# Establishing yourself as master?



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Your puppy is young and displaying puppy behavior. Be persistent, teach puppy bite inhibition, and be careful around the baby. Personally, I don't think the baby and puppy should ever be left alone.


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## nevershoutsav (Apr 17, 2012)

They are never left alone together. If she jumps on him, he says "Chloe down!" but she doesn't listen to him, but listens to me? I want to go about correcting this behavior properly, but the main issue is with her trying to mount my leg, I am worried she will try that with my son when he is running through the house, or outside playing and she does get nippy when she tries it. Thus far she has only been doing it to me, and not him or my husband.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

" My Chloe is currently 9 weeks old. There are times when she bites at my legs/ankles and then tries to mount me. I know this isn't sexual behavior, as she is too young for that right now. From the research I can find, it is about establishing her dominance"

At nine weeks old I would think that Chloe's actions biting at legs and ankles then attempting to mount are more of an invitation to play. This is what she would be doing with her litter mates.  You are right that we don't want to encourage it with us as we are just not dogs. The best thing to do is to teach an alternate behavior that you would like her to do instead. 

We don't usually think of it like this but in play puppies are actually practicing what is hard wired into them. (thier instinct) Different breeds have a tendency to place more importance on certain aspects of that instinct.

eye + stalk + chase + grab/bite + kill + eat

Chloe is practicing the chase and grab/bite and then the mounting is trying to engage you to play. She is at the level that sees your feet and legs and the movement triggers the excitement.

A lot of times if you evaluate what is happening right before the behavior you can give her the alternative behavior before the one you don't want so she cannot practice what you don't want. 
The times you don't catch it before it happens you can use it to your advantage and offer her a long tug toy and have her tug at your side. This will encourage her to want to be at your side for walking (thinking of loose leash walking down the road) if you do this you should also seperately work on the cue to release the toy so you can get her to listen when she is in the aroused state. This will help work on her impulse control.

The best tip I can give though is that early on the pup picks up a lot of learning as they are always watching and a lot of that is things we really didn't want to teach. Since this is the case to set really good habits for the pup we should reward the pup for making good choices even when we haven't requested anything (or gave a command).

Things to reward could be
looking at you 
just laying down relaxing
walking beside you
staying in the crate
and anything else you like that she does 
This sets up good habits. 

In order not to have a fat puppy with all the rewards use a portion of her daily meals for these rewards. 
Also use praise and toys/play as your rewards.

Oh, and I really am not into establishing myself as the master but more of a loving partnership. I want to build a bond of trust and love. I want the puppy to choose to come to me without ever having to fear me in any way.


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## nevershoutsav (Apr 17, 2012)

Thank you *solinvictus. *You're advice is really helpful. I will keep trying that and see if it helps her. She doesn't do it ALL the time, just mainly at night when I take her out to do her business.

Also, I didn't mean to make it sound like I wanted her to be fearful of me. I just meant that if it was infact dominate behavior, how do I show her that I am in charge and not her. As I said before, I have owned female dogs in the past, but I never had any issue with either of them doing this when excited, hence why I am a little clueless to this type of behavior.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

"Also, I didn't mean to make it sound like I wanted her to be fearful of me"

I know you didn't. Talking about dominance is very old dog training thoughts. Behavior science has come a long way. Unfortunately, some of what is out there in books, internet etc hasn't caught up yet. 

Puppies and dogs do what works for them. IMO, it is all about play, eating and attention. For them it doesn't matter whether it is good attention or bad attention. We as their owners can use this to grow our relationship or we can follow along with their doggie choices which many times aren't the best choice when living in a normal home. 

The best thing we can actually do for our dogs is to sign up for a puppy kindergarten class. This way the owner gets in person tips and training and then actually has someone they can turn to to ask questions that would be hands on.

I can't wait to hear all of your fun puppy stories about Chloe. 

Goldens are made really cute when they are tiny because they really can test our patience. 

Another great tool we have is management. The crate and possibly gates or x-pen can be our friends. Management can stop unwanted behavior, if they continue to do becomes a habit, if we stop it before it happens they don't learn it. I love x-pens when there are small children involved. They can play in the same area somewhat together but then the pup can't just randomly jump at the childs face or chase the child when the child runs (little feet and hands flopping all over the place) exciting the puppy into chase mode. This gives you a little less stress as puppies need both eyes on them at all times or they will find something to do that you won't think as acceptable.
Since puppies explore their world through smell and MOUTH, they experience much of their world by chewing.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Solinvictus always gives such terrific advice... 
I wanted to second the idea about puppy kindergarten. If you haven't had a chance to sign up yet, it is worth every penny. Goldens are so smart that if you do your homework consistently you will be amazed at what a good dog trainer you are  Plus it's wonderful to get the support of a good trainer for issues during the teenage phase. It may take a little digging to find, but a dog training club can be a great resource for positive training methods and also encouragement for you personally.


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## nevershoutsav (Apr 17, 2012)

Thank you both very much for your advice, however I live in a small town where we don't have the amenities of "puppy kindergarten". I took a puppy class last year that was offered by my vets office when I had my labrador. I do have contact with a dog trainer who also specializes in behavior problems. I contacted her about getting Chloe enrolled in obedience school, and she said the best time to do that is roughly around 4 months old, I'm not sure if she offers a puppy kindergarten class, but I left her a message pertaining to it. I will update her progress once I can find her a program.

Thank you so much!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Take a look through a lot of the threads in the puppy section of this board and you will find hundreds of threads about puppy biting, and puppy playing with children. Lots of good advice already there and worth the read.

Golden Retriever Puppy (up to 1 year) - Golden Retrievers : Golden Retriever Dog Forums

I would encourage you to forget ideas like "dominance" and "master" with your puppy. Just work on building a good bond and finding ways to encourage her to cooperate with you because you make it fun and to her benefit in a positive way.


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

I agree, don't think about this as dominance or anything like that, its just a puppy being a puppy! This is normal puppy behavior and has nothing to do with dominance. Instead of trying to establish yourself as master and etc etc, just think about training her well and working together as partners.


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## HoundSnout (Oct 27, 2011)

Our young golden has aggression/anxiety issues, and our trainer explained interaction with children like this. The child's eyes are more at the dog's eye levels than adults, so a stare (or even curiously engaged look) from a child is seen as more of a challenge. Also, children talk and laugh a lot, so their teeth are showing at the same level and closer than the adult's, and they move fast and erratically. All the dog sees is fast moving white pointy objects, which it interprets as a cue to up it's own aggression level to protect itself. Maybe if you can practice having your child move in slowly from the side and to look at the dog's flank or withers, that may diffuse some of the tension. But now, you're training a puppy plus a 4-year old, so patience is key. Not sure if this will work, but may give you some insight. Good luck.


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## goldhaven (Sep 3, 2009)

I keep seeing terms like, master, dominance, and alpha used. I don't like the terms but I think that the concept is, who is in charge. I do agree that someone needs to be in charge in the house. We all know a family or 2 where the kids are in charge (I can think of 3 right off the top of my head) and we all know how well that works.:doh: Each family needs to decide for themselves what is acceptable behavior and then work to get that behavior by the training method that they have decided on. This applies to children as well as pets. Each house has a different set of rules and there has to be someone to enforce the rules. 
Example:
Biting - not acceptable for pets or kids.:no:
Jumping on people - not acceptable for pets, I let my grandkids jump on me
On furniture - depend on your rules. In my house kids are allowed, (unless they are not potty trained) and pets have to be invited. 
Every house should have it's own set of rules for kids and pets and an adult member to enforce them.
JMHO:wavey:


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

goldhaven said:


> I keep seeing terms like, master, dominance, and alpha used. I don't like the terms* but I think that the concept is, who is in charge*. I do agree that someone needs to be in charge in the house. We all know a family or 2 where the kids are in charge (I can think of 3 right off the top of my head) and we all know how well that works.:doh: Each family needs to decide for themselves what is acceptable behavior and then work to get that behavior by the training method that they have decided on. This applies to children as well as pets. Each house has a different set of rules and there has to be someone to enforce the rules.
> Example:
> Biting - not acceptable for pets or kids.:no:
> Jumping on people - not acceptable for pets, I let my grandkids jump on me
> ...


Thank you!


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