Let me start out by saying that dominance is not always a bad thing with puppies or adult dogs. It is simply a characteristic that separates some dogs from the rest. Look at it more as a personality than a problem. Dominance to the mildest degree is taking charge (not necessarily by beating up litter mates or house siblings) and becoming a leader or just being a little more bossy! You know this world would be a boring place if everyone was a follower. This world would also be a nightmare if everyone wanted to be in charge, with either spectrum nothing would ever get done in this world! The dog world is the same way, not every dog can be a leader, not every dog can do as they please, and not every dog can be passive. I will also add that the word dominace can be, and is commonly, over diagnosed with most behaviorial issues. There is no vacuum for the dominance diagnosis or any diagnosis for that matter, you simply have to look at the entire situation.

With all of this said, we see time and time again how dog owners reward behaviors that are cute when they are puppies, then once the dog reaches adulthood it becomes an issue. For example we recently trained and rehabilitated a teacup poodle named”JellyBean”. When we obtained him he was pushing five years old and he was pretty set in his ways. You could call JellyBean to you for a treat and he would growl all the way to you, and while he was taking the treat. It was as if this behavior was habitual, we found out from the owners later on that when he was younger they found it to be rather humorous! (and unintentially rewarded the behavior which then snowballed into marking in the house, resource guarding, and eventually biting). The difficult part of this rehabilitation was figuring out what he was growling at when he was happy and when he was growling because he was getting ready to bite. We all were tagged a few times by this 4 pound landshark! It took lots of time and patience for us as well as the dogs owners, but JellyBean is doing much better and their owners feel like they have a totally new dog!

We see pet owners time and time again changing their entire lifestyle to cater to their dog or dogs. We have had clients tell us how they move their dogs around when they have a mutiple dog home and their is one pet that has dog aggression. So they shuffle them around and put one dog out, but make sure they lock the other up, and so on and so on! Remember, you will never have one single problem with a dominant aggressive dog as long as you are not asking them to do things and you allow them to have whatever they want! Who wants to live like that?

We have had other clients with small children or grandchildren who are constantly on pins and needles when their dog is near the children. We actually had one household where the dogs resource guarded the children from each other and it would start serious dog fights right in front of the 1 year old (and I mean vet trips)! Most clients simply shut their dogs up or crate them all the time, don’t take them to parks, or for walks unless it’s during the time when no people or animals are around. If some owners are willing to sacrifice this much of their life, why do these dog owners have such a hard time simply setting rules and boundaries for thier dogs and household? People usually wait to call us when their dog has already bit mutiple people, then they are in a panic and can often be difficult to teach the lifestyle change, because the aggression must be stopped imediately even thought they have lived with it for months or even years. Unfortunatly, there is not a magic wand to waive and fix this type of aggression overnight, but we have been very successful in rehabilitating these behavioral issues in dogs and eliminating stress for the owner!

If you believe that you are dealing with a dog that is dominant aggressive, WE CAN HELP! Call or email us today to talk about the training options that we offer to help you and your dog live a happier, more balanced life!