dog behavior training

To be the alpha, the leader of the pack that your dog looks to belong to, you should make use of the signs that dogs naturally recognize to continually reinforce the message.

Most good practices in dog behavior training build on the recognition by your dog that you are the alpha of the pack. Many instances of poor dog behavior arise from the dog not recognizing or sometimes challenging your position.

You don’t want your dog to be too submissive; it is her level of assertiveness that requires some control. To achieve this, yet again consistency is essential. It will take time, patience and repetition on your part with difficult cases.

In a young (6-12 week old) puppy, amongst the aptitude tests used to evaluate assertive characteristics for specialist dog training such as mountain rescue, a test sometimes referred to as the dominance-submission test is used. The puppy is placed on its back and a hand placed on its chest. An assessment is made of how much and for how long the puppy struggles before relaxing by, for example, dropping its paws, dropping its head back or looking away from the evaluator. There will be some variation by breed; most terriers don’t normally react too well to this but a Labador Retriever will often relax in a shorter time, which is fine - it’s the degree and nature of protest that tell the experienced evaluator what nature of dog he is dealing with.

Alternative forms of test are to kneel or stand in front of the dog and lift it by the chest, or to lift it gently by its front paws without being aggressive. The dog may react initially but will usually comply, which encourages it to accept its future role as well as giving the tester a further pointer to the dog’s nature.

The physical “lead position” within the pack is usually associated with the alpha. Personally I think it is the owner’s preference as to how far this signal should be taken. While it is clearly sensible not to let your dog greet visitors at the door by being in front of you, whether you want to take it as far as training your dog never to walk in front of you when out walking, under any circumstances, is a matter of choice. 

The next post will review day-to-day signs of alpha behavior and how to strike the right balance in alpha dog training.