Leaning & Hearding

The first advice I would give you is to ensure you and your family members have read and understand the techniques in the bonus book "Secrets to becoming the Alpha Dog". These are great techniques for maintaining or establishing your position at the head of the household. No matter what the problem is all dogs need to know where the stand in the house for both yours and their peace and comfort.

Here are some ways to reinforce your position-

1) If you come across your dogs while they are sleeping or lying on the floor then you can reinforce your position as alpha dog by making him move so that you can pass by.

2) Make sure that you always go through doorways first. A good method to reinforce your position as alpha dog is to walk your dog around the house on the leash, making your dog wait while you walk through doorways first.

3) At mealtimes make sure that your dogs eat after all of the humans have.

4) Do not feed your dogs tidbits or let it pester you at the table. Save the morsels and tidbits for training sessions instead.

5) Do not greet your dogs straightaway when you arrive home. Make it wait until you are ready and then call it to you.

6) Whenever your dogs want attention or anything wait till they are sitting and being well behaved.

7) When you give a command make sure that you are in a position to enforce the action that you require from your dog, especially in the initial stages of Alpha Dog training. Also, use the Alarm-No-Command technique as described in the Alpha Dog bonus book to reprimand your dog if it does not obey your command.

The next big thing is exercise. A tired dog will be far less likely to be aggressive/dominant. Take your puppy for a 20-30 (or whatever will tire her out!) minute brisk walk each day to help tire them out. This is best done without the older dog in tow as you will be able to focus on obedience training such as heel, sit and stay with your puppy along the walk, to provide mental stimulation as well.

You should reprimand your dog for unacceptable behavior, no matter what that behavior is. If you do not reprimand your dogs poor behavior then it will feel that it has the right to behave that way and it will take much longer to correct the behavior.

What I recommend you do, is the next time your dog acts poorly and exhibits dominant tendencies (growling) be sure to reprimand it. DO NOT yell, as this has no effect on the dominant dog. Growl instead, use a guttural growl like " AAHHH!" instead of "No!", as this makes a sharper sound then "No" (If done correctly it may hurt your throat a little).

As far as the leaning goes - I would take this as a vie for dominance. When dogs jump up/lean/stand on people unless invited, it can quite often be an attempt at dominance. When you border collie does this, reprimand her and push back a little, this is challenging her act and telling her it is NOT acceptable.

Also, as she continues to use her herding behaviour, she may start to add nipping into the equation, so it is best to curb the herding now and redirect the behaviour with a reprimand and then another type of play (like a stuffed kong, fetch, frisbee etc!).

Border collies require A LOT of mental as well as physical stimulus to keep them from becoming destructive and aggressive. Reviewing the posts on this website, you will see a lot of border collie/border collie mixes that have procured behavioural problems most likely from boredom. I recommend reading some of them just so as to note what problems to look for and how to resolve them should they arise.

I'm not trying to suggest that you don't give your pup exercise or are unaware of the breeds characteristics I'm just trying to direct you to potential hazards of owning such a wonderfully intelligent working breed to help you avoid them ! Our own dog is also supposedly a border collie mix and she is too intelligent for her own boots! They are wonderful dogs, but a lot of work - especially in the puppy to 4 year mark !

Hope this was helpful!
Keep posting updates/questions and we'll try to help!
Blue

[QUOTE=MaxHollyNoah;1068]Hi Elaine.

I don't think leaning against you is a dominant behavior at all. Instead it is more like a friendly gesture or sometimes even a depending gesture.

Puppy likes to jump at people with excitements and as invitation to play and it is not a dominant behavior either. However, I don't think jumping is a nice way to greet so I would correct that behavior.

As for herding it is a breed specific behavior. As you know border collies are herding dogs and they are bred to herd sheep. Therefore they like to herd other dogs, kids, anything moves. Again, if you want to correct that behavior, it is possible by reprimanding or distracting as your puppy is about to herd, by calling her name or sharp voice like "EH!" and if she comes back to you praise and reward her.

People seem to like labeling any unfavorable behaviors as "dominant" or "aggression" or "Alpha" but I don't agree with that.

Each one of those behaviors should be addressed differently since they are not always a case of dominance.

Especially leaning against you can be asking for your attention. Why don't you pet her when she does that. I don't understand why it is a sign of dominance.

As for licking and pushing her face into your older dog's mouth is clearly an invitation to play and submissive behavior. I understand that is annoying your older dog who is telling the puppy that she is not interested so stop it. If the puppy is too persistent then your older dog might snap at her. It is fine because this is the way your puppy learns how to communicate with and behave around other dogs. I would let them figure out. They have their way of communication which we, human beings, can not imitate.
Enjoy your smart border collie.[/QUOTE]

MaxHollyNoah and Ellie

The advice I gave is to be considered preventative advice. Perhaps if the puppy was older and well established in the pack - and the pecking order was well established I would say also that the leaning was a friendly gesture.

But when a dog is continuously doing it with his/her pack members - even as pup, it is testing limitations and boundaries - to see how far it can push senior members.

Far too often people apply human body language to dogs, and this is where the pecking order confusion begins and babying of dogs occurs.

Dogs are dogs, they originate from wild wolf-like ancestry. In a pack of wolves, when greeting each other, they are constantly testing and assessing each other. Younger members will push, nudge, and wrestle with their whole bodies, mouths, noses etc an older more dominant dog - yes it is a greeting, but a greeting with purpose. To reaffirm not only bonds but status within the pack. If a pup is being too pushy an alpha wolf will growl, snarl, snap the air or bare its teeth to tell it to lay off. If there wasn't a pecking order in packs, they wouldn't function, and eventually this pecking order gets over turned by a stronger younger wolf who will take over leadership. So when we aren't petting our nudging, pushy dogs, we are in fact, establishing ourselves as alpha.

In dog behaviour modification/training, we are not trying to "be wolves" or "be dogs" it is emulating behaviours that dogs understand and that have been studied not only in domesticated dogs but in wolves also. Yes, you don't have to "growl" at a dog; you can say no, but it is understood that dogs understand lower tones for reprimands better, then yelling no or a higher sounding standard human voiced "no".

So I still suggest, Ellie - that you curb your pups behaviour now, as it is easier to prevent the rise of your pup to a dominant dog, then to fix the issue when it has become well established.

When dogs ask for attention (pushing, nudging, leaning) it's ok to give occasional petting, but everything with moderation. Many behavioural problems are associated with this behaviour as well, over attachment, possessiveness and alpha issues are amongst some of the issues. This is why it is often recommended that people request a dog to sit/down before giving it attention, this automatically gives the owner authority. Again - in a wolf pack, when a subordinate member wants to share the same space as an alpha it will request permission to do so, by greeting the alpha up front in a submissive gesture - meaning no challenge, I just want to hang out. The alpha will signal with ears, teeth or vocalization to show whether the proximity is wanted. We as humans don't have ears, tail or teeth (unless you want to bare your teeth at your dog) to show our displeasure, so it is with vocalization we must.

Establishing your position in the pack early is an excellent preventative to behavioural problems later, it can sound harsh - especially when applying human emotion to the situation (as all of us do!), but remember you don't have to be cold or cruel, just spend more time working on obedience, fetch and other games, and your dog will bond with you much faster then if you were to smother her in kisses .

Blue