How to train dominant dogs?

First you need to understand what a dominant dog is. In today’s cynological times, newfangled cynologists believe that the concept of “dominant dog” is a myth, that dominance is not characteristic of a domestic dog and that it does not seek to dominate at all. That is, you need to understand what meaning the questioner puts into the concept of “dominant dog” here and now. If aggression towards the owner and family members is implied, then behavior correction specialists believe that dog dominance (if any) can manifest itself without aggressive behavior.

The question also does not specify the age, sex, breed and conditions for the appearance of a “dominant dog”. It is one thing to raise a supposedly dominant puppy, and another thing to raise a dominating adult dog from a shelter. And bring up the dominant chihuahua not at all what to educate rottweiler or mastiff.

The term “education” is also ambiguous. It’s definitely not training!? By raising a dog, we mean the formation of norms of social behavior that guarantee a conflict-free existence of a dog in a person’s family and his society (entrance, yard, street, settlement). In addition, education includes the mental, physiological and environmental development of the dog. If it is quite simple, then the dog may not have a diploma in ZKS or obedienceBut educated, i.e., be able to behave in society, to be obliged.

If a puppy is meant that has just been acquired, then the content of the term “education” clear. However, it is completely unclear whether the puppy is dominant or not. And if we are talking about a grown dog that has already been diagnosed with dominance, then we can only talk about re-education. And this is another story, other methods and ways.

And further. As one historical person said: “Cadres decide everything!” This I mean that you can give the most adequate advice, but it may turn out that the educator is not able to implement these tips.

If, while raising a dog, the owner one day finds out that it is dominant, then he has already lost. Why? Because with his direct participation and with his connivance, what happened happened. Giving correspondence advice in this case is meaningless and even dangerous. To solve the problem, direct communication with the owner is necessary. You need to look into his cynological eyes. It is necessary to assess the level of cynological knowledge of the owner – his cynological worldview, and change it in the right direction. It is necessary to assess the mental and physical characteristics and capabilities of the owner. They also need to be changed, but this is not the competence of the training instructor. That is, it is often necessary to re-educate not only the dog and not so much the dog as the owner. And don’t do it on purpose.

For the education, and even more so the re-education of a dominant (aggressive) dog, a human-educator-re-educator needs deep cynological knowledge, cynological experience, firmness of character, fortitude, perseverance, the ability to achieve his own and even sufficient physical strength.

There is only one thing to advise: find a live instructor – a specialist in behavior correction.

The specialist will assess how dominant your dog is and how dangerous it is, assess your capabilities – both mental and physical. And taking into account the breed, gender, age, experience of your dog (and even taking into account the composition of your family), he can give appropriate recommendations.

As you know, in medicine, the doctor does not treat the disease, but the patient. So is the training instructor: he does not correct dominance – he corrects the behavior of a particular pair of “man – dog”.