What is the difference between a dog that has a ?

Question

confident and a dominant temperament? We are getting ready to start training classes again. I am helping out in pet beginner class (next class after pup class). We have the usual goldens in class, an aussie mix, boxer mix, king charles spaniel and an akita. On the profiles the owners fill out...

It says the king charles (10 mths) is confident

boxer mix (11 mths/just adopted) is dominant and confident

akita (4 YEARS) is confident and dominant

Difference in dogs personality?

The akita owners also state that they have had the dog since he was a pup and have taken him to petsmart for 2 classes..Do you find it odd that after 2 classes at petsmart that he only at the pet beginner level (most dogs in this class are 7 mths to a year of age)? Do you see any reason why they would wait 4 yrs to train him? Given the profile of the dog being confident/dominant, do you think this could be a problem dog?

Do you see anything that would be a red flag with this dog? Akitas are known to have sharp termperaments and being mixed with other dogs that have a confident/dominant do you seen any possible issues that could arise?

I don't want to put a label on this dog before he gets into class. He may be the nicest dog in the class, I just find some things odd and wanted your opinion.

Answer 1

You're asking pet owners to attempt to label their dogs.  Not only is it unlikely that they have any clue about dominant/confident etc.. but its also likely that they will get caught up in the emotions of labeling their dog because they don't want to have someone make judgements.

As a trainer I don't worry about what age someone brings me their dog.  

I know that I'm training the owners and NOT the dog so from my viewpoint I'd far rather know the characteristics of the owner.  I've been faced with very few dogs that I couldn't/wouldn't train.... I've been faced with far more owners who were complete idiots/nincompoops/sworn to prove the dog was at fault by failing than I have untrainable dogs.

There are wayyyyy more problem owners than problem dogs.  You may want to do some research on the Akita as a breed and training issues/solutions that work with them.  

Edit: Thanks for the additional information.  One thing I will point out is that none of the dogs need to be socializing with one another and I would put a quick stop to the notion that any of these dogs even be allowed to look at one another.  The owner is there to be trained... the dog needs to view the owner as the leader/god  ... no interaction whatsoever needs to occur between the dogs and the sooner the owners understand this the better.

While that may sound very autocratic- take a look at the layers of the end result.   Owners FULLY responsible for EVERY moment of their dog's behavior.  Dogs learning the owner has ALL the power.  Dogs not given the opportunity for an issue to arise.  All positives.  

If the owners feel their dogs need to socialize tell them to go to a dog park.  Class is not the place for it.

Answer 2

That's one of those questions like "what is p**n"- I can't really describe it, but I know it when I see it! But, I'll try!

A confident dog will accept any situation, and will accept other dogs.  I feel a confident dog will take to training more easily.  A confident dog should be comfortable with the owner as leader, and should listen fairly well to the owner.

A dominant dog is one that is in charge, or wants to be in charge.  This dog will not train easily, as it has no use (in my opinion) for the owner.  The dominant dog will not respect the owner.  

I would be leary of any big dog that is described as dominant.  As for confident- I doubt that the average pet owner could distinguish between the 2, and may see a dominant dog as confident.  I have personally never met an akita that wasn't aggressive/dominant.  This dog may be the exception, but unknown.  I would carefully watch how an owner interacts with any dog described as dominant or confident.  You can tell a lot from just a short period of time based on how the owner reacts around the dog.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I don't think the dog was the problem I think the owners were lazy...the dog developed a problem and now they are seeking help to correct it. This dog maybe be the best dog in the class but I would suspect that it will be one that will require a little more one on one training.

Answer 4

I see the Akita being more on the dominant side than just confident.  I assume the owner's realizing he doesn't have full control of the dog.  And he's not being consistant with training the dog.  that's why he's ending up in the basic class again.  I wouldn't necessary call it a red flag.  But got to be sure the owner does his homework at home.  

Answer 5

i would wait and meet the owners and dogs.  if there are any problems ask to be reassigned to another class.

Answer 6

the only thing i can think of is maybe there have been some behavior issues that the owners are omitting in case the dog gets rejected from the class.

or maybe they just couldn't afford to pay for classes.

i would ask point blank WHY they didn't follow through with the first classes and WHY they waited 4 yrs to train the dog.

Answer 7

Umm

Answer 8

i have an akita and she is both confident and dominant. shes about 7 months old and while every once and awhile she does challenge me she pretty much knows whos boss. its probably a fault of the owners an akita is not a dog for most people. mine is not aggressive when she doesnt need to be mostly shes aloof she doesnt wag her tail and ask to be petted but if you pet her she doesnt mind. i have however seen her be aggressive several times but each time the aggression was warranted.  

Answer 9

You are labeling the dog. The owner is not taking the time to train the dog properly . Dogs communicate through their actions, misbehaving. They also act according to the humans around them If a dog is misbehaved it is because they are unhappy or even the owner is making the dog unhappy by its actions. Most dogs are fixable it is whether or not the owner is taking time to figure out and work with the problem. You are labeling this dog because of its size and breed. Maybe you are not a good one to be teaching people.

Answer 10

Keep in mind, this is the owner's attempt at labeling the dog's personality....and that most owner haven't a clue what dominance is. h**l, people here think an 8 week old playbiting is 'aggression'.

Are there any details about the dog's behavior that would give clues as to why the owners consider him dominant? Honestly, akitas tend to be very confident and dominance is an issue. Is it possible for you to interact with the dog before class begins, one-on-one, so you can evaluate him yourself?

Answer 11

I know with the training classes i have attended the trainer spoke to each owner before they arrived on the phone about their dog and suggested that  if they felt there may be a problem with aggression they bring a muzzle and have the dog on a halti as well.

Also further to this before the training actually started we all got together in the hall and had the dogs interact with each other, it was to assist with the training so that the dogs didn't feel the need to say hello when training and also a good social skill for dogs as well. We then had to hand our dog over to another owner and was had to put our hands on these other dogs. This is a good thing to for when taking the dogs to a vet and getting the dog used to others touching them.

Training then usually started and we never had any problems, yes there was one BC which took a dislike to most dogs and she was muzzled. A lot of time was spent with her over 16 weeks and in the end it was decided that she needed one to one behaviourist training.

I know Akita's have a reputation for not liking other dogs. It was one of the reasons why i never got one and the fact they chase and kill small animals.

I have spoken to Akita owners at shows and can honestly say they were all well behaved around other dogs and people alike, though their owners did say that they always had to be top dog within the alpha pack but would obey the owner, but again would test them a lot.

I would prehaps call the owners of all dogs and speak to them in person about their dogs and ask more questions so you may have a better idea of what may be walking into the class when you start and have more of an understanding of the owners too.

Answer 12

I may have my definitions all wrong, but I interpret confident as not being afraid of new things or trying new things, but not aggressive.  Dominant to me means that there are possible aggression issues.  For me, the word dominant would be a red flag.

Like I said, I could be all wrong, but that's the way it is in my mind.

ADD:

I would talk to the owners personally and ask them a few questions before intermixing him with the other participants.