K9 Behaviour:
Spotting The Signs Of Dominance
And How To Combat The
Ryan O'Meara
Dominance is one of the buzzwords 3) Dogs absolutely DO NOT come 'hard
often bandied about by well meaning
wired' to want to rise to the top of YOUR
people, keen to warn dog owners as
pack.
to their dog's intention to take over
4) Focusing on the little things such as a
the household. They'll speak about
dog's desire to run through a door before
the need for you to eat first, walk
you, to eat before you or his fondness for
through doors first, not allow the dog
getting up high around you is likely to
to be above you (physically) and not confuse you and your dog.
to allow the dog to ever win tug
based games of strength. Most of the
A note of caution. Just because it is
time, they're talking nonsense. Let's
absolutely true that most dogs are not
examine canine dominance shall we?
hellbent on household domination, that
doesn't mean that some dogs are not
Television dog trainers have a lot
prone to acts of dominance toward
to answer for!
humans – possibly even you – but fear
not, we'll help you recognise the key
No, it's not that they haven't done their
signs of what makes a genuinely
fair share of good. Lots of good in fact.
human-dominant dog and
But when it comes to so-called
more importantly, we'll help
'dominance theory' there's little doubt
you to understand the
that many dog owners have become
difference between dominant
confused. They live in a state of
aggression and attempts to
constant and very real fear that their
climb the pack hierarchy.
dog's primary goal is to displace them at
the head of the household.
Often what dog owners
Well, I'm here to tell you that you really
mistake as so-called
need not fear.
dominance, is nothing more
than a dog who hasn't
Let's establish some basics.
‘‘actually been trained to
1) Dogs understand that people are not
behave in a manner that the
dogs. This is really, really important and
owner would like. The
forms the basis from which we should
insistence from some owners
move forward.
to place the blame for their
dog's undesirable behaviour
2) Dogs absolutely DO understand the
at the door of dominance is
hierarchy of a pack.
usually misguided.
’’
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