Jack, you're first three paragraphs to me state that the dog does NOT challenge Eric. Perhaps you missed something. The quote below is from Eric:

Typical scenario: Bruno likes to lay in the walkway between the fridge and the wall. I go to tell him to move so I can get by. He'll start growling AS he gets up and moves to the opposite corner (a place we put him to keep him out of the way while filling his food bowl or when sharing the kitchen). Same scenario with my wife but with a slight bit more resistence.

The way I read all of Eric's posts, he uses "us" and "we" all the time. I am pretty sure he is referring to himself in that description, not just his kids and/or wife. I do think the dog is worse with the kids and wife but Eric it seems, as far as the dog is concerned, is also fair game.

Jack,

Allowing a dominant/aggressive 90 pound adult male Chow to pull rank on anyone in the family is begging for an eventual trip to the ER -- And your advice, if taken, may border on child endangerment regarding teenagers in the household at high risk of being severely mauled <:-(

Candi,

I completely agree. I have 3 boys ages 16, 18 and 21 years old. Their age does not change my concern for their safety. A growling dog is a growling dog, no matter what the age of the people present. Teenagers would loose a battle with an attacking 90 lb Chow just the same as any child would. The dog sounds like a menace to all concerned if you ask me. My dog is an asset to my home, not a liability. That's how it should be. If he were my dog, at the very least, he'd be wearing a muzzle around my kids at all times.

You are all very good at bashing my advice. You may not agree with it, but fail to offer Eric any ideas.

He is doing everything ED advises, groundwork, dominant dog collar, etc. But is still having a problem. Why?

The dog is not secure in his rank order, also he is not going to stay where he is, if Eric stays the same course eventually someone could get bit.

My advice is advice, not the gospel. Every dog is different, what worked for me may not work for him, but at least I have a few ideas and do not bash your posts that offer no help.

Eric, try my ideas fro a couple of days. If they do not work go back to the same old same old.

Finally, I am sure a lot of people on this board watch the dog whisperer. As you can see the vast majority of dogs in this country run the house, not that I am advocating that, but it is a fact. Yet, the ER rooms are not packed with mauled victims. Why is that?

That is because, not all dogs will accept the bottom of the pack. Just because they rank higher than the Omega does not mean they will attack a pack member or anyone else for that matter.

Eric get advice from people who have dealt with aggressive dogs, not pets.


Ed's Comments edited into this post:

Jack you are 100% wrong in your post on what to do with dominanat dogs. You may have experience with one dog, but with that said you need a lot more experience if this is what you recommend.

I dont want new trainers to think that your comments are correct. I suggest that you get the DVD I did titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS http//:leerburg.com/301.htm

 Quote:

....Eric get advice from people who have dealt with aggressive dogs, not pets.

Like Anne Vaini.

Jack, "bashing" your advice is not my intention, nor do I think it is Candi's. It's simply a disagreement on how to get the best outcome for Eric.

Regarding the offering of advice to Eric, I am not qualified. I stated that in my first post. Call me a coward but, unless I had decades of experience in the handling of dominant/aggressive dogs, I would be deathly afraid to offer advice to someone in Eric's predicament - aggressive dog, notoriously, shall I say, crabby breed, 90 + lb male, children in house, adults without experience, etc.

Hopefully someone can and will give him exactly the advice he needs to bring calm to the dog and the family. Perhaps your advice will do just that. I don't believe so, but, as I said, what the hell do I know?!

At the very least, Bruno the Chow should be crated indoors, kenneled outdoors, NOT allowed to be loose or call ANY shots & he should never be handled by the children or guests at this time...

IMHO, Eric is making good progress with this dog, but it should go without saying that safety must always come first -- Unless Eric's wife & kids are temperamentally capable of learning & enforcing ALL Groundwork Rules 24/7, then Bruno's dom/aggro issues will increase NOT decrease as he fully matures...

I live in San Francisco where some idiots' 40 pound pitbull KILLED their teenaged son at home last year <:-(

OK,
I'm going to step in and make a comment to Eric due to some of the quality of advice that he's gotten.

This is a generic statement for the most part, but it hold true for this thread.

The quality of advice you can get on a forum ranges from excellent to so bad that it can place you in direct danger if you follow it.
The expertise of people giving advice in this forum can range from seasoned professional's that have trained several hundred dogs to beginning pet owners - but everyone is allowed to give their advice. So it's up to the original poster to decide which advice that he's received that is good, and which advice is so poor as to be useless ( and the whole reason that I've place this comment is that there has been frankly bad advice given in a few of the comments by one poster ).

Ok, Moderator hat off....




Will Rambeau
Moderator

Is it just me, or, does anyone else get the impression that the dog submits to the husband and the wife (not as much as the husband, but at an acceptable level) but, the dog views the teens as below him or, that is currently being decided by the teens and the dog.

I wonder if Dad & Mom (emphasis on Dad) did all the training while the teens were too cool for school. The dog now assumes they aren't part of his chain of command and are thus below him.

It's a theory. If it fits the answer is for the teens to either become engaged with the Chow's training to ensure the dog knows they too command him, or, they can be in the dog's posse.

And like Will said; This is free advice and you get what you pay for.

Red,

While reading, I understand that the dog submits to an e-collar and not much else. Eric will have to let us know next time he is on the board.