I have a 14-month-old Australian Shepherd who has a complete lack of respect for me. Love, yes, respect, no. . I know, completely my fault for being the dog’s “big play toy” for so long, letting her get away with more than she should, too much off the leash unorganized running around like an idiot playing. In other words, I understand that it is my fault that the dog has become the Alpha dog in the house, I take complete and total responsibility for that and I am trying to change the situation. (I feel like I’m in an AA meeting J)

I have been working with a local Police/Protection dog trainer who uses the choke chain correction method. She’s coming along wonderfully, definitely not because she wants to, but she is. She knows the basic sit, come, heel, and stay among other things; it just takes saying them more than once most of the time (with a reprimand with the choke chain for not doing it the first time). Of course, she’s not like that with the trainer; only takes saying something one time, heck she’ll work with just the use of hand signals from him, like a seasoned obedience dog, instead of a 14 month old hyperactive wacko! Makes me sick!!

Something happened this morning that I want a little advice on (trainer’s on vacation). I was getting ready for work and she was just hanging out in the room with me, but she was right up under me following every step I made (not unusual for her) I was running late, and needed her to just lay down and let me get ready. I told her to down, and she looked at me like I was an idiot, the “how dare I ask her to lay down” look. I gave her a firm NO and told her to down/stay. She did as she was told (after giving a low throaty growl as she always does when being made to do something she don’t want to do), but when I finished getting dressed and released her from the stay and told her to come, she wouldn’t come to me, she just laid there and stared at me. It’s like as long as I don’t scold her, she’s fine, but if I scold her, she don’t want anything to do with me. What do I do in a situation like this? Do I have a snowballs chance of gaining my dogs respect, or have I coddled her too much already? Any advice or similar situations? I’m in need of some moral support here!!!

The reason the dog does so well with the trainer is not only because he/she has better timing but is becuase the dog has only known the trainer in one way,the trainer has always been in charge and there has never been any doubt about that,unlike where you have to overcome your previouse relationship with the dog. To get to your specific question.I tell my clients that you just dont practice your obedience in the driveway or backyard.Put the leash and training collar on the dog and practice obedience in the house.Any where you want the dog to be obedient is where you want to practice, also set up training scenarios instead of waiting for them to happen on theyre own. An example would be put on leash and collar and do obedience while your getting ready for work in the mornings.

Sherry, think of it this way. You are changing the rules in the middle of the game. She is used to having a certain relationship with you, and now you are changing things. Rather than looking at this like a power struggle, I would suggest that you look at it as a growth process. Don't try to force things too quickly. Remember that for her, you are changing, and it may be difficult for her to comprehend what exactly is going on. She may not even see this as a power struggle.
It will take time, but if you are firm, fair, and consistent, she will come along. Being firm means that when you ask for a behavior, you insist that she do it. You don't have to use a whole lot of force or punishment to accomplish this. Just a firm insistence is enough, in the beginning. Being fair means that you never correct her for failing to do something she does not understand, does not know how to do, or is incapable of doing. If she just looks at you when you give her a command, it's not neccessarily a challenge. She could be saying "Hey, Mom, I'm not sure what that means.". When she growls at you when you force her to do something, she may be telling you "Hey Mom, I can see that you are angry with me, and I'm concerned that you may hurt me.".
You have to be absolutely certain that she understands you, and that comes from learning to read her by working with her regularly. Keep practicing the obedience, and pay attention to what she is telling you.

Thanks for the advice David and Lisa. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I might have been unclear on the growling thing, it's not a growl really, she don't even open her mouth when she does it, and I've seen her do it to no one in particular, like when she gets bored or tired. It's more of a "grumble", like you get from a kid that don't want to do their homework, or a man that don't want to get up during the middle of the game to take the trash out. She wasn't forced to do it, because I was on the other side of the room when I told her no, so I don't think she was scared I was going to hurt her. But I'll have to agree with you, she is totally confused about my sudden change in behavior, I think it freaks her out that mama has become a control freak (in her mind anyway).
There is something I forgot to ask in the previous post that is in regard to the dominant dog issue (the other post should have been under basic obedience, sorry about that). Being a single female living alone, I have considered furthering her training to protection dog. I’m not even going to consider doing this until I solve my original issue of gaining the dogs respect and nailing down the obedience, I’m just doing my homework on the subject right now. She has absolutely no aggression towards humans at this point, outside of the barking when someone enters our building or growling when she hears someone outside at night, but she has a really bad aggression towards other dogs, and I mean really bad. I was discussing this idea of protection training with a friend of mine that has been around the breed for many years. An Aussie has very strong protective instincts towards family, and he suggested that because of her strong dominant attitude toward me and towards other dogs (which he witnessed first hand by letting his dog out of the fence after I asked him not to and my little one grounded his dog that outweighed her by a good 40lbs), “I might unleash a monster I can’t control”. I know without knowing the dog personally, this is a rather hard call to make. But generally speaking, is it really a good idea to train a dominant dog in personal protection?

Since you were on the other side of the room when you told her down, that may have been part of her confusion. Dogs don't generalize well, and if she is used to recieving commands from a closer proximity, she may have been a little confused. Do you want her to come over to you and then lie down, or do you want her to lie down right there???? So many possibilities. She may have been watching you for a cue, rather than willfully disobeying you. Also, I'd recommend that you try to cut "NO" out of your vocabulary. That word should be reserved for serious infractions only. To give a command, then say "NO" is sending some pretty mixed messages.

On the dog aggression, you really need to get that under control. It should not be her decision whether or not to aggress. Dog aggression is a tough one, and a huge pain in the butt. The sooner you work on that one and learn how to have more control over her, the better. It will help your position as leader, and make your life easier.