2. Start doing short obedience training sessions with him every day. This not only helps with dominance but will also enhance your bond. Start with very simple commands e.g. Sit.

    3. Do not allow him to engage in dominance displays – e.g. humping. As soon as he humps another dog or a visitor or anybody, non-mark him (No), and put him in a time-out (it is best if the time-out area is not his crate. Find a safe boring room to put him in briefly.) After a brief time-out, bring him out and try again. It may be easier to have a flat-collar and lead on him while doing this for easier control. Make sure to praise and reward him when he greets people properly and does not engage in humping.

    4. Do not play dominance games (e.g. Tug-of-War) with him, and do not rough-house with him.

    5. For the time being, do not let him on furniture. It is also good to institute other rules that make sense to you around the house so that you can prevent dominance displays from even arising. For example, by not allowing the dog on furniture, you prevent any possibility of him thinking that the couch is his or him trying to protect it. The less he practices dominance displays, the less likely he will continue doing it in future.

    In answer to your questions:

    1. Feeding from the table – It may be best to stop this practice. A dog that is constantly fed from the table will always beg by the table, may get insistent during meal times and may become disruptive. Table scraps are also generally too rich for dogs and may upset their digestion. I have fixed meal times for my dogs, and make them work for all their food either through obedience and grooming sessions, or from interactive toys. I feed them high-protein dry kibble (e.g. Innova EVO, Orijen, Wellness CORE, Nature’s Variety Instinct).

    2. Limit toys – The most important thing here is to follow the NILIF program, i.e. to show your dog that all resources belong to you and to get a resource, he must do something for you first. So yes, it is good practice to store all his toys, and cycle through two or three different ones every day. Make sure he does some obedience commands for you before he gets his toys.  Cycling through toys will also make them seem more new to your dog and make him more interested in playing with them.

    3. Pin him to the ground – This is sometimes also referred to as alpha rolls. I tried this initially on my dominant Shiba and it DID NOT work out well. This is one of the areas where there is much disagreement in the dog training world. For me, alpha rolls only eroded my dog’s trust in me, and made him very sensitive to handling. It also made him fight back a lot more because he felt extremely threatened. More about alpha rolls …  

    http://hubpages.com/hub/Cesar-Milan-Dog-Training-t

    4. Anything else that may help – Neutering may also help with humping and other dominance displays. The “following female” behavior may also stem from this. Your vet will be able to best advice you on this issue.

    5. How long – This will be different based on different dogs. I started to see change in my Shiba fairly quickly (in a matter of days). The thing that made the most difference for me was in controlling my energy (staying calm and in control), and following the NILIF program. My Shiba is a pretty good citizen nowadays but he will still challenge me from time to time; just to test his boundaries.   

    Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions or clarifications.

    6:51 pm on March 21st, 2009
45. Major's Mum

    I have a 3 year old Pit Bull. He is very loving, and has NEVER shown any signs of aggression. We recently had to move in with some family who have a lab chow mix. She’s older and has been fixed. (My Pit has not). He has been obsessed with her lately. He follows her everywhere… has to know where she is at all times, and if we seperate them, he will lay at the door and sob. If we pet the lab/chow, he will come and push her out of the way. She constantly growls at him, as he’s always sniffing her butt and trying to mount her. We’ve become exhausted with telling him to leave her alone and having to seperate them. The female shows signs of wanting to co-exist with him, but he is constantly showing her who’s boss. In saying that, he shows no signs of that with us. Although has been known to try and hump visitors. I have done a lot of reading up on this, and I think it is a dominance thing. He has always been by himself and we allowed him to be on the couch and the bed which i’m now reading is a bad thing. I have read that I need to stop allowing him on the furniture, make him leave the room when we are eating and ensure he’s never fed from the table, and limit his toys in order to make him stop. I also read that if he shows signs of dominance that I should pin him to the floor until he is calm, and release him. Are these tactics correct? Is there anything else I can do? If so, how long will this process take??

    Thanks in advance!

    6:50 pm on March 21st, 2009
46. shibashake

    I am so glad to hear that Mochi is doing well. Sephy was practically climbing up walls by the time the incision healed.

    That is so awesome that you have all the game machines. I used to be very addicted to online RPGs before I got my dogs. I was big into FF online, and then WoW. Now I mostly stick to single player games because I can’t devote the focus needed for an online RPG.

    What anime do you like? I really like Saiyuki. I haven’t been watching too many new ones, so recommend me some. Anything with good looking guys will work for me

    9:43 pm on November 11th, 2008
47. Linda

    Mochi is doing really well right now. When I picked her up at the vet after the surgery, she looked SO sad. I ran to kneel beside her and hugged her while my boyfriend talked to the vet assistants.

    That night, she was pretty drugged so she’d walk a few steps, fall asleep, suddenly wake up, walk a few steps, and fall asleep…and it repeated. By the second day, she was up and running as if nothing happened, so it took some time to calm her down since she’s not supposed to be running around.

    She’s getting her stitches out this week. I’m so excited because I feel so bad that she can’t play. Everytime she does the ‘front-paws-down-butt-in-the-air-I-wanna-play’ thing, we have to stop her.

    Thank you for asking.

    Also, I read in your profile that you like anime and RPGs. Same here! In fact, I go to anime expos every year…and own every single game console (PS3, 360, Wii…) including the hand held ones like the PSP and NDS. LOL!

    6:38 pm on November 10th, 2008
48. shibashake

    Thanks Linda! If you want to put up a different description of Mochi let me know. Btw, how is Mochi after her spay?

    4:45 pm on November 10th, 2008
49. Linda

    Sure thing Feel free to put her picture on your site.

    Wow…Sephy is really adorable for a “terror that flaps in the night”. LOL!

    12:59 pm on November 10th, 2008
50. shibashake

    Hi Linda. You are very lucky that Mochi is such a sweet girl. My Shiba, Sephy, is a “terror that flaps in the night”

    Thanks for the pictures. Mochi looks lovely! Can I put up a picture of her on my website? I will link back to your Flickr page. Let me know. Thanks.

    2:39 pm on November 8th, 2008
51. Linda

    Mochi does play bite sometimes, but she’ll stop when I tell her to. Good thing she doesn’t have a dominance problem. She usually stops whatever she’s doing when I say no, but there are rare occassions where she’ll test my patience. Haha.

    By the way, here’s the link to her pictures I promised…

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/32174942@N03/sets/72157608736340198/
    

    Have a good weekend!
    -Linda

    11:56 am on November 7th, 2008

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