I am going to post below instructions I send home with my new puppy buyers regarding dominance behaviors and how to manage - at a year old he is still a pup mentally and physically - I hope you may find this information helpful
Behavior Modification Activities for the dog displaying Dominance Behaviors
The following are things you can do to let your dog know that you are higher ranking than he or she is. None of these activities are physically abusive. Most of them are not directly confrontational so there is nothing for the dog to try and assert its dominance. These management and retraining activities are meant to be used with standard obedience training and corrections for unwanted behaviors. Do what ever you would normally do to teach a dog not to mouth, jump up, pull on the leash, etc. If you incorrectly think your dog is dominant, these activities will not do any harm to a non-dominant dog. In most cases you will find your dog acting more secure and confident because you have clarified and reinforced its position in the family.
Some Training and Behavior Modification Activities
Obedience training is MANDATORY. You must look for obedience training opportunities every day and every chance you get.
You always eat first. Have a snack or eat your meal before you feed the dog. Make sure the dog sees you eat. Obedience training is a essential to successful leadership. Do not free feed, put your dog on a feeding schedule so it becomes aware that you control the food source.
Dog must sit or down-stay before food is put down or treats are offered and they must wait for permission to eat or take a treat. The same is true of toys or chews. If the dog will not wait for you to give permission, the food or treat or toy is quietly put away to be re-offered later. The dog will learn that there is a price of his good behavior that must be paid before he is given his food or treat. He will learn that complying with your request, earns him an instant reward.
Occasionally add food or a treat to the dinner bowl while the dog is eating, enforce a sit if needed, so dog accepts you being around and controlling the food. Do not take the food away unless you have a good reason. Taking the dogs food is threatening rather than dominant if done too often. Your goal is to let your dog know that your approach and interference only requires he exhibit patience which will be rewarded with a special treat – to remove his food will teach him there is a negative consequence to allowing you or anyone near his food – the exact opposite of what we are trying to achieve
Go through all doors first, block the dog physically if you have to. If you are not going through the door but are only letting the dog out or in, then the dog needs to wait for permission to go through the door.
You start and finish all games and keep any toys when the game is done. You decide when and what to play. With a dog that has developed and displayed dominant behaviors, No competitive games, such as tug-of-war or wrestling, are allowed at first. Later these games may be reintroduced on a limited basis if you can keep control of the game. The dog must be allowed to win some of the play in order to keep him engaged and to build confidence and self esteem, but the owner must always win the last round.
Firm, not rough, body blocking. Physically forcing the dog to move away or out of your way. This can be done while paying no apparent attention to the dog. Or it may be done with eye contact and a threatening body posture if needed to make the dog move. Body blocking can be used when sitting down by the dog. Sitting partially on the dog if they are in a spot you want can be effective also. The message is I own everything, and I get to have any thing I want, any time I want.
Stand or sit in the dog's favorite spot, or its bed or crate, for 1 to 2 minutes several times a week. Do not allow the dominant dog to sleep on your bed, make him sleep on the floor or in his crate. Sleeping on the bed gives him the message that he is your equal. You can allow the dog to visit with you on the bed, by invitation only, but when its time to sleep – off he goes
Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF) a Dominant Dog must "do something" to earn attention including petting. A sit or a down or a trick on command will suffice. Do not respond to demands for attention, even if the dog is being cute. Make the dog work for its petting and treats if it indicates it is interested. If you want to pet the dog and the dog is not being demanding and trying to prompt YOUR Behavior response, that is OK. So are treats as long as it is your decision and not the dog's demand.
The dog may not join you on any furniture without your invitation. It must also get off any furniture you are going to use before you sit or lay down and may not rejoin you without invitation. If the dog will not get off on command, pull it firmly but not roughly off by the collar. Any pushiness or trying to be taller than you should result in your forcing it to get off. No anger can be displayed, just calmly, and forcefully make the dog move.
Methods of Enforcement: Drag Line & Time Out
Some dogs may resist losing their dominance over you. They may even get a little physically threatening about it. First, if you even think there is a possibility you are going to get bitten, stop. Don't push anything to the point of confrontation. Training must be safe, and you must not be fearful ever, or the dog has won.
Long Line or Drag Line
If the dog gets threatening about any of the behavior modification activities, put it on a snug buckle collar with a 5 to 25 foot drag line and use the line to enforce your demands. You can drag a dog off furniture with it. You can tie the dog to a doorknob with it when you feed or offer toys or treats, or pick up toys or treats. You can pull the dog to the time out place and restrain it there. Be inventive and be safe.
NOTE: The drag line should only be used if the dog is being supervised – Never leave the dog on the line alone - EVER.
Time Out
If the dog refuses to behave, or actively resist and ignores your right to run things, you have the right to assess a penalty. The most effective penalty I have found is a Time Out. This is a short (10 to 15 minute) period of isolation from the pack or his family. The dog is placed in a crate, or otherwise confined, in a location where it cannot interact with family members, including other animals. A crate is ideal, but any other place where the dog can be confined without anything to amuse them will do. Putting the dog outside is not a good Time Out because there is usually too much for them to do outside.
To be effective a Time Out must not have any anger associated with it. When you put the dog on a Time Out you need to be very matter-of-fact about it. When you release the dog you also need to be very unemotional about it and should ignore the dog for 5 to 30 minutes after release. A Time Out should be used if the dog refuses to behave or to accept your control more than two times in a row. For instance, if the dog has been told to get off the couch, or has been removed from the couch, and gets back on right away this is one refusal. If it gets back on the couch after the second removal the dog should be removed and taken straight to the Time Out place. You calmly restrain the dog and leave. In 10 to 15 minutes you go back and release the dog and ignore it for a while longer before you resume normal behavior.
A Time Out may be used when the dog refuses to comply with any reasonable demand you make. Time out in the crate is like being sent to your room when you are a child – the object is not for him to be afraid of his room, but to be ostracized for inappropriate behavior. For me, I always give my dogs a little treat, or dog biscuit when they are crated for any reason other than the time out. They are given the command “Kennel” and then the treat fed through the door and I say “good dog to Kennel”. When a Time out is done in the Kennel – I say “Time out” – calmly put in the crate, shut the door and walk away. Being denied your companionship is an attention getter – your dog will learn very quickly that bad behavior gets the Time Out – he won’t associate his “bedroom” with the punishment – its his behavior that has caused the penalty. I have at one time placed all my dogs on a time out – and yet they all still love their crates and their crates equal safety and security just as a den does.
Retraining dominant behaviors can help you have a dog you enjoy living and working with. With you as the clear leader in the family, your dog will be happier and so, I hope, will you. Please feel free to call and discuss any of these activities if you should have any questions.
