walk behind you while outdoors in order for them to consider you the alpha? If so, no human on the ARMY post I live on is alpha.

As far as I'm concerned, the dog can walk anywhere he wants to; until I tell him differently.

DFrost

Not neccesarily. And...wha?

It's a "totality" of the circumstances, including both mechanical exercises (i.e. walking as instructed, stairs, doors, feeding...whatever) and general attitude and energy.

Why do you ask?

I ask becuase I went to the Ceser Millan-unsure of spelling-web site. I read repeatedly, that the owner never should allow this. My dog walks ahead of me on the leash, but lets me go into and out of the door of the house first. Also, when outside, if I walk faster, and pass my dog up she will walk faster to get ahead of me. My husband noticed something intresting, too. He said at night when he walks the dog before he enters the woods our dog will put her body in front of his to stop him. Then she circles around him, and sniffs the air. Then she will let him walk into the woods. She has never done this with me. Maybe she likes him better?

Cesar is teaching clueless people "pack rules", these are people who don't know how to assert their dominance in other ways. It is impossible to teach someone how to be dominant, but you can teach them how to treat a dog in a way the dog understands to be dominance. For someone who is brand new to the concept of establishing dominance over a dog, the accepted "pack rules" (walk behind the owner, dont go out of doors first etc) are a good way to go. But they are not the be all end all of handling a dog.

My dogs don't walk in front of me or behind me, they walk next to me.

Every dog is different. Some dogs can walk in front of you until they die and it will never be a problem. Remember that all of Ceaser's shows are about fixing problems.

Some dogs naturally follow...even if they're in front.



Edited by Amber Morgan (03/19/2007 05:42 PM)
Edit reason: type-o

I agree with you Mike. A person who is weak, is just that. It is hard to argue this point with some people though, when they have a ceser millan web site to throw in your face. I also, agree with you Amber. Thanks for answering my question.

When working with clients' dogs it sometimes is burdensome. Trying to teach someone pack structure in a short time is impossible. Some people grasp the concept quicker than others and those seem to be successfull in keeping their dogs under control. Those that want a quick fix and don't want to do anything on their own are just wasting their money. There are so many variables involved when it comes to dominance and how to recognize true dominance that the unknowing seem to think trainers are wizards or something. With some research they could eventually learn it on their own.

Howard

My three small dogs walk in front of me, their leashes attached to my belt. I like to keep them in my view. They walk just fast enough to keep the leashes from getting tangled under their legs. I am the one in control and we all know it. We walk FAST and get a good work-out, and it's very satisfactory for all of us. My neighbors get a kick out of watching us walk together! They think it's some sort of magic trick. Ha Ha!

Mike,

There are "rules of thumb" to follow, that are a big help for new dog owners. I was told I should go out the door first, and make my dog wait for me. After awhile, I figured out that what I really wanted was not to get run over when he thinks we're going for a walk. And I don't want him to go charging out the door every time it opens. So now the rule is, he only goes through the door if he gets permission. So I make him sit before I open the door. Sometimes I'll go out first, sometimes I'll let him go out first. Like when it's raining and I want to let him out to go to the bathroom. He sits at the door, I open it, tell him to "go potty", and close the door behind him.

The result is that my family can now go in and out through the front door, and we don't have to worry about restraining him or having him bolt out the door. He knows not to go through without permission. When I take him for a walk, on the leash, sometimes I let him out the door first, sometimes I go out first, sometimes we go out together. I just want him to go through the door "politely". And I have achieved that.

With all that said, making him wait for me to go through the door first turned out to be the method to teach him to be polite about it, and wait for permission.

Rich