Alpha Syndrome - Behavior Problems

[Stan's Mum]

Thanks, Kim.  That makes sense.  I guess I just didn't put the two together.  We're working on it, but it's slow going.

[8ftbed]

Kim was in the house with that one. 

If you go to obedience training (well, the puppy training anyway) or watch trainers like Victoria on The dog or me,  you'll see it pretty much always starts with and centers around the 'watch me'.   Even if you're sharing a taste of your pizza or rice cake,  while you hold it near their face tell them to 'watch me' and don't give it up until they make eye contact with you and then you tell them ok.  You want them to always be 'checking in' with you,  looking at your face.  'Checking in' is another term I picked up from taking Chubbs to his obedience class.   We got points on walks or any other maneuvers when our dogs started to always shoot glances up or back at our faces.   Like Kim says,  it could be a lifesaver on the street.  If you don't have your dog always checking in with you for clues what to do, you'll lose their focus altogether.  Now when I'm sitting out in the garage,  I don't bother getting up if Chubbs walks down to the end of the driveway if the neighbor comes out across the street or something is going on up the street.   As long as I can see him and he'll shoot quick glances back at me when I mumble 'don't walk off Chubbs', then I know I've still got his attention.  If he quits checking in but I still see the ear flick back at me when I say his name, I know he's still listening and with me.  If he's not checking in and the ears stay totally focused on what he's looking at, that's when I get up and walk down to break his concentration and escort him back.  If something was to happen quick, he'd be trotting off down the street which happened ONCE when I wasn't paying attention to the signs. I'd already lost his attention and let him sit down there too long watching the lady with her bungy hairball bouncing around and barking two doors down. Chubbs finally tripped and headed that direction at which point Lizzie bailed off the chair to go help  and there was I in hot pursuit hollering at everyone, including the lady and her barky little dustmop.   

[ksdstny]

hahahahahaha, you so make me laugh with you're descriptions, bungy hairball, OMG.

i love victoria. she works for me.

even though i have issues with harlow in the front yard still, one of the best feelings was taking her to our beach at the river and that bulldog meetup, she checked IN with me all the time. i was so happy an proud actually since she is still a puppy. it made me feel like i really was doing the right things with her and in time as she grows she'll get it down and not shoot over to the neighbor's wiggling like there was no tomorrow.

another thing i have learned that works for great recall is to sproadically just call they're name and toss them a treat (just a piece of kibble). this way they know that when you say they're name something good always happens. and when i do tell her no, i TRY to never use her name (hard sometimes).

you hit the mark too blaine when you said they GIVE us signs, its up to us to watch for them. no matter how much we might baby them or wipe they're butts they are DOGS not humans and it's our job to look for they're signals and correct them.

[sbayhylle]

Thanks Mel for reinforcing these "rules". Freedom is almost 3 and I've become a little lax. She's now food aggressive with my lab so I have to feed them seperately (she does fine with the wienie dog mix) and she growled and snapped at me the other day when I got on to her for trying to get into the trash. I immediately put her on her back until she calmed down, and she hasn't tried that again!  I think that some people are very lucky with their dogs, but for some of us, the Alpha Syndrome is an issue and I for one appreciate the remiders of how to deal with them. THANKS!!!

[MedicBarbie]

I'm glad that article helped you... <3  dat is what this forum is all about.  If I can help, let me know!