April 28, 2011
My dog is an ALPHA DOG - he has nipped at my neighbor and my mother. What can I do?
Full Question:
Mr. Frawley,We have adopted our son's puppy that I believe is about 6-7 months old, his name is Ozzie. We are not sure what kind of dog he is. We know that he is part chocolate Lab and the other half looks like it might be a Daschund (spelling?) or a "wiener dog." Anyway, he has been an excellent puppy. We have him house trained and we have all fallen in love with him. We also have a Newfoundland female that is about 10 years old. Just this past week, we had Ozzie out for a walk when we saw one of our neighbors and went over to say hello. Ozzie kept barking at our neighbor, so she extended her hand to say hello and show that he was not afraid of him. Well, he snapped at her and, I think, may have nipped the tips of her fingers. I felt horrible and was so angry with Ozzie. Then yesterday, my parents came to visit and the same thing happened (inside our house) with my mother. I have been reading up a little on alpha males and I was wondering if you could offer any insight or advice. We really love this dog, but don't want to have a dog that acts this way. Does it have something to do with having the other dog in the house?
Thank you for your time.
Patti
Ed's Answer:
This is not an ALPHA male issue. It's a "fear biter" issue - two totally different issues. I have a section on fear biters. Go to my web site and read it.
Bottom line is the dog has poor nerves. This is a genetic issue that you are not going to change. His actions can be controlled through training. But you need to make up your mind to train the dog to mind - he is not trained now. If he were he would not bite when told not to.
If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience DVD. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
Get this DVD and a prong collar - learn what is necessary to get your dog under control.
Good luck
Bottom line is the dog has poor nerves. This is a genetic issue that you are not going to change. His actions can be controlled through training. But you need to make up your mind to train the dog to mind - he is not trained now. If he were he would not bite when told not to.
If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience DVD. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes.
Get this DVD and a prong collar - learn what is necessary to get your dog under control.
Good luck
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