My male dog thinks he is dominant over me.?

Question

I got a male Golden Retriever puppy about 8 months ago...he is 10 months now. The problem is he acts dominant over me and my 13 year old daughter. He isn't submissive at all. By dominant I mean he looks both me and my daughter in the eyes, tries to be bigger than us by jumping up in the air...he also has no means of personal space. He is 10 months old and is testing us big time. By that I mean he is going the bathroom in the house and here is the thing, when my brother comes to visit he sleeps on the couch in the living room where the dog stays while he is visiting the dog is a peach. He doesn't chew stuff up or go the bathroom inside. It's not like he isn't out enough either, my daughter takes him out about every hour and a half to go the bathroom.

Then for an hour to run around at the dog park . There is no reason for him to be acting this way. I'm thinking about finally getting a crate. I don't like to use them but I have to get one.... Is there anyway to break this dominance streak?

Answer 1

this may sound mean but my dog was like this and it worked. everytime he does something bad put him on his back and hold his neck. not choking!!! and when he squirms press a little more o and hold his legs

Answer 2

Maybe Nancy shouldn't be quite so rude about all the other responses.  She is telling you things NOT to do but at the same time telling you to find a real trainer.  Maybe you should listen to some of the others and not her - that would be my advice considering she seems awfully negative, pessimistic and crabby.  

Obviously there are some very good ideas on here and only you can tell if your dog is acting dominant or not.  At least you are asking for some ideas and trying to help your dog in training.  We aren't all a bunch of Yahoos ya know.  

Answer 3

What dominance? There's no dominance here at all. It doesn't matter if he looks you in the eye, even my dogs do that. When he jumps up on you that's just him being rude. When dogs l**k other dog's faces that's a sign on submission, but your face is way up high. When he jumps up, just turn around and ignore him. Don't give him attention until is is sitting down calmly. But he's a puppy. And a Golden puppy at that. Maybe he needs more exercise and he needs big time obedience training. Work on crate training and house training.  

Answer 4

Crate training works great for big dogs.  It gives them their own personal space.  I have a 80 pound Weimeraner and I used crate training on him.  He responded excellent and is house broken with no accidents since I got him.  He still enjoys hanging out in his crate.   As for the dominance part you definately need to get him fixed if you haven't already. If that doesn't work try watching the show "Dow Whisperer" Cesar is wonderfull at helping people with dominace problems.  

Answer 5

This is not a dominant dog. He is just untrained. You should sign him up for obedience classes so you get trained on how to train him. Good luck.

Answer 6

This can be tricky but can be done.  The one that controls the food controls the pack.  When you feed him, let him get started then either reach down and pick up the bowl or stand between him and the bowl.  DO NOT let him get back to the food until you are satisfied.  If he growls, stand straight up put out your chest and put some bass in your voice.  Get close to him and lean over him while doing this.  Gently push him with your knee to move him away from the bowl.  The crate is good for the peeing in the house.  The first thing he must do when you let him out, is go outside and potty.  

Answer 7

What would you prefer?  The dog to cow and slink around on the floor?  It is a PUPPY not 'dominant' and likely fairly poorly trained.  It isn't a 'dominance streak' and you are allowing it to behave in a manner you don't want - you are actually training it to have bad habits.  You have been feeding into some of the typical BS about 'dominance'.  He isn't trying to be bigger than you by jumping - he isn't being dominant by looking you in the eyes.  This is all simply ignorance based bs.  Find a decent trainer and learn how to train your PUPPY properly and stop trying to make him be some cowed submissive avoidance riddled creature.  There IS a reason for him to act this way - you are TRAINING him to act this way and it has nothing to do with 'dominance'.

ADD:  Do NOT do that thing the poster above suggested - the thing about rolling the dog on his back and forcing him into submission.   It is known as an 'alpha roll' and it has been disproved MANY times and has led to some very serious problems.  Think about it... you are a being and someone decides you are 'too dominant' so they constantly are throwing you onto your back and subjegating you into submission -- eventually or even immediately you will get pretty darn tired of having that done to you and guess what you will do ... fight back...  I have successfully trained dogs for decades and would never recommend anyone, particularly one as naive about dog training as you are, to do such a thing and the times I have seen it done it was disastrous.   You need to get to a REAL trainer and not listen to yahoos on the internet who know so very little  - you already have mis trained your dog, please don't continue or the dog will suffer for it.

again: more misinformation... do NOT start simply removing the dog's food to be 'dominant' over him ... that will only precipitate confusion and resource guarding behavior.  Get to a REAL trainer please and don't listen to these wonderfully intelligent and obviously successful trainer giving their training advise on yahoo!   I can remove food from my dog's mouths but I don't use it to play some stupid 'dominance' game -- you are NOT a dog and your dog isn't stupid enough to see you as a dog -- you are the HUMAN that is in control of his entire environment and will lovingly interact with him to behave the way you want him to behave.  Learn to do this from a REAL trainer please...

Answer 8

First off I would defenitly get a crate, crates arnt bad there actually very helpful and dogs treat them as wild animals do, like a den "a safe place" Somewhere to go when there scared, or just to calm down. Also when you feed him don't just give it to him, pretend your eating it first and make noises with it like you really enjoy the food and than give it to him, it shows you get first say over things Otherwise there should be a petstore or a obedience area around you that you can ask for help

Answer 9

You and your daughter both need to assert your dominance over the dog. One of the easiest ways to do this is to do something call the "Alpha Roll". You lay the dog down, then roll him onto his back, putting your body on top of his, kind of in a pushup position, and stare him down. Don't let him squirm or kick, and he will eventually avert his eyes, which is a form of submission. You need to do this every day until he understands that you're the dominant member of his pack.

You should also use a short, low voice to command him. Single syllables are best, and avoid screaming. You can “yell”, but keep it forceful and short. “NO!” and “DOWN!” are good. “Oh my gosh! Get off the couch!” is not. Dogs bark in a low voice and quickly. They interpret longer sentences and high pitched noises as more of a “whining”, and accept it as a sign of playfulness or weakness.

Good luck to you!

Answer 10

You need to take him to training classes.  Not only so he can be trained, but so you and your daughter can be trained in how to handle him.  

A lot of folk tend to spoil puppies, and let them away with far to much because they look so cute and fluffy as babies.  Then when the dog start acting like a spoilt teenage brat as they grow, they wonder what is wrong with the dog.  There is nothing wrong with the dog, it is only taking its lead from the pack leader (You in this case) When this happens, the road back to happy, well adjusted dog can be hard.

Getting him neutered can help, but the main thing is getting him trained, and showing him you are top dog.

Good luck, Goldies are lovely dogs.

Answer 11

He doesn't sound the least bit dominant he sounds totally untrained.  A dog has to be trained not to jump in the air.  Very few dogs know about personal space..they like to be close to you.

It sounds like your brother is giving the dog attention which it sounds like this dog needs more of.