Dogs are by nature pack animals. When they become members of the 'human' pack they have to establish just where they come in the hierarchy.

We all think that we are pack leaders in our house and that dogs are subordinate to us naturally but this is not always the case!

Dogs therefore will try to dominate us to achieve higher status within the pack and they do it in a variety of ways which can go without notice.

Does your dog make demands on you, barking, crawling into your lap, jumping up on you and dashing to the front door when visitors come? Do they have the run of the house? Do they sleep just where they please? Are their toys scattered all over the floor to play with whenever they wish and do they come up to you with one and demand to play and when you do refuse to give the toy up?
Do they hate you touching them especially in certain areas like the back, chest and especially the feet? Do they refuse to eat commercial dog food unless human food is added to it?

If some or all of the above is familiar to you then you need to take control because your dog is in charge not you!

You need to establish that YOU ARE THE PACK LEADER.

You can do this by following certain routines to establish your authority. We all make the mistake of thinking that our animals think like we do. This is not correct and you now need to THINK DOG!

Before feeding or getting any goodies from you make your dog earn it. Make them sit so that they begin to realise that there is no such thing as a 'free lunch' in this life! Take away their food while they are eating then return it.

When taking them for a walk as you go out of your front door make sure it is YOU that exits first and likewise on the return. Make them wait and you enter before them. If you want to stop them dashing to the front door ahead of you either shut them away or have a long line attached to the collar which they drag around the house and allows you to restrict their dash to the door first!

Do not allow them to sleep anywhere. Make sure they have their own bed, move it around the house and put it in the location you choose! Do not allow them to sit on your lap or on the furniture unless it is by your say so and only then if they ask permission first! The same goes for petting and cuddles! Any demands made by your dog on you must be ignored by turning away or even leaving the room! You are the top dog!

Pick up all their toys and put them away. Then get them out and play with them when you decide, say once or twice a day for five minutes or so, and then put them back. You have to instigate the game. Now a word about playing with other dogs. Ask yourself why should they play with other animals? They only learn to become 'thugs' and after all the only one they should want to play with is YOU!

When you go out of the house without them do not fuss them and tell them you will not be gone long, ignore them for five minutes prior to leaving and then go quietly. Likewise when you return just ignore them again for five minutes and when you feel inclined call them and pet them. A PACK LEADER MAKES ALL THE DEMANDS AND NEVER HAS DEMANDS MADE OF THEM!

One of the most important issues to a dog is the stability of the pack. They need to have a strong leader who in general is the one who gets all the best 'stuff' and they in turn have their place in that pack.

If you have more than one dog then one of them will have a higher status than the other. The best way to achieve a reasonably quiet life is to reinforce the position of the higher status dog over the other. This may seem hard to you as you will probably feel sorry for the lesser ranked animal. However if the status quo is maintained then there is less chance of a 'punch up' although it will happen from time to time! Once again you must THINK DOG!

Training your dog is the best way to establish your authority and through this you can modify quite a lot of undesirable behaviours! However, there are some unfortunate animals which have severe behaviour problems and need the help of a professional in this field. Ask you vet to recommend one if this is the case.

Once your dog accepts his status within the household you can relax some of the more draconian measures but only if you have an animal which behaves and respects your authority totally!

I hope that the foregoing has given you some ideas on how to resolve what may have gone wrong in the relationship with your dog and enable you to speak to your pet in the language they understand! At the same time you will see things in a different light and ultimately THINK DOG!