# Alpha male?



## Faith82 (Aug 25, 2011)

My little boy is 4 months old and seems to be going through a "dominance phase". When I am sitting on the couch he will put his 2 front paws on me and stand above me. When I try and get him off of me he begins growling and nipping at my hands. He gets so worked up that he will not listen to any basic commands like "sit" or "Down". If I get up and walk away and try to ignore him he follows me jumping and trying to nip at my hands. The only thing that calms him down is putting him in his crate for a few minutes. Is this normal puppy behavior and how do I let him know that I am the dominate one?


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Your puppy is still a baby. It doesn't sound like he's dominant, he's just trying to engage you in play. IMO, I think the best solution is replacing your hands with an appropriate toy or chewie when he gets land-sharky. We used bully sticks with our 2 and they worked very well.

If you want to set other boundaries then that's fine, and to me the solution to him standing on you on the couch would be don't let him on the couch at all.


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## ozzy'smom (Jun 18, 2011)

Does this happen all the time when you're on the cough or just in the evenings? Many of us here experience nippy awful behavior in the evening from our pups. We have gotten around it at my house by a walk every evening and then once we settle down to watch TV we give Ozzy a frozen, filled kong. It keeps him busy and seems to settle him down during his witching hour.

I can't tell from your post if he's on the couch or not when he does this. If he's on the floor and putting his front paws up on you I would try telling him to sit when he approaches the couch and then petting him. That way you're stopping him before he gets up and giving him some attention when he's behaving well.


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## Annie_CT (Aug 11, 2011)

Our 15 week/4 old little Annie does exactly the same and this is why...

We always picked her up and put her on the couch with us and cuddle and play with her. Now that she is bigger she puts her paws on the couch and starts biting at us. Sometimes very rough and demanding.

After a visit from the local Animal Behaviourist (she was too old for puppy classes so we got an Animal Behaviourist to just come show us what we must and musn't do) we learnt that putting her paws on you/couch and biting is her way of saying she wants to be on the couch and wants attention.

The A.B. said the moment that happens, fold your arms and look away (and ignore your puppy) and say "huh-uh!" (dont say "Annie, no!" because they eventually think that is his/her name). Your puppy will eventually settle down and then you give him love.

As tough as it is (we love lil Annie on our couch), you will have to start teaching your puppy now that he/she can't get onto the couch (or demand to be played with that way) now while they're young, unless you want them to be on the couch when he/she is older. It's been a day or two since the A.B. visit and we're strongly enforcing this with Annie and she seems to adapt to it. Also, giving your dog regular exercise (a 5 or 10 min walk even) will drain all their excess energy and make him/her more relaxed.

Regarding the Alpha Male topic, there are a few ways to enforce this:

* Always greet your husband/wife/partner first before paying your puppy (this is VERY difficult sometimes) any attention.

* When walking into a room and your puppy is very excited to see you, ignore them for a few minutes until they've settled down - this way they realise they are not the most important member in the pack and gets attention last. Same with greeting your husband/wife who would be the Alpha Male in the house if you are the Alpha Female.

* When walking through an entrance/exit - the Alpha male/female (which would be you) will always walk first. Thus, do not let your puppy go through the door before you - as his pack leader make a point of it to go through the entrance/exit first.

* When feeding your puppy, make them work for their food. In our case we let Annie sit first before she gets food. Then when you do give their food, first to pretend to eat their food, pretend to spit it out and give the "unwanted food" to a member lower down in the pack, ie. your puppy.

Apparently a good test to see if your dog thinks they are the Alpha Male is to look at them straight into their eyes and see if they look away. It is important though that you do not blink or look away before them as your puppy will see it as a weakness and will think it is your Alpha leader.

Just my experience over the last 7 weeks - hope it helps!


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

My advice, forget everything you've ever heard about alpha and dominance talk.


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## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

jackie_hubert said:


> My advice, forget everything you've ever heard about alpha and dominance talk.


I completely agree!


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I want to say I agree with Annie CT about couches. My dogs are NEVER allowed on the couch until the understand how to stay off. Once they know the couch is MINE and not theirs, they are allowed up. All my dogs except Quinn are good with this. Quinn is pushy about the couch now that she is allowed up so we remind her regularly and keep her off the couch. She does not like it. I will sit on the floor with my dogs a lot too. 

I also agree don't read too much into the dominance thing but there is a ring of truth to a dog wanting a 'leader'. You don't have to dominate, just make rules and abide by them. Keep it consistent. Dogs do like to have structure in their lives.


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