It is the only way I know how to describe my question. I have two dogs, male APBT and female AS. The male is steadfast and all business all the time, work or play. He has tunnel vision and really never notices what is going on outside of his tasking.

The female is high strung, more about the "fun" during training and play. For example when she gets in her groove she will hit the "down" before I get the word all the way out, do a quick roll and then squirm on the ground in the down, until my next command...almost like she is being silly.

When we go out together, I have her my husband has the male, he is still all business, she on the other hand appears to "act out".

For example; when we are alone and we are walking, we see another dog, her ears come back towards me, she moves into a tight heel, and she looks at me...like she is on auto pilot (we have done a lot of this work due to her DA, keeping her OUT of drive). When we are a group, in the same situation, she will always test me. She sees the other dog, ears go forward, tail straightens and starts to wag, no move to the heel on her own...I must give her a verbal "heel" and then she falls in place.

It reminds me of when I was a kid (with 4 brothers), and when it was me and one brother, Mom had no issues, but introduce another brother and several attitude adjustments were necessary.

Does anyone else experience this? Any of the well versed know what this is? Is she, for lack of a better analogy (and humanizing - I know)showing off??????

She tests me not just on the first occasion in a group, but will make me verbally command her every time. When we are alone she seems to automatically know what I want with very little direction...like she is anticipating me.

Sounds like more distraction work may be in order? Not sure she is showing off, but maybe is not totally clear on what you want when distractions come into play?

It is hard not to humanize them with the way they act sometimes.

I guess my thing would be that telling her to "down" means "down", not roll over, not squirm and act cute, even though I would have a tough time trying not to smile at a dog acting like that.

Is it because she is a pet that you allow this behavior?

 Quote: carol boche

Sounds like more distraction work may be in order? Not sure she is showing off, but maybe is not totally clear on what you want when distractions come into play?

It is hard not to humanize them with the way they act sometimes.

I guess my thing would be that telling her to "down" means "down", not roll over, not squirm and act cute, even though I would have a tough time trying not to smile at a dog acting like that.

Is it because she is a pet that you allow this behavior?

To be honest she is so quick, I don't know how to stop it. Even if I put a drag line on her I'm not sure I am fast enough. When she squirms I should say it is more of a quiver..like she is saying..."OK whats next, Whats next??????"

I guess I never saw the harm as she stayed in the down...but if it is detrimental to working her in the group I should correct it. I could get right up on her before I down her and put my foot to her side to block the roll...any thoughts?

So I am interpreting you to say the more I work her with my other dog the more I can train her out of the distraction of the group??????????

 Quote: valerie tietz-kelly

To be honest she is so quick, I don't know how to stop it. Even if I put a drag line on her I'm not sure I am fast enough. When she squirms I should say it is more of a quiver..like she is saying..."OK whats next, Whats next??????"

Ahhh, I was thinking squirming like, inching away or moving around. Jesea does this and I refer to it as "vibrating".

 Quote: valerie tietz-kelly

I guess I never saw the harm as she stayed in the down...but if it is detrimental to working her in the group I should correct it. I could get right up on her before I down her and put my foot to her side to block the roll...any thoughts?

Not sure how to help you stop the rolling, but I do not think this is detrimental to training in a group or with distractions. Maybe using food to keep her focused on you when telling her to down would work....this way she has to go to the down without rolling to get the reward?

 Quote: valerie tietz-kelly

So I am interpreting you to say the more I work her with my other dog the more I can train her out of the distraction of the group??????????

I would introduce smaller distractions at first. If she knows what you want when you two are "alone", now it is time to add in small distractions and as she does what you want then you up the level of them.

Is she the "dominant" one over your male? Or I guess a better way to ask is, Since you are leader, how does the rest of the pack structure fit in?
If you get out to the front of the group so that everyone is behind her, will she heel then without telling her to?

Hey Val, maybe she could be picking up on different energy levels from the group? Vs. just yours which is probably calm and assertive like Cesar says.

 Quote: carol boche

 Quote: valerie tietz-kelly

To be honest she is so quick, I don't know how to stop it. Even if I put a drag line on her I'm not sure I am fast enough. When she squirms I should say it is more of a quiver..like she is saying..."OK whats next, Whats next??????"

Ahhh, I was thinking squirming like, inching away or moving around. Jesea does this and I refer to it as "vibrating".

 Quote: valerie tietz-kelly

I guess I never saw the harm as she stayed in the down...but if it is detrimental to working her in the group I should correct it. I could get right up on her before I down her and put my foot to her side to block the roll...any thoughts?

Not sure how to help you stop the rolling, but I do not think this is detrimental to training in a group or with distractions. Maybe using food to keep her focused on you when telling her to down would work....this way she has to go to the down without rolling to get the reward?

 Quote: valerie tietz-kelly

So I am interpreting you to say the more I work her with my other dog the more I can train her out of the distraction of the group??????????

I would introduce smaller distractions at first. If she knows what you want when you two are "alone", now it is time to add in small distractions and as she does what you want then you up the level of them.

Is she the "dominant" one over your male? Or I guess a better way to ask is, Since you are leader, how does the rest of the pack structure fit in?
If you get out to the front of the group so that everyone is behind her, will she heel then without telling her to?

When she is training or playing, food is of NO interest to her. Now my APBT would stop in mid air to take a treat. LOL on the vibrating...sometimes I think she is going to explode with excitement.

I'll have to think about the roll..it does make me crack up...

I guess my point is when we are alone other distractions are not an issue, but when my husband and my male dog are there, the behavior is present. She definately sees herself higher in the pack than my PB, but always listens to my husband. He has never had to work as hard as me to assert himself over her. I'm thinking when we are together she doesn't know who the REAL leader is, so she is testing me???????? My husband is one of those natural leaders when it comes to dogs, any dogs. He just has this way. Not sure if it is size, he is an ex-body builder, naturally built, tall and very gentle in nature. I am the explosive one.....

I will try walking in front of the group and see what happens....keep ya posted

I think we go overboard in our effort to avoid attributing human characteristics to our dogs. Anyone who has had kids and dogs can see similarities between them

 Quote: Alex Corral

Hey Val, maybe she could be picking up on different energy levels from the group? Vs. just yours which is probably calm and assertive like Cesar says.

I could be a bit more on alert when walking in the group. I am always wondering what folks are thinking when they see my PB (he is very lean and muscular), thinking Oh Gosh he is so NOT the problem, miss bouncy, cutsy on my lead is who you need to be watching......I need to check myself I suppose

 Quote: Rich Pallechio

I think we go overboard in our effort to avoid attributing human characteristics to our dogs. Anyone who has had kids and dogs can see similarities between them

Isn't that the truth about the kids, heck if I had been exposed to dog training when my kids were little, I bet they would sit when they were told and only speak when asked to .....

 Quote: Valerie Tietz-Kelly

but always listens to my husband. He has never had to work as hard as me to assert himself over her. I'm thinking when we are together she doesn't know who the REAL leader is, so she is testing me????????

Ahhh, now I see what you are asking. I would say that, that is a possibility and I agree with Alex....maybe your calm, assertiveness goes down a little while you are walking with your hubby or a group. What I mean by that is, maybe you get to talking and you sub-conciously slip?