I recently aquired an Australian Cattle Dog pup. He is now about 9/10 weeks old and Ive been working mainly on houe training and molding good manners. Ive noticed that he is extremly dominant and very proactive about it as well. I know that establishing whos who is normal among puppies but this morning, when meeting several other dogs (my neighbors dogs), he got in a fight with the dominant chihuahua. It didnt last long because I immediatly seperated and corrected the situation, but while they were conducting the normal sniff and posture, he refused to back down to the adult dog! I was a little suprised. Im used to working with adult dogs from the animal shelter who either dont know good manners or are dominant or nervous or both, Ive never seen a puppy that....socially demanding though.

He is Very dominant in a controling manipulative way, and Ive seen him try to mount my dog and another puppy. He isnt allowed free in the house, and has to earn everything, Im just looking for some insight into this behavior. Is there something Im missing? or is he really just that dominant. I have seen him exibit some avoidance (when meeting a herd of horses ) but other than that he is just highly nergetic and strong willed.

9 *weeks* old and he's humping?

(Fighting with other dogs isn't necessarily dominance)

What else is he doing that is "dominant in a controlling manipulative way"?

Because seriously, we're talking about an infant.

In my limited experience what we humans tend to see as manipulative behavior is actually quite clever and may be indicative of a smarty pants puppy.

well, my usage of the words sounded like a bitter adult, I realize that too late! haha but no thats not what I mean. Clever- certainly. all puppies will do things that are generally deemed naughty because they dont know any better, and it takes awhile for them to learn the rules. He does not respond with the normal respectful behavior when corrected by us or even the dog. I am not referring to training, just the normal behaviors that are not acceptable in normal dog packs. Puppies are pests but when the adults dogs have had enough they will let the puppy know. I havent seen the puppy respect the older dogs when they reprimand it, he usually just continues. I TOTALLY understand that puppies nip and bark etc but most of the time you can still get there attention, or when they are reprimanded they will roll over submissively but Drover is just a very strong willed puppy, and very intelligent. I was just wondering if it was normal for a puppy to challenge an adult dog in such a serious way. I have seen plenty of puppies getting in spats, over food or rank etc. perhaps It wasnt as serious as I thought I have just never seen a puppy do that with an adult dog...

I would really recommend not letting her pester the adult dogs.
It's not fair to the older dogs to have to deal with a butthead puppy, and it puts the pup at risk of being hurt if the older dog reacts too roughly.

the puppy is not allowed to pester adult dogs as a rule. I do take them out together on walks and hikes. Before the puppy was mine he lived with another adult dog for a short time.

Hi Mary,
You might want to pm Ingrid Rosenquist about ACD puppy behavior. She has 3 or 4 that she owns, trains and shows.
http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showprofile&User=6453
Clink on that link for her profile...

Thanks Lynne!

 Quote:

the puppy is not allowed to pester adult dogs as a rule. I do take them out together on walks and hikes. Before the puppy was mine he lived with another adult dog for a short time.

Thats what I figured, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

A couple of days ago out on our walk I saw this older and very patient lab with a younger lab bouncing and yapping and biting and pawing at the poor older dog.
Their owner was just standing there trimming the bushes.

I kept thinking poor dog, but also poor puppy if that dog finally has enough he could have easily injured the small pup.