gremthemonster reblogged this from rylee-blue and added:
I realize this is from a week or two ago, but I just thought I’d mention that dogs don’t try to establish dominance over people… or anything else, for that matter. She’s probably just jumping because it’s gotten her what she wanted in the past, which was attention (negative or positive, they both count.)
You could probably get better results from completely ignoring the behavior whenever she jumps and giving it absolutely no attention. Or, alternatively (and this works better), training her to do something else when she wants attention. If you train her to sit for attention, she’ll sit politely at your feet for attention. She can’t jump while she’s sitting, can she? :P
Would highly recommend checking this out for links on the whole dominance thing. :D
http://www.dogforum.com/training-behavior-stickies/dominance-dogs-4076/
(And maybe even join the forum. The community there is amazing and super, superhelpful!)
Rylee is absolutely gorgeous, by the way!
gremthemonster - Ah! I just saw this. And thank you for your input!
I do know that dominance is not aggression and vice versa. Aggression really is based on anxieties and fears; we had a shepherd mix that was very dog aggressive and aggressive towards men as well, due to her abusive past. And I know dominance is not a personality trait. So in Baylee's case, bold or assertive (and a little cocky) would be the better terms to describe her.
I agree that training your dog with "dominance" or physical force really IS NOT a good thing to do. I've been horrified with the way some people attempt to train their dogs. Positive reinforcement is a very powerful tool for dogs. Lots of praise, lots of treats.
But I really do believe in dominance with dogs, especially when interacting socially with each other. Perhaps because that's what I've always known, from what I've observed with my dogs, or from what I was taught by my instructors in my veterinary assistant class.... I am interested in knowing why people disagree with it though. So thank you for providing sources! I'll have to browse through them soon. :)
And believe me, we've tried ignoring her and it works for us - as a family. But once you throw a stranger or a guest into the mix, she's the type of dog that will still jump all over you even if you turn your back and try to ignore it. And getting her to sit politely at someone else's feet is another story. She's like a coiled spring! Will bounce right back up at you with even more force. She's relentless. She knows that guests are less likely to assert themselves and their space to her, to tell her off, to push her down and ignore her. It's the main thing we really need to work on. :/
And thank you! Ry is definitely a beauty. A small and very muscular beauty. <3
