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Will Being More 'alpha' For A Day Help?


Guest greytmiles

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Guest greytmiles

Hi all,

So I made Miles 'lay down' for a bully - business as usual. I leave the room, come back in, go over to pet him (we've done this 50x before), and he growls at me.

I VOG him 'NO', and take the bully and put it away.

 

In addition, I wouldn't let him up on the couch with me for the rest of the day. I would just put my body across where he'd try to climb up and say 'Mine!'. I wasn't physically touching or moving him.

I also wouldn't play with him when he'd try to solicit my attention - I'd look the other way and pretend he was invisible.

 

Was this 'extra' bit of discipline at all helpful, or should I have ended the matter with taking away his bully?

Did I overreact about the whole situation?

 

Thanks!

Erin

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Guest jenznaz

I do this, too sometimes. I agree with ivon that it's not harming or confusing him. IMO You're letting him know it's not okay to resource guard.

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Guest BooBooMama

Later tonight you can give him the bully stick again and see how he reacts. Reinforcement is the key. (Or so I am told. Personally I am a push-over!)

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You didn't over react. It is a disturbing thing that should not happen. However, it is highly unlikely Miles associated not being let on the couch with having growled at you earlier. It is also not likely showing a leadership role for one day will have much effect. Guess it depends on the dog & the person. It didn't hurt though.

 

And trying to think of this from Miles perspective for him it could be more like, "I tried to warn her to leave my bullystick alone. Not only did she not leave it alone, she stole it & wouldn't give it back. Next time I better up the ante if I want to keep my bully stick."

 

Do you practice trading up with Miles? If not, you may want to so he knows that he has no need to defend his stuff from you.

Edited by kudzu
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Couch and bully stick have nothing to do with one another.

 

Ditto kudzu's post -- check out some of the posts on "trading up" in this forum (do a search -- you'll come up with better stuff than I can summarize right now). Basically, start with something less desirable and teach the dog that letting you take things away is a joyous, happy, and well-rewarded occasion ... ==> no more growls. :)

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest PiagetsMom

If he isn't off sulking somewhere, I doubt you hurt anything, but you probably satisfied your need to make a point more than actually teaching him that he can't growl when you take his bully stick. I don't get upset with my pups very often, but when I do, I have to remind myself that just because I'm still upset does not mean that they're still thinking about it - they're not.

 

I know some feel that you should just be able to take things away from your pup, but personally, I wouldn't take something like a bully stick without trading up. You just never know when you might catch them in just the right mood to be grumbly - a piece of cheese works like magic for my pups.

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Guest LindsaySF

Ditto Batmom and Kudzu.

 

You probably did confuse him a bit, as not playing with him and refusing couch privileges has nothing to do with his defending a bone. The alpha people will tell you that you are reasserting being the alpha, but the dog really has no clue why you are acting that way.

 

That said, unless he is an insecure or spooky dog, he has probably gotten over it and forgotten all about it by now. :) But ignoring him and stuff like that doesn't really accomplish anything useful. I would work on trading up for the bone.

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Guest Spencers_Greyt

Dogs don't have long term memory. The only correction that would connect with him is right when he growled and you took the bully stick. Everything else you continued to do would have confused him as he wouldn't know why he was being punished. Corrections need to be done right when they happen never in the future.

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Guest Greyt_dog_lover

How long have you had your hound? Reason I ask is if you have had your hound less than about 6 months or so, I wouldnt be giving high value treats at all. If you have had your hound less than 6 months, there is no trust built up there, so your hound does not trust you enough yet to understand that you will give back the wonderful thing you just took from him. Obedience classes and recall training should be accomplished before high value treats are entered into the daily routine. Just my opinion.

 

Chad

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