Dog Obedience Training Blogs - The Alpha Dog

A good dog obedience training instructor will be able to pick up if a dog is showing any signs of becoming an alpha dog. With many dogs it is easy enough to establish if they are developing alpha ways. If you find the pup is starting to develope any of these traits:-

o When you tell the dog to do something such as come here, sit or drop, does he or she ignore you?
o Is the dog being food defensive? When you give him his bowl of food does he actually growl, not only at other dogs in the household, but at the people living there to?
o Is he jumping onto furniture, uninvited, and growling at you when you tell him to get off, or move to pull him or her off the furniture.
o He may growl when you discipline him. If he shows his teeth at any stage you have a real problem.
o Can you take a bone away from him without being growled at, or worse, nipped?
o Does he push you out of the way when you go to open the door, not only at doors to the garden, but at any door or gate?
o Does he pull your arm out of its socket when you go for a walk?

The alpha dog always eats first, goes through the doors first, sleeps on higher ground than the rest of the pack, leads the pack and is stronger and meaner than anybody else.

If you see any of these signs developing then you need to take action to put the dog back in his place immediately or you will find you will start having aggression issues. If you have young children in the house then taking immediate action is imperative and the dog must accept he is lower in the pack than the youngest member of his human pack.

If you have put the pup through a thorough dog obedience training course, using clicker training methods, then you have the basics to get started immediately.

Nev Allen has been training dogs for 30 years and wants to help you to make your puppy a good canine citizen. If you want to understand all that is involved with dog obedience training, clicker training and dog ownership then you can read articles and watch videos about these fascinating topics at http://dogobediencetrainingblogs.com.

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