Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Apr 14, 2009

I got a couple of questions for you about my 10 months old mixed Malinois male puppy.

In everything concerning about territorial / dominating aggression he has almost no problems. I can touch his food bowl while he eats, he won't mind if I'll take toys from his mouth and won't resist if I check his ears or paws.

1. I'm not sure if it's a dominating behavior but:
When ever he is home and someone else from the family goes to my yard he will bark and want to go out too. Today, my father went out to the yard and closed the door - he barked and it seemed like he was really really excited he barked and jumped at the door (didn't know if positively or negatively) so I told him to sit and let him out.
He ran to my dad (which I need to work about his attitude to my dog because he and my dog aren't doing well together) and like tried to attack him (which I'm sure he wouldn't) but my dad reacted in a defensive way which caused the dog to try to bite (it was more defensive - he went back and down and jumped but he didn't really touched him).

[B]What leads to this territorial on my yard? What caused him to suddenly "attack" my dad which he never did before in the case of the territorial on my yard? What can I do to get over this?
[/B]

2. When strangers come to my house he also reacts the same, he lunges and barks - sometimes it looks like he wants to deter the person. This in some way good and some way isn't (if a thief will come to my house it's a good thing for him to do for example) but [B]I want to know how can I control him and like telling him "shh it's fine now, you can let go"?[/B]

3. Another question not about territorial issues is about his manners.
[B]Is it still normal that in this age (10 months) he would still be restricted by a one meter tieout rope with his bed when he isn't under supervision?[/B] The main problem with him is that he jumps on the counter and the eating table - we always looks for food, always). (The Alarm-No-Command and holding his muzzle and telling no techniques aren't effective. In addition I'm on the side of clicker training and trying to prevent this kind of corrections.)
Also, he wants and manage to eat everything! Poop, piece of trees, even small plastics and everything that is eatable and not eatable! [B]Is it just a puppy behavior?[/B]

*I want to mention that he is under some training sessions almost on daily basis and I'm assuming all Alpha Dog methods.

Sorry for the long post, I'm trying to collect as much questions that are really concerning me in one post.
Thanks in advance,
Idan

Posted by KOPsarah
Apr 16, 2009

Hi Idan thanks for your post.
I think the main problem here is that the dog is still not sure of its position in the pack. Continuing the alpha dog training will definitely help show the dog its position. It is also important to remember the key points of dominance.

In a wild dog pack the dominant pack member controls :
-access to food
-access to favoured sleeping areas
-any interactions with lower pack members
-access to favoured items such as toys

In order to show your dog his position as bottom of the pack you and your whole family can take advantage of these keys points. For example

1) Both dogs must be the last to eat at every meal and should never get treats from the table.

2) They should never walk through doors before you. A good way to practice this is to walk around the house and make them sit at each doorway and wait.

3) If your dog is lying in the hallway or anywhere you have to get past make him move. If you think he will snap leave a lead on himm so you can move him whilst maintaining a bit of distance.

4) When you arrive home completely ignore the dog for 15 minutes. Don't look at him, talk to him or pat him. After this go to him and give him some quiet attention only as long as they are relaxed and calm.

Only interact with the dog on your terms. If your or someone else is petting the dog or playing with it and it becomes aggressive or badly behaved immediately remove your attention from the dog by either removing yourself from the area or moving the dog to another area. You should do this without displaying any emotion such as anger just be a calm but decisive pack leader and the dog will appreciate knowing where it stands. Similarly you can assert your dominance by not allowing access to beds and couches or by only bringing out favourite toys when you want to play and removing them when you are finished.

It is important in your situation to get many people to do alpha training with your dog so that he knows all humans are above him in the pack. It is also important that you reward him for calm behavior. He needs to recognize that you are the pack leader and you expect calm behavior at all times from him because you are the strong calm leader and you will deal with any problems, thus he does not need to bark when people come to the house for example.

I would also definitely suggest getting your dog castrated if he is entire. This will almost certainly reduce dominance associated behavior and will also drastically reduce his chances of getting prostate cancer.

Finally your dog is young and full of energy and inquisitiveness. Once he realizes you are alpha dog he will know that he cannot access food off the bench because you are in charge of it. He will however still be bored when left for long periods inside and this may lead to other bad behaviors. Make sure your dog gets plenty of exercise to burn off all that energy. If he is bad on the leash consider using a head collar for more control. Also leave your dog with lots of toys and things to do such as treat balls and kongs. These will keep him occupied.

Hope these tips help and let me know if you have any more questions as he progresses.

Posted by Idan-Kashi
Apr 16, 2009

Alright, thank you. I'll start working on the Alpha Dog methods with my whole family. BTW, he is already castrated.

Territorial Issues