Dominant can also be relative to the litter.
The dominant pup in a particular litter may still not be what some consider a truly dominant dog.
There will most always be a dominant pup in a given litter but in a litter of Goldens vs a litter of GSDs that dominance may be a quantum leap apart.
In reference to how a person handles a truly dominant dog it's rarely through physical force that you accomplish that. There may be many people that could physically control the dominant dog but that can create a situation where the dog is just waiting for that one mistake by the handler.
Power of the mind will trump power of the body every time.
tracey holden Webboard User Reg: 07-17-2010
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See, my Boerboel bitch was the pushiest, most bossy and greediest of the litter, literally shoving her way over her sibs to get to the teat, out of the crate etc, and now at nearly 3, when they are all off lead over the fields, she likes to keep them all close, and goes after them in what I can only describe as a herding behaviour, to get them all together as a pack, she doesn't bark or barge, just rounds them up like sheep to keep them all together, and with me, but I have never considered her to be dominant.
Also, your last paragraph about the handler using physical force to control a truly dominant dog, and the dog waiting for a chink in the armour to take over, would this type of handler/dog relationship be a satisfactory one for either of them?
Reg: 12-12-2010
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Quote: tracey holden
When I think of a balanced dog, the one that always comes to mind is Cesar's old Pit Daddy....s there ever an example of the polar opposite of the usual myth of what a breed is?
So I am wondering now, if that was an example of the potential 'wrong' dog with the 'right' owner, or was he a calm and confident pup to begin with...:
In re Daddy IMHO this is a prime example of a properly bred APB or Stafforshire Terrier -one just given the necessary environment to develop these qualities that were already on board. Dogs like Daddy aren't uncommon -they are breed standard actually -but these dogs don't have camera crews following them around.
Sometimes I think "status seeking" when owners start going on about "dominance" -one is much more common and opportunistic, the other rarer, genetic dispostion as Michael so effectively points out in that clip -thanks for posting that Steve (I was just about to!) -I'll never forget the description of those Rotts!
"would this type of handler/dog relationship be a satisfactory one for either of them"?
There are trainers out there that don't know any other way or they don't need or want anything else.
Life is full of strange relationships. Why stop at dog/handler. ;-)
It wouldn't be satisfactory for me. That's the only real answer I can give you.
Ben McDonald Webboard User Reg: 05-25-2011
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Loc: Lawton, OK
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I think from my own experience, that "most" people consider being aggressive = being dominant. Which is very much not the case. In short, being "dominant" is any dog with a stronger desire to lead then their owner.
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Re: Defining Dominance
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