Hello all
Right a friend of mine has a 12 week old male GSD pup from the same litter my Delta comes from.Unfortunately he doesn't have internet access so I said I would try and find out for him. What he (Steve) wanted to know was how can you tell if a pup is dominant or not? Are there any signs to look out for? The reason why he wanted to know is because Jago Delta's brother seems to be quite a bold pup,nothing seems to faze him and he is always excited to see people.The same with Delta really,I think the whole litter was like this mind. I have no idea myself the dogs I have owned in the past have always had quite laid back characters so I cant help him.Jago also seems to demand attention from him and he doesnt know if this is just Jago being Jago as he is just so friendly!
Any info on this would be gratefully appreciated.
BTW Delta is coming on fine with being left alone.I can leave her for about 30-40 mins with a tasty treat and I don't hear any whingeing or howling when I get back!
Regards
Mistik
EDIT
I forgot to add that he also has a habbit of trying to hide things like his Nylo bones.Not really a problem as such but I think this is one of the reasons he wanted to know about dominance!

This site about dominance might help.
:)

I feel it is a great pity that the word dominance was ever used in respect to dogs, it has probably done a lot more harm than good :(

To try to answer your question - there are very few truely dominant dogs, however there are a lot of owners who use this as an excuse for everything under the sun, including normal puppy behaviour :)

Puppies are frequently bolshy and push their owners till they find the limits, just like children in some ways.  If the owner is consistent in his/her requirements then the pup should soon learn what they are

I agree absolutely, Kerioak.

Me too. Couldn't have put it better :)

Lindsay
X

Dominant dogs are fairly rare. Owners that get dominated by their dogs are fairly common. ;-)

It sounds to me as if you both have confident, well socialised puppies.  :D

The pups sound just what everyone wants happy sociable friendly pups.

Karen

Thanks for all of your replys :) Steve has sent off for a copy of Barrys booklet so he can have a read through that. I dont really think that Jago is a dominate dog if in fact there is such a thing.He just seems quite friendly and well bred as is Delta.With the burying of things around the home what would people suggest for that? Delta does not bury anything but Steve's dog Jago does!
Mistik

Just like people, dogs are all different and have different behaviours. Both burying things and not burying things are perfectly normal.
:)

i think that sometimes too many things are over analysed!!!
i love my dogs different little ways & personalities

when jago puts himself up for tony blairs job,then youll do he has dominant tendancies!

:D 

Lindsay
X

I agree. Everything I read before getting my Doberman classified them as a "dominant" type dog. I read to watch out for the sidling up to you and pushing, etc....Well, Lyric is NOT what I would think of as dominant. He's pushy, wants his own way and does lean on me, but even that doesn't appear to be dominant to me. It's more like he's trying to be close and get his rear scratched. All his other body language is not dominant. His ears are back and relaxed and he gets that dreamy, lovey look in his face. He wants to sit on my lap while he's still on the floor. He's just being silly, I swear. He never shows any sign of being perturbed about anything. He minds me when I ask him to scoot over on the couch. He's polite when I get his food out and sits and waits nicely. He is quite respectful for the most part. But sometimes a little pushy....like it was said, like a small child. If I'm cooking something on the stove, he's not content to stand way back and watch. He's like the kid who wants to peek into the pot and see what's cooking. And he's like the kid who says, "why, why, why, how come?" LOL. Just more curious than some. If you're assertive and confident, consistant and kind.... there should be no problem.

I am glad I read this post, and went to the dominance website. i live in Tennessee in the United States. My puppy is a German Shepherd and she's quite a character! I love her dearly and hope her behavior improves. But, now I know to ignore this "alpha" stuff because I just can't be the way those classes here train me to be towards her. I just try to consistantly tell her No in a firm non threatening tone when she does bad and praise her and pet her when she is good. The books for alpha dogs say to not over pet or over kill with affection because that will make the dog more of the pack leader. My puppy does not show any signs that she is trying to lead anything. the only thing she does is bite me quite a lot, and she used to hurt me. the only advice ever given to me that made sense was to yelp like i am hurting and let her know she is hurting me and atleast that got her to not bite so hard. she only bites me when she wants to play and i think she just views me as another dog there to play with her. if i could just get that solved, she's a perfect dog. she does dig a lot and chew EVERYTHING that she can and i am going to post on that as a new topic for anyone who had advice, but thanks for the poster, and those who replied for helping me without you even knowing :)

>I feel it is a great pity that the word dominance was ever used in respect to dogs, it has probably done a lot more harm than good<

I could not agree more.  Labelling a dog as dominant is often just an excuse for poor training and not seeing things from the dog's point of view.    The word and concept of dominance is overused and abused.

Some dogs test owners to see what they can get away with, just like kids do.  If you let some dogs or kids dictate this is what they will do, it does not make them 'dominant' as such.

The best way to ensure that you have a well trained dog is to make sure that he does comply with what you ask him to do, so for eg if you ask him to sit make sure he does.    If you think there is little chance of him coming back to you when called if he is preoccupied, don't call him, go get him instead.   If you call him and he does not comply he will just learn he does not have to.

Wendy