hi im new so correct me if i post something wrong lol

i have a dog called mack, he's extremely dominent and he thinks he's dominent of our pack. which im sure you can guess causes problems. he barks ALL THE TIME and follows us round (obv checking that his "babies" are ok) now i just wanted to know how i can get him out of this mind set.

i know a little bit of what ishould be doing but not a huge lot, i never let him in the house until i tell him to, i always go through the doors first, i make him sit and stay for his dinner and i eat before him.

some advice would be nice.

oh, and he's like this because he was my nanna's dog and didnt have any training (he's slightly better than he used to be)

Any more info?

Age?
Breed?
Neutered?

What exactly do you mean by dominant? Barking all the time isn't 'dominant' following you around isn't 'dominant'. You cannot measure dominance. You say, 'my dogs dominant' ok, but how dominant? How is one issue worse than another? How do you know if the dog is getting better or worse if he's just dominant?

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no what i mean is he's dominant over us.

its his whole posture, he never submits to me and he humps other male dogs and wont back down, he's been in quite a few scraps, he dosen't like other males in his territory and has bitten me and my dad alot of times when we have stopped him doing something he wants to do.

he also walks with his tail up constantly and he rarely relaxes around the house because he feels like he is the one responsible for protecting it, thats why he barks at everything.


He is a neutered possible collie mix and he's about 7 or 8, he's medium size.

Dogs are not dominant over humans. Ever.

He sounds massively insecure to me, based on how you have described him. if you are attemtping to show him that he is not dominant, that is probably why you are getting bitten.

I would suggest first of all folllowing the NILIF 'programme' (Nothing In Life Is Free) if you search, you'll find it. Then take your dog to the vet to rule out any physical caue for his behaviour.

I would also suggest finding a good behaviourist who doesn't believe in pack theory and used positive reinforcement.

A dog that barks all the time and bites people is not a happy one.

Of course some dogs are dominent over humans. Generally thats when you get dogs that bite because they don't know their propper place in the pack. I do know what i'm talking about and i know he isn't a happy dog which is why i wanted some tips on how to make him happy.
He thinks that he has to look after us and guard the house and this is why he follows everybody around and will only settle when everybody is in the same room. It's also why he barks whenever somebody walks past the house, posts a letter or knocks on the door.
If he thought that i was the "leader" then he wouldn't be so concerned about where we are and what we are doing because we take up that responsibility.

My other dog knows that she dosent have to look after us, we look after her. She knows her place and she is a very happy and relaxed dog. But the reason for this is because i have had her from a very young pup and has always known her place, Mack has never known this and always just been shut in the kitchen until he came to us and he dosen't understand tha he doesn't need to be worried about protecting his territory/pack.

I know alot about dog behaviour because i adore wolves and know their behaviour, a dog is basically a wolf. They live in a pack and they need to know their hierachy otherwise they will be out of balance and confused.

I just need to know how to change the fact tht he thinks he has to look after us.

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I know a lot about dogs because I adore dogs and am studying their behaviour, that has nothing to do with wolves.

The 'dominance theory' was based on a very small study of domesticated wolves. They didn't even behave like a 'proper' wolf pack because they had been brought in from several wild packs, so didn't behave like a wild pack.

Aside from that, dogs are not wolves. We are not dogs, and I am as sure as I can be that if a dog can tell the difference between a rabbit and a deer at 500m, it can certainyl tell when we are right in front of it's nose that we are nto dogs. Dogs may well run in packs (they dont' always actually) and they may naturally live in a heirachal society, but that has nothing to do with us. We may be a 'leader', but we will never be 'pack leader' because we are not dogs.

You are naturally the leader. You control when your dog eats, when it gets to go for walks, when it gets to play with toys. You control all the resources your dog wants.

As I said previously, I would impliment the 'NILIF' programme, and also invest some time into serious socialisation.

ok so you have a different theory. I don't believe that one is wrong and one is right.

People treat their dogs as people and they are not people, we ARE their pack but wheather you believe that or not is up to you.

A dog is a decendant of a wolf, all because dogs are domestiated dosen't mean they loose the pack behaviour. When you take them for a walk they get excited, a dog is always ina "puppy" state. They get excited just as wolf pups do about going on a hunt.

They greet you when you come in because you are a pack member and they beg for food just as a lower ranking wolf would beg a higher ranking wolf for food.

I'm not here to argue with you on dog behaviour, there are hundreds of techniques and theories on why dogs behave as they do. like i say one isn't more rightthan the other, i'd just appreciate that you didn't talk to me as if i ddn't have a clue what i was talking about.

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Hi and Welcome You say you know a lot about dog behaviour and are hundreds of techniques etc... Have you tried any of them with your dog? Obviously I do not live with your dog and am not qualified in dog behavior techniques etc... I have only ever done trial and error with mine

Ok I've just read this thread,Le loup,you appear to know what your talking about so why ask for advice?

Jackson I agree entirely with your post.

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It doesnt matter how hard I've tried I cant manage to wag my tail to let my dog know I'm happy and I hate having to bite them to tell them I'm the bossrolleyes:

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