DOMINANCE 
 Giving an aggressive or dominant dog food to train it is
extremely dangerous
If your dog has dominance issues,
you definitely need professional help. Don't be fooled by amateur and hobbyist
dog trainers into believing group obedience classes or Food-Bribery dog
training will help. They almost always make it worse.
| Daddy,
why does the veterinarian need to kill Goldie? |
 |
The Food-Bribery dog trainers
at the park said Goldie can't be trained and should be destroyed.
We tried the obedience
classes and it only made Goldie worse. |
| Daddy, hire a
professional dog trainer who knows how to work with dominant dogs rather than
killing Goldie. |
What
Does "Dominance" Mean?
Dogs are social animals whose evolution makes them
willing and able to live in groups. Group living enabled wolves to work
together to obtain food, raise their young and defend their territory. It would
be counterproductive for members of a group to fight with each other and risk
injury. That would prevent them from working with the group. Therefore, dogs
have a social structure in which each dog is either dominant (leader) or
subordinate in its relationship with each other pack member. This is a
"dominance hierarchy". The leader or "alpha" dog is the one that has first
access to all the "critical" resources. These resources include food, resting
places, mates, territory and favored possessions. Assertion of dominance by the
alpha is generally communicated through facial expressions, body postures and
actions. Fighting is rare, since as soon as the subordinate submits or defers
to the alpha animal and the alpha gets its way, he or she gives up the
challenge.
Humans need to assume the
highest positions in the dominance hierarchy at your house. Most
dogs remain neutral or submissive towards people, however some dogs insist on
being dominant over people because of genetic tendencies or inadequate
socialization. Dominant dogs will stare, bark growl, nip or bite people. Such
confrontations can occur:
 If you give
the dog a command
If you pet the dog and he or she didn't
initiate it
If you stop petting the dog
If you groom the dog
If you hug the dog
If you get out of bed in the middle of the
night to use the bathroom and it disturbs the dog
If you bother or annoy the dog in any
way
Usually, dominant dogs are very
loving and affectionate toward people--until you do something they don't
like.
| How would I know if
my dog has dominant tendencies? |
Does your dog do this? Is he or she pushy, defiant or
controlling and refuse to do "Down" and "Heel?"
| You May Have A
Dominance Issue With Your Dog If: |
- Defies and
refuses to perform commands he knows well.
- Crowds you, blocks you and won't move out of your way.
- Makes you try
to obey him or her.
- Defends the food bowl, toys or other objects from you.
- Growls or
shows teeth at you, under any circumstances.
- Gets on furniture without permission and won't get
down.
- Snaps at
you.
- Barks at you.
| What To Do If You
Suspect Your Dog Is Dominant. . . . |
If you get in a fight with a
dominant dog, you had better be able to win. If you don't win the dog learns
that aggression works. Unless you know what you are doing confronting a
dominant dog can be very dangerous.
If you think that you dog is
dominant or showing dominance-aggression the last thing you want to do
is enroll in a group dog training class or contact a behaviorist who advocates
using food for training or behavior modification. Usually these people are the
first to tell you that you need to destroy your dog and that it can't be
trained. They will take your money and tell you that there is hope and then
when the Food-Bribery does not work they will tell you to kill you dog.
- Don't listen to "Positive
Reinforcement" trainers who tell you have to put your dog down.
- Don't listen to amateur and
hobbyist dog trainers teaching dogs in parks. . .Bribing dogs with food makes
many dogs even more dominant and aggressive.
- Find a professional in-home dog
trainer.
- Avoid situations that start the
aggressive behavior.
- Supervise, confine and/or
restrict your dog’s activities as necessary, especially when children or
other pets are present.
- Don't listen to anyone who
trains dogs with food or who advocate group classes for the treatment of canine
dominace. Don't listen to these people anyway because their method usually
won't work on even the most submissive compliant dogs.
- In our opinion, usually the
biggest 'dog killers' are at university veterinary teaching hospitals or claim
to be "Animal Protector Societies, Leagues or Associations." These people are
more concerned about losing their insurance coverage and potential liability
than saving your dog.
- Most veterinarians, behaviorists
and dog trainers will tell you to kill your dog if it becomes dominant. Most
will smile and take your money first before they tell you to kill your dog.
- We have never had to tell anyone
to kill their dog because the dog was dominant.
- WE WILL GIVE YOU ALL YOUR
MONEY BACK if your dog's dominance-aggression can't be controlled using our
program. You may be required to videotape the training to prove that you did
what we told you and you will need to surrender the dog to us before we will
give you your money back.
If you let your kids poke at the
dog, tease it and pull its tail, we can't help you. We will teach you how to
manage both your children and dog(s) so having problems will be less
likely.
| Why
Behavior Helplines Can't Help |
While it's sometimes possible to
successfully resolve aggressive behavior problems related to dominance, this is
not a process that can be done by behavior helplines. Very detailed questioning
in order to obtain a complete behavioral history, plus direct observation of
your pet in his own environment, is necessary before recommendations to resolve
the problem can be made.
If you need your dog trained at your home,
you need dog training at your
home.
CALL 916-927-7725
OR
EMAIL
US
San Francisco Bay Area
925-915-9994
415-568-0304
707-812-5355
510-759-4554
Los Angeles
213-663-4176
Orange County
714-244-9301
Las Vegas,
Nevada
702-379-5104
San Antonio,
Texas
210-724-3020
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