Hi Everybody.I am just posting a simple question.I have an American Bulldog Pup now five Months old.
I give him a few minutes a day of lessons.All I worried about teaching him so far is to walk in the Heel position with no pressure on the Lead,Come to a Whistle,stand free and still while being washed and to Sit.
I noticed he seems to at times take his head away when I go to rub his head.Would that be a Dominance move or just this individual Dog?
This pup has alot of Prey drive and I just use a old Bit of Knotted rope as a Toy.I keep the Rope low to the Ground and let him win fairly quickly so he builds confidence.When the Rope happens to be high as when I am rolling it up to put it away sometimes he will launch himself quite high trying to get the Rope.I try not to let him get in that position as he is only young and Bone structure of course is not set.
What does everybody think of what I am doing.I am here to learn. Tony

Being pet on top of the head or back is a dominance gesture and some dogs don't like this. Pet him on his side or chest. Work on getting him to accept being pet on his head by using rewards when he accepts the petting without taking his head away. You might also work on a command to put with the action so that if someone else goes to pet him on his head (i.e. a child) you can give your command and let him know that he's to permit it. Of course, the best thing is to have the person pet the dog on the chest or side, after a proper introduction and your permission to pet the dog. But sometimes people, especially children, don't ask first and you don't want any problems.

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But sometimes people, especially children, don't ask first and you don't want any problems.

Went xmas tree shopping yesterday n someone took their dog with them, the guy's writing out his check for the tree, the dog sitting next to him, a kid, about 7 years old walks by n does a "walk by petting" of the dogs back when the dog wasn't looking. Good thing the dog was super friendly, but one day that kid's gonna learn the hard way that you can't just sneak up on every dog n casually touch em as you walk behind em.

I also think that petting on the head is not that pleasant to a dog. Just try petting your own head and see how it feels. Gives you a headache after a while. I always *scratch* the dog on the head, or pet only the sides of the face or muzzle. I also like to rub the chin or the ears, they like it better that way.

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I also think that petting on the head is not that pleasant to a dog. Just try petting your own head and see how it feels. Gives you a headache after a while.

Hmm... my dogs disagree with you. I know every dog is different, but my dogs love to be pet on the head. As far as the dominance thing... if I suspected it was a dominance issue, I would make the dog understand that he needs to accept being pet on the head. Right now, he's at the age that you can easily make it clear who the pack leader is without the risk of disagreeing with a large adult dog. On the other hand, if I thought the dog just didn't care for it, then it's no big deal.

I have a dog that doesn't like being petted on the head either. My husband and I are the only people who can pet him like this without him avoiding it, unless he is in a certain mood and then he lets other people do it.

At first when I noticed it I wasn't pleased because I felt I should be able to touch him anywhere I wanted. So I just had many small training lessons with him until he would just stand there. I started out by holding him so he could not walk away and when he would hold still I would change to scratching him and praise him a lot. He now loves to be petted on the head anytime I want to. I did this training very casualy, I did not want it to become a big deal and now he's fine.

Jamie

I was told recently by an ASR decoy that lives around here "you shouldn't let people pet your dog on the head, its like making them feel like a little boy, pet them on their side", so I asked him "what about ME petting him on the head?" he said "I wouldn't, I don't pet my dogs on the head"... well, I ignored this entirely, my dog likes being pet on the head by me, but I always tell other people "pet him on his side" because he does get mouthy if someone reaches over his head where he can't see their hand. He doesn't growl or get aggressive, but he puts his teeth on people in a puppy-nipping fashion. I personally believe a handler should be able to do ANYTHING (positive) to his dog without the dog having any problems. I can tug my dogs ears, wag his tail for him, spread his toes (he tries to pull away his paws when I try to clip them but he doesn't freak out n struggle), I can pick him up, pick up his back legs, pick up his front legs, no problems. If my dog didn't like me petting his head I'd definately work on that and get him used to being handled in every way possible, in my opinion it reduces the risk of kids getting bit if they run up to your dog and pet him, and your vet will appreciate being able to check his ears etc without getting their hand taken off <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks everybody for the replies.One thought I have is we are all trying or duplicating Pack Hierarchy with our Dogs.We of course being top Dog or Leader.This is my thought but not sure if it is correct.I have not been exposing him much to other people at this Stage.My reasoning is that he has to learn that I am the Leader.One Boss.I thought at an early stage too many people interacting with the Dog may confuse him?
Also I may have not made myself clear about the Head bit.I do not Pat him as such on the Head as that would annoy myself.I should have said rub or stroke.