Another pack structure question. I mentionned it on another post but wanted to extrapolate a little bit.

I've recently been working hard on ground-working and bonding with my dog. My girlfriend, not so much (I read it's not recommended to have multiple people do it). When I'm not at home, she usually let him loose in the house and does her own things. He 20 months old now and doesn't make "mistakes", at least not when he knows we're around. She crates him if she has to leave home.

The dog does obey my girlfriend when I'm not present, which is why she doesn't mind letting him untethered during the day. But when I come back home, he will sometimes sit there and look at me when she gives a command.

Is it only a sing of confusion in the dog's mind that could be fixed by encouraging my girlfriend to be more assertive in my presence ?

How am I supposed to react to this as a pack leader ? Can I enforce my girlfriend's position in any way, or is this something she has to work on herself ?

Your girlfriend can start walking the dog and running it through obedience sessions on her own. Make sure she's actually in charge of the walks (not the dog walking her), that she's giving the commands consistently and that her timing is accurate.

That'll create a better bond with the dog. If then he still continues to ignore her commands in your presence, she can start correcting him. Again, make sure that she corrects to the level of obedience (no more, no less).
You should just ignore the whole thing... if you start getting involved in giving commands and/or corrections while she's trying to give commands and/or corrections it'll confuse the dog to no end.

Make the situation clear for the dog as to who the handler is in each sitution.
If your girlfriend first learns to keep his attention on her without your presence (a distraction at this point), she can then move on to putting him through his paces with you at the other end of the room but completely ignoring the whole process.

Just make sure you don't engage at all in the sesion if your girlfriend is working him.
After all, if you walk up to your dog wouldn't you expect him to look to you and pay attention to you (since you're his main handler)? That's the whole point of focus work... if he gets corrected for that, well, I don't see how that's fair or productive in any way.


I hope that helps!