Is my dog dominant over me?

You might have heard that you should be dominant over your dog, and especially that you should make sure your dog isn't dominant over you. You might also have heard that you should be leader of the pack, and that your dog will take over this position if you don't. Dominance is a term used by many ‘old-style' trainers to explain all sorts of dog behaviours: jumping up, not coming when called, pulling on the lead, being pushy, being generally disobedient and being aggressive. Maybe you have been advised to put your dog ‘in her place' by eating first, going through doorways first, or physically holding your dog in a ‘submissive' position. In other words, you might have been advised to treat your relationship with your dog as a contest!

Here's an alternative view for you to think about: Maybe your dog isn't trying to take over the household by being pushy or disobedient (etc, etc), and dominance or pack leadership has nothing to do with her behaviours. Maybe she has just learnt that behaving in certain ways pays off for her: if she is pushy and demanding, people give in to her demands; if she jumps up on people, they give her attention; if she pulls on the lead, she gets where she wants to go (and faster); if she doesn't obey commands, she gets to do fun stuff rather than stuff she doesn't like so much; if she is aggressive, she scares away people who are frightening her.

This alternative view is a much healthier and more useful way to think about your dog's behaviour and about your relationship with your dog. There is no need to dominate your dog and engage in a contest with her. Instead, if your dog is behaving in ways you don't like, try to work out ‘what's in it for the dog' and change the environment so that her undesirable behaviours no longer work for her. Your relationship with your dog should be based on mutual respect and cooperation, not on trying to win a competition for pack leadership.