I have decided to go through the pack leader groundwork with Loki and I hope people can give me some advice since I can't buy the DVD. Loki is not a dominant dog, but I feel he doesn't quite trust my leadership in all situations.

Loki is very territorial and is very suspicious of all strangers, but I need to be able to tell him that when I get to the scene I can take it from there. For example, we just came in from playing in the yard, I threw a ball for him and as he reached the ball a man came up to a part of the fence Loki was near. This guy was checking the work of the cable company that came here a few days ago and was not expected, just showed up.

Loki ran up to the fence barking and growling at the man and I came over there and the man explained why he was there. I had to stand between the dog and the fence so Loki wouldn't jump over it to run the man away. I want to be able to communicate to him that when I say enough, he can settle down and stop protecting the yard. When we have someone come over and Loki is in his crate, he will keep barking for quite a while after the guests have settled in. We moved his crate to another room so he doesn't see what's going on, but it doesn't stop him. He wants to meet and greet and decide who comes in.

I do not think he is people aggressive, rather that he is uncertain in how to deal with strange people because he thinks he has to, and he doesn't look to me (or husband) to handle the situation. He has never growled at us or been aggressive in any way towards us, but I do feel we need to set things straight.

My questions are: Does the crate have to be in a room with a closed door where he cannot see us around the house? Can I play fetch with him/take him to a park to run (I'm thinking of the part where the humans have to be completely neutral to the dog, as in it's no fun for us to be with him)? This will be extremely difficult for me since I love hanging out with this dog and we have so much fun together, but there is a respect issue that I have to deal with.

When you say a park to run, do you mean off-lead and do you mean a dog park?

Has the dog ever jumped your fence? (You mention that.)

These are not O.T. -- just getting all the facts lined up.

Do you know marker training?

(You CAN change the dog's perception that he is in charge of keeping himself safe and scary humans run off. It's a long but bonding and fun process.)

"Does the crate have to be in a room with a closed door where he cannot see us around the house? Can I play fetch with him?"


Maybe no, and yes, soon (but not right now) unless there is more to the story than the O.P. says (meaning I am perceiving that this is not a dog predisposed
to dominance ... ).

But always on a leash -- just MHO, but this is not negotiable when I'm working with a new-to-me adult.

We take him to a park on a 100ft line and play with him there, it's not a dog park and barely a people park Every time we go there it's empty and it's a great place to let the dog run and have fun. We haven't gone there as much in the insane heat we have right now, but every now and then. There are no dog parks in this town, and I wouldn't go there anyway

I have done marker training with him, veeerrryyyy slowly. We have good eye-contact and a nice touch so far. He has never jumped over the fence, but the way he was jumping today there is no question that he could if he really wanted to.

Refresh my memory.
How old is he?



I always warn people... be very careful what you name your dog. They have a funny way of living up to it.

I always warn people... be very careful what you name your dog. They have a funny way of living up to it.

No kidding! His previous owners get the blame for his name, but I didn't want to change it when I got him

Loki will be two years old in July.

Hmm... if I had to throw a dart and make a guess, I'd say he's just territorial by nature.

Allowing him one or two warning barks, praising those barks as "good Watch, good boy" and then following up with a command that is 100% incompatible with barking (like the hand-touch, for example) and praising that behavior as well may be the key here.

An alert bark is a very nice thing to have.
If you praise the alert bark, but then move on to something else, he may just learn that one or two barks is sufficient.

Yeah, that makes sense, he is also territorial of the truck so it would be nice to be able to tell him to be quiet in there too. His barking style doesn't make it easy to catch one or two. When he spots a stranger close to the house, he gives a very growly snarly bark, so I would have to cut him off. I also noticed today when the man came over that he was completely focused on the man, and couldn't care less that I was there. His eyes were glued on the intruder

It's funny..When he's inside and alerts to something and I check it and praise him for it and then say "all done", he looks at me like he's appalled and barks again like he thinks I didn't check well enough So I really have to make him understand that he doesn't need to keep on alerting when I've checked things out.

 Quote: thorunn arnalds

.... It's funny..When he's inside and alerts to something and I check it and praise him for it and then say "all done", he looks at me like he's appalled and barks again like he thinks I didn't check well enough So I really have to make him understand that he doesn't need to keep on alerting when I've checked things out.

There's a big picture to this (inside and out): It's easier for me to train this companion-dog protocol (of alert barking just until I come and check and say that it's OK) after I have driven it home that I am in charge of the dog's safety.


P.S. If you have an "It's OK" word (for my dogs, if it's a stranger coming onto our property), it has evolved to being "the lawn guys!" in my calm confident voice, with, as Alyssa says, immediate redirection.

Yeah, that's why I was thinking of the groundwork. He needs to know that I'm not only in charge but I am there to protect him, the house, the yard etc. We had a man come over a few weeks ago to fix something in the house, and while he was in the house I was outside playing with the dog and he forgot all about the man inside. So I know there is hope, but I want to clear any confusion up first about leadership. If that makes sense