What is a dominant dog?
Some people attribute all problem 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 our dog, so that we 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 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 behavior, we want to 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.
Dog Dominance
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 owners are around. Under different circumstances, these same dogs may become less assertive, or may even become submissive.
Observe our dog carefully, and identify when he is more likely to show dominance, and why.
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 whatever she is doing, when I tell her to. She very quickly backs down, and uses submissive body language, when confronted by other dogs.
However, this does not mean that my Husky will always back down, or never show any dominance behavior. She simply prefers to avoid conflict, and has learned that she usually gets more, by seeking a peaceful resolution. I make sure to encourage this behavior, by rewarding calmness and conflict avoidance very well.
What is a Dominant Dog?
- A dominant dog will likely respond with aggression when he is frustrated, or when he feels threatened. He may also redirect that aggression onto us, if we try to physically engage him.
- A dominant dog is more forceful when it comes to fulfilling his own needs and goals. He is not afraid to challenge those around him, and to continually test his boundaries. My Shiba Inu is always testing to see if particular rules, such as the no getting on furniture rule, still hold true.
- A dominant dog is more likely to fight, and less likely to submit or run away. My Shiba Inu likes playing with other dogs, but he generally does not get along with dogs who try to dominate him. If challenged, he will not back down, and this can result in a dog fight.
Dealing with a Dominant Dog
1. Calm and decisive pack leader
Being angry and shouting at our dog, will only worsen his behavior. Fear and uncertainty will increase his level of stress, and cause him to behave in a more erratic fashion.
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. Avoid physical corrections
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 our dog, and cause him to get more aggressive.
Instead, stay calm, keep physical interactions to a minimum, and quickly leave the stressful situation. In addition, using physical force against a dog, may end up teaching him the wrong lesson; in particular, use violence against violence.
True alpha dogs lead by controlling the pack’s resources. We can control our dog’s resources by following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program, and using reward obedience training.
3. Management and supervision
We want to step in and stop any aggressive behaviors, before our dog escalates and loses control. Prevention is key when dealing with a dominant dog. It stops him from practicing aggressive behaviors, and it enforces the important lesson that we are calm and in charge.
4. Consistent rules
To become a good pack leader, it is important to develop a set of house rules and some structure, for our dog 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. Frequent obedience training sessions
Schedule at least two or more short (10 – 15 minutes) obedience training sessions with our dog, every day. It is a good idea to keep up with obedience exercises, throughout a dog’s life. This keeps him mentally sharp, and makes it clear that we are in charge.
6. Use proper equipment to control our dog
When dealing with aggression, safety should always be a primary concern.
Use whatever equipment is necessary, to keep all the people around our dominant dog safe. A drag lead may also be useful because it gives us good control of our dog, without having to lay hands on him or his collar, and without resorting to chasing games.
If our dog has a bite history, it may be necessary to use a muzzle. I like the basket muzzle because it does not overly constrain a dog’s mouth, and is more comfortable. A basket muzzle will still allow a dog to eat and pant.
Be careful not to aggravate our dog’s aggressive behavior by overly constraining him, and causing barrier frustration. When in doubt, consult a professional trainer.
7. Set our dog up for success
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 our dog to those events, in a controlled fashion.
Many dog behavioral issues, including resource guarding, biting people, dog-to-dog aggression, sensitivity to handling, growling at humans, and general 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. In fact, many behavioral issues are the result of stress and fear, and have nothing whatsoever to do with dominance.
When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.
Observe our dog and his environment carefully. Identify the triggers for his aggressive behavior, and try to understand why he is responding in this way. If his aggression is extreme (e.g. he is breaking skin, and/or causing puncture wounds), hire a professional trainer to help us carefully trouble-shoot the problems.
Hi!
I have a female cinnamon colored Chow-Chow. Up till last year, I had a black female chow as well. Eventually, I ended up having to separate them due to very vicious fighting. Unfortunately, the black chow chow has recently passed away (this past October). We have other dogs as well, a male her size (American Eskimo) whom she gets along splendidly with and a few smaller dogs whom she’s shown no ill feelings too. We recently (about three months ago) got a female Pekingese whom she has just recently started to fight with. I thought the aggression would have stopped when my black chow passed away (not due to fighting) and thought I was in the clear. I do think that it is a dominance issue, because the fighting always occurs when I’m around. It’s not often, but it’s scary and am afraid for the Peke. My chow knows “I’m BOSS” and does listen once I separate the fighting, but not until.
Is there any help you can give me? Any tips? Thank you!
Melodie
Some things that help with my dogs-
1. I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules that I slowly teach to each new dog. For example, there is no-stealing, no-humping, and I *do not* allow my dogs to correct each other. I supervise them very closely, especially when there is a new dog around, so that I can teach puppy what the rules are. If there are any conflicts, I will resolve them in a fair and consistent way. Supervision is very important because it allows me to redirect and stop behavior, before the situation escalates into a fight.
2. I manage my dogs’ excitement level by using play-breaks, teaching them impulse control, and giving them many structured outlets for their energy.
3. I create as many positive experiences as I can between my dogs and the new puppy so that they see her as an enhancement to their lifestyle, rather than as a competitor or an annoyance.
Here is more on what I do while introducing a new dog.
For fights and more serious cases of aggression, it is usually best to get help from a good professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Thanks for the great information! I have a 17 month old bull mastiff/african mastiff/ & possibly we think pitt bull. Henry has been fabulous except recently he has been going up to other males and resting his head over their neck…this has not been well received as you can imagine! I should have mentioned that Henry has not yet been fixed. Other than stopping him from going up to other males how can I stop this behavior? I want to get us back to hiking our local mountains but as it stands right now Henry is getting himself into too much trouble!
Thank you!
Dogs repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them bad results.
Some behaviors, such as humping, are self rewarding. For example, my Husky Lara likes to hump. Every successful hump she does, she gets rewarded by it simply because she was able to do it. Therefore, the more she does it, the more the behavior gets reinforced, and the more likely she will do it in the future.
To stop her, I must make sure that she *never* gets rewarded for the behavior, i.e. never succeeds in humping another dog. I always stop her as soon as I notice her getting into humping position. She usually does this during play, so I stop play briefly, and get her to do some commands. In this way, she has a chance to calm down and refocus on me. If she keeps going back to humping, then I calmly say timeout and put her in a timeout area (temporarily).
During walks, I have her on-leash. If she misbehaves badly during walks (e.g. leash bites, eats poop), then I end the walk and march her home. Later on, we may try again. In this way, she learns that-
No humping = Play time and walk time continues,
Humping and other bad behaviors = Play time stops or walk ends.
Another possibility is to train a really strong recall. Here is a good list of recall training techniques from the ASPCA.
Here is more on how dogs learn.
Hello:d I recently got a chow puppy(3weeks ago) and I have done a lot of research on his breed and training and so forth. But lately Mustang(puppy) has been showing some dominant behavior. He won’t let people correct him when he bites shoes, he won’t let us pet him if he is not in the mood. Butt hats pretty much it. I want to stop this behavior before it gets hectic. We do training daily and trick learning too. What should I do?
Thank you for your time
I had a similar experience with my Shiba Inu. I started out with aversive training techniques, including alpha rolls, leash corrections, and more. Sephy seemed to respond well to it at first, but then after a bit of time, his behavior worsened. He became very sensitive to handling and he would fight back whenever he got punished.
I realized that he was not responding well to the aversive methods that I was using.
What worked well with Sephy is to establish a consistent set of rules and a fixed routine. I stopped using aversive methods, and used the Nothing in Life is Free program instead to achieve pack leadership.
For example, Sephy used to like biting on curtains. When he does that, I no-mark the behavior and then body block him away from the area. Then I get him to do something else. If he keeps going back to bite on the living room curtains, then he loses his privileges to roam freely in the living room and has to stay with me while I work in the kitchen or computer room. Sephy loves his freedom to roam, so it is a very valuable resource to him. Once he learned that-
Biting curtains = Less freedom to roam,
Biting chew toys = Play, attention, and more freedom to roam,
he stopped biting on curtains. 😀
More on how dogs learn and the pros and cons of different dog obedience training methods.
Hi!!! We are in need of help! My fiancee has a 3 year old black lab and I have a 3 year old Pomeranian and a 1 year old golden retriever. We are going to get married in 2 weeks and we decided to introduce our dogs in our new home that my fiancee has been living for a couple of days with his dog.
As soon as the three met the black lab immediately went to the golden to smell and started to mark territory. As we went inside the house the lab became more dominant and aggressive. My dog was extremely submissive and was really scared. Obviously that was when my tension and fear started rising and we decided to leave the black lab outside the house and the other two inside.
We knew the lab was a very dominant dog, but we didn’t think it would turn into aggression at other dogs that weren’t trying to be dominant towards him. He had met my Pomeranian a year ago and they got along very well. He never showed signs of dominance of aggression towards the Pom it was only to my golden.
I really don’t want to live in fear for my dogs safety and we love them all very much and would like to live all together peacefully. Please help me to understand how we can control our labs intermale aggression Thank you!!
Given that there is aggression, it is probably best to get help from a professional trainer so that everybody stays safe.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Some things that help my dogs get along-
1. I set up clear and strict dog-to-dog interaction rules. In the beginning, I supervise to make sure everyone follows the rules. In this way, each dog knows what to expect from the others.
2. My Shiba Inu is more picky when it comes to greetings, so I make sure the new dog does not disturb him when he does not want to be disturbed. He also has his own space that he can go to.
3. I create as many positive experiences as I can, so that my existing dogs will learn that the new dog is not a threat and is actually a big positive. I do group obedience sessions, properly supervise play sessions, etc. I try to maximize positive experiences and minimize negative encounters.
Here is more on what I do to introduce a new dog.
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
I also try to stay very calm and positive. My dogs are very sensitive to my emotions. If I am fearful, they will pick up of that, become stressed themselves, and their behavior will worsen.
However, each dog is different and each situation is different, so in cases of aggression, it is best to get help from a professional.
Hi, I have a border collie/mix with something I’m not sure of. He was a stray that showed up a about a year and a half ago. Well, I’ve been dating my bf since right after I got my dog and there have never really been any problems. My dog was abandoned and so now, he has abandonment issues. My boyfriend gets up and goes to work at 6 every morning and i usually sleep in until 10 before work. A couple of days ago my boyfriend was looking for his clothes in the dark, using the light of his phone, and my dog suddenly got up to attack him. Backed him up into a corner and everything. And I didn’t think anything of it except maybe my boyfriend startled my dog and my dog was just being protective of me. But I thought, my dog has snapped once or twice and I blamed that before on rough housing with him too hard. So decided to call the vet and have him neutered, which will take place tomorrow, hoping that would calm him down. But this morning, my boyfriend went to give me a hug and a kiss and my dog suddenly attacked him again. Didn’t bite him. But had him backed up into a corner again until I got to my dog. He is a little bit aggressive towards strangers, and I usually blame that on being protective of me since I ‘rescued’ him. And usually when my dog does something he’s not supposed to, I put him in his place by grabbing him and putting him down on the ground and holding him there with my knee on his neck until he calms down and submits. If he does it again, I’m worried that it might be worse and my dog will actually bite my boyfriendeven though my boyfriend backs up. Could this be a result of maybe the way the previous owners treated him? Or is he just being protective or showing dominance? I don’t want to have to put my dog down because he’s too aggressive and can’t be controlled. He’s really a sweet dog when he’s not feeling threatened.
Hello Hillary,
Here are a couple of articles on dominance and aggression-
1. Aggression and Dominance in Dogs (UC Davis).
2. Dominance and bad dog behavior.
Re Helping my dogs get along with people:
Two key things that help with my dogs-
1. Creating a bond – My partner walks a dog in the morning, and also walks them during the weekends. He feeds them in the morning, and I do the feeding in the evening. He also plays with them, grooms them, and we do the training together. We agree on the house rules, and make sure we use consistent techniques to train them. In this way, our dogs create a bond with the both of us, and sees us both as part of their family.
2. People desensitization exercises – I also do people desensitization exercises with my dogs so that they learn to view other people in a positive way, and also learn what to do when they meet people. Dogs do not know our human greeting rules, they do not know that we have thin skins, and they do not know our language. Therefore, it is up to us to teach them these things. Desensitization helps my dogs to be comfortable around people, and to use alternative behaviors for coping with stress when they feel threatened.
The most important part with desensitization is to *always* start with a very weakened version of the stimulus, weak enough that our dog can tolerate it without losing control. With people, I can weaken the stimulus by using distance and making sure that the person is calm and totally ignoring my dog (no talking and no eye-contact). In this way, I can start to teach my dog new behaviors to use when in the proximity of people, and also to reassociate people with positive outcomes.
Re Pinning a dog down until he submits:
This is also called an alpha roll. It was something that I did with my Shiba Inu (Sephy) when he was younger and unfortunately, we did not have good results. Sephy became very sensitive to handling, he grew distrustful of people, he felt more threatened, and used aggression even more to protect himself. Here is a bit more on our experiences with the alpha roll.
Later on, I discovered that this technique is very risky and can cause increased aggression in dogs.
Professional help:
Given what you describe, it sounds like it may be best to get some help from a professional trainer. Dog training is very context dependent, and a dog’s behavior depends a lot on his temperament, routine, environment, past experience, and more. To come up with an effective retraining plan, we want to identify the source or triggers of a dog’s aggression, and this is best done by a trainer who can meet with and observe our dog.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
We have a 4 year old (1/2 Catahoula & 1/2 Plott Hound). She’s (Clyde) very dominant! And we are thinking about taking in our neighbors dog – who has been left behind twice. She (Ginger) is the sweetest craziest dog (we think part Jack Russell & who know’s what else). But she is dominant as well. Clyde will rip Ginger apart & we want them to get along. Clyde is very protective of our home & land. She really doesn’t get along with any other dogs – so far. Any other suggestions?
For more serious types of aggression, it is best and safest to get help from a professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
In general, systematic desensitization exercises can be used to raise a dog’s instinct threshold, and teach him new and alternative ways for dealing with the stress of meeting other dogs. This is best done under the direction of a good trainer.
I would retrain my existing dog first, and *not* introduce any big changes into his routine (e.g. a new dog) until I have the aggression under control.
Hi! I was wondering if you could help me with some advice on my female siberian. She will be a year on May 17th. We don’t have any problems with aggression whatsoever, thankfully. However, I am afraid my girl is an alpha and I am worried it may be too late to break her. She will hump on me and other dogs frequently and I will tell her firmly to step, yet she still continues. She also will go in the garbage and I will catch her in the act and tell her to step, but she will stare at me and run away quickly with the garbage. She also will “punch” with her paws and demand play time and attention. She jumps up on everyone and the biggest problem is the house breaking! She was house broken completely at 10 weeks with no accident. Then she got a urinary tract infection and began going in the house. The urinary infection was treated immediately, yet she still continues to poop/urinate in the house multiple times a day even though she is let out constantly and I watch her go to the bathroom. I have her in an obedience class, but it isn’t helping the alpha behaviors. My girl is very smart and can sit, shake both paws, stay, down, and crawl; which is what the trainer in the class focuses on. I feel like I have spent endless amounts of money and time and nothing is working. I love my husky very much but it is very taxing on me until this problem is corrected.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE,
Lindsey
*stop not step sorry about typo. Also: The urinating in the house began in March.
Re Saying ‘Stop’:
In the beginning, the word “Stop” will mean very little to our dog. For it to have meaning, we will need to associate it with a consequence that means something to our puppy. Here is a bit more on “Stop” words and how I communicate with my Husky puppy.
Re Punching and demanding attention:
Dogs will repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them undesirable results. Dogs often jump and punch because when they do that, we usually give them our attention. We may try to push them away, shout at them, move around, and more. All this moving around will likely get our dog more excited, and think that it is a fun game.
What has worked well with my dogs is to withdraw my attention when they jump or bite.
Here is a bit more on how I train my dogs not to jump on people.
Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
Re Potty training:
I would go back to potty training basics. Here are some things that I did to potty train my Husky puppy.
Re Dog dominance:
A bit more on dominance and bad dog behavior.
HI
I wonder if you can help me.
I have a 3 year old german spitz called Poppy, and I think she sees herself as alpha over my two youngest children – they are 4 and 8. She will let them walk her if I am not with them (if I am, she will bark constantly and keep looking to me) – we have a park next to the house that they go to. My main concern is that she growls and sometimes snaps at them. She is nervous about some things – she will outright attack the vacuum cleaner- I generally prompt her to leave the room when using it now. But the kids cant bring toys through on the floor, she will attack the toys. If she has a treat, they cannot go anywhere near her – even if she is in her crate with it ( where her bed is) she will growl. What can I do to get across that she is not alpha? Or what can I get the kids to do? I am worried that she will at some point go too far.
Hello Colette,
Given that young kids are involved, I would get help from a professional trainer. Dog behavior is very context dependent. To properly diagnose and retrain a behavior, it is often necessary to see the dog, read her body language, get to know her temperament, as well as understand her routine and environment.
Just based on what you describe, it sounds like the aggression behavior comes from fear and anxiety. Here is a useful article from UC Davis on aggression and dominance.
In terms of guarding food and toys, here are a couple of articles on my experiences with my dogs-
Why dogs get aggressive over food and toys.
How I trained my dogs not to guard their food and toys.
Here is another article on dog dominance and bad behaviors.
Hugs to Poppy!
Thanks for your advice, I will certainly have a look thru the links you have given me and look into a professional trainer.
Can you help me ? I have a 12st Newfoundland Dog who is 3 years old. He has overtime (6 months or so) decided that he wont walk with me or some other family members.He uses his weight (hits the floor and wont move) until I head for home. How can I overcome this behavior ?
thanks
John
Hello John,
A common reason why a dog may want to stay home instead of going on walk is because of anxiety. Did something happen during his walks when the change in behavior started? Previously, did he enjoy going on walks? Does he have the same walk routine? Is there a particular place where he always sits and won’t move?
When my dog has an issue with anxiety, I first try to locate the source of his stress. I look at commonalities in the environment, time-line, and more to identify what triggers his unexpected behavior. Once I identify the triggers for his behavior, then I can desensitize him to those triggers in a controlled and structured way. This teaches him new ways to cope with his stress, helps to build confidence, and also retrains him to associate a previously “bad trigger” with positive outcomes.
Here is a bit more on dog anxiety problems.
There are other reasons why a dog may stop and not want to move during walks, e.g. they want to watch people or other dogs, they want to sniff at something in a particular spot, they want to go in a different direction, etc. I always try observe my dog carefully so that I know where the change in behavior comes from. Once I know the source, I can come up with an appropriate plan to target the root of the problem, and change it for the long-term.
Hi,
I have a 15 month old Labrador/Rottweiler dog. I am very confused as to what behaviour he is displaying. I do not know if it is dominance or fear. He is a lovely boy in the house he never leaves my side but when we go out for walks he seems to be a different dog. He becomes stressed at walking around corners and has on one occasion growled at someone coming around a corner in the opposite direction. He jumps at leaves moving and gets very stressed on a windy day! He Isin’t interested in being stroked by people outside and if someone attempts to stroke him or talk to him he will growl at them. I have spoke to a dog behaviour specialist and he seems to think that he is fiercely protective over me. Please help!
Hmmm, how does he respond when people try to give him affection while in the house? How does he respond to house guests? Does he show similar behavior when he is walked by somebody else? Did this behavior just start or has he been this way from the beginning? Did anything change when the behavior first started?
Dogs can get fearful or uncertain about new objects, new people, or new environments. New things are unknown, and may turn out to be dangerous. Socializing a dog to new objects, people, and experiences in a positive, structured, and supervised way, can help to build confidence and reduce stress.
My youngest Husky was a bit fearful of people and new objects when she was young. She was especially wary of people on bicycles and skateboards. We were able to help her with her stress through desensitization exercises.
Here is a bit more on dog anxiety and fears.