Dogs Follow the Friendliest, Not the Alpha

[Still Waters]

Never let your dog walk first through a doorway. Don't let your dog win tug-of-war. To establish yourself as the pack leader, flip your dog on its stomach and hold it by the throat.

This is some of the advice from the so-called "top" dog-training school, where the philosophy is that owners should establish a dominant relationship over their dogs to ensure that their canines are obedient.

http://www.livescien...not-alphas.html

[Lilly]

I always thought the 'dominate your dog' stuff was BS. I've always opted for the 'mother/protector/feeder' approach...and it has served me very well over the years.

[libstaK]

I've noticed the more inclusive I am of my pets within the family - the better behaved they become. Being accepted, loved and doted on makes a cat purr and happy to listen to and follow your direction aka: don't scratch this or that etc, and a dog want to do more to please you so they get more cuddles and play time.

[MissMelsWell]

I'm the boss of my dog. She doesn't walk through doors before me, she eats AFTER me, she doesn't jump up to sit with me unless invited, she's rarely more than 5 tiny Papillon steps from me. She thinks the sun, moon and stars revolve around me. It's quite hilarious actually... she seeks my approval pretty much every moment of every day.

My boyfriend however, is NOT the boss... and it shows. He treats her like the child he never had. LOL. If he lets her outside, she'll bolt on him and he has to chase her up the street, she jumps up on him without permission which has resulted in spilled dinners and drinks, she incessantly bothers HIM to play ball and won't stop until he's yelling at me to make her stop. She'll steal food from his plate, but NEVER from mine. He's a ton more affectionate with her than I am in reality.

We both take equal care of her... I feed her the morning meal, he feeds her the evening. I do morning walks, he does evenings. I"m actually the one who almost exclusively grooms her (which she's not fond of), gives her medicines when she needs them, and takes her to the vet as well which like most dogs, she hates.

If he and I stood outside with her, and one of us walked north and the other walked south, the dog would unfailingly follow me without questions... Oh don't get me wrong, she loves him and thinks he's a GREAT deal of fun, and she also fully trusts him as well... but I'm the boss, and therefore her universe pretty much revolves around me. It's just how it is. LOL. So I'm not sure I buy this therory put put by the authors of this article.

Edited October 18, 2013 by MissMelsWell

[bLu3 de 3n3rgy]

Might depend on the dog and what gender role the dog prefers. Like horses, some can't stand males and their dominance efforts, I've known horses to become very uneasy if a man comes near them let alone try to do anything with them, but will be total gems in the hands of a female. And then others who are mean brutes in personality and only excel under the dominance of a male influence. It's a widely accepted thing in the equine world. So, well with relating to the canines my family have personally had, two terriers who hated men and only behaved with the nurturing/ feminine kind of attention and only 1 terrier behaved with the dominance type approach. So in my families experience its 2 - 1 for the nurturing approach.

Oh and to add the cat, the cat ignored any dominance efforts and loved those who could nurture.

Edited October 18, 2013 by bLu3 de 3n3rgy

[Queenregena]

I have always viewed all my animals as my babies and they all listen very well and are well behaved. I love and coddle them just like my kids, but they know the rules and boundaries and fallow them. treating them as my children works quite well for me.