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Feb 2016
9:54pm, 2 Feb 2016
8,578 posts
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Sharkie
You are dead right LD. Jess knows Raffo is a softer touch than I am! But with our big dogs (certainly for me and Raffo anyway) the dominance thing doesn't work. Obedience has to be based on co-operation and teamwork for the good and happiness of the whole pack.
Which how wild wolves organise themselves after all. That Alpha Male thing is largely discredited by modern research and science.
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Feb 2016
9:54pm, 2 Feb 2016
21,247 posts
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Dave A
One thing we got was to go to the extreme with how we were with them in terms of where they can and can't go etc, then fine tune it to get a good balance.
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Feb 2016
9:56pm, 2 Feb 2016
21,248 posts
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Dave A
The Alpha male stuff is probably misinterpreted by a lot and results in people trying to boss dogs about. It's more about showing the dogs how they behave then rewarding them for being good.
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Feb 2016
9:56pm, 2 Feb 2016
8,579 posts
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Sharkie
There's this really fascinating thing about who leads the way in a wolf pack ... it's the best tracker! The dog with the best 'nose'. Not the biggest and/or strongest. Isn't that just fab!  
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Feb 2016
10:00pm, 2 Feb 2016
5,069 posts
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BaronessBL
When we first got Wanda she was only allowed in the kitchen and utility room (tiled floors) for the first two weeks that we had her while we worked out if she had a) ever been house trained & b) remembered this after two months in Battersea. We spent quite a lot of time in there with her too, but every evening we would have Humans Half Hour in the living room and she would stay in the kitchen.
To her credit - she was house trained and has never done anything indoors and I think being in the kitchen/utility room but knowing we were around was still 100 times better than being at Battersea, so she accepted it.
As she has got more comfortable and confident she has pushed the boundaries a bit and she is well aware where the boundaries are. She has never asked me for food when I am eating and if I pick up my plate at the end of a meal she expects it to go nowhere but in the dishwasher. J's plate though is a different story altogether 
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Feb 2016
10:02pm, 2 Feb 2016
8,580 posts
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Sharkie
The plate story is EXACTLY the same here, Baroness. Which is quite funny as Raffo doesn't eat meat. And I'm a complete carnivore. Mind you Jess DOES love her vegetables.. .;-)
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Feb 2016
10:05pm, 2 Feb 2016
21,249 posts
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Dave A
We don't feed our two off our plate either. They usually sit and watch for a minute then get bored. They do get scraps, but not immediately before or after meals.
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Feb 2016
10:11pm, 2 Feb 2016
2,992 posts
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Helegant
We find that Jet behaves differently with each of us.
My approach is to set my boundaries and expect the dog to co-operate, which he does (mostly). Especially if chicken or cheese, sausage or sprats are involved.
Your guidance techniques sound quite sensible and one thing really resonated.
Sometimes when I let Jet into the garden he goes selectively deaf and doesn't come back when I call him, especially if it is dark and he thinks I can't see him. He has heard, but chooses not to co-operate. I would say that he also grins while running around.
My response is to put him on the extending lead next time so he can't make that choice. He goes back to proper recall almost instantly, no need for pulling him around, and it then takes another few weeks before he tries pushing the boundaries again.
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Feb 2016
10:19pm, 2 Feb 2016
5,070 posts
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BaronessBL
I shut the back door (not slam but fairly loudly) if Wanda won't come in. As soon as she thinks she has been shut out she is at the door immediately reminding me that I had shut the door before she was in
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Feb 2016
10:27pm, 2 Feb 2016
2,173 posts
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Cyclops
Leah loves her dad but takes no notice of him at all... She does what I tell her but then I was the person who did all the training with her. The c*t, raised by my son, pesters for food when we eat, crying and standing up on her hind legs. Leah would never do that! Leah does have access to most of the house but was never allowed on the beds and never goes on. She is a good girl around the house.
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