Do you believe in dominace theory?

[IRescue452]

I'm the authoritative dog mom, not permissive or aggressive. Sometimes the rules of this theory get too extreme.

My dogs are trained that if given the command, they will sit and let me go through the door first. But I don't command this often.

My dogs are expected to wait until the food is poured and my hands are away before eating it. But they eat before I do.

My dogs are expected to be on the bed, and they are the ones that don't often want to be there. Autumn sighs and guilts me into letting her sleep in her kennel. She stills waits until I say its ok.

My dogs growl when they play with me. Growling is not always aggressive. Cockers especially growl when they are excited. They throat talk. You can tell when growling is accompanied by aggression or when it is accompanied by play by body language and the situation itself. If you can't tell, you shouldn't have a dog.

My dogs don't need an invite to be on the furnature, but they are expected to get off whenever commanded. They know not to bother jumping up when there is food, they don't challenge that rule.

My dogs don't challenge me when given commands, so I act appropriately by giving them freedoms and not enforcing my dominance when its not needed.

If needed, I'll tell them how high to jump, but so long as they behave I am relaxed with the rules.

Now, the airedale challenges me, but she backs down darn quick. If I lived with her full-time she'd be an angel.

[binka_nugget]

I do believe in having a clear pack leader. My dogs know darn well who is in charge. They wouldn't be caught dead trying to eat off my plate, mounting another dog or someone's limb, marking in the house, etc. I don't make it a point to eat first, walk through door ways first, get them off the couch/bed, make them do something in exchange for attention, etc. They get handed things off my plate occasionally but would never help themselves. They will wait by the door until I give the okay. I expect my dogs to have manners in the house, and know when I mean business and they know what is expected of them.

Kaedyn was the only one who ever challenged me -- but this was way back when I adopted him 4 years ago. I made it clear I didn't tolerate such things (his form of punishment was a stern "No!" and crate time -- nothing harsh). Within a short period of time, he also understood his place in the pack.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I'm working on it with my two - Archie is the more dominant of the two but they both need to know that I'm in charge

[Freedom]

My dogs are expected to be on the bed,

LOL, love this.

I learned a LOT from reading everyone's replies. I didn't understand what you were asking about in this poll when I replied first; I didn't realize how formalized this theory gets. Guess I need to do a bit more reading.

Thanks for teaching me something (again) today!

[Giselle]

I chose "No" because of how terribly the "dominance theory" has been misunderstood and misconstrued.

Dogs may be very well related to wolves, but they are NOT wolves. They've been domesticated. And I don't think the dominance theory can really apply when you're dealing with mixed species. I'm sure you can apply leadership to a certain degree with pet dogs, but most social animals have a certain 'pecking order' anyways. It's natural for most social animals to choose and follow a leader (even humans). However, I don't believe that there are dogs who are in a constant state of trying to gain dominance. Lack of clear rules and leadership? Sure, but I don't think you have to necessarily "dominate" a dog.

Clear as mud, eh?

ETA: Yeah, my dogs leave the house first. They eat in separate rooms from us so it doesn't matter to them whether the humans or dogs eat first. They don't walk beside/behind me when on leash. They have furniture privileges. BUT, they also wait before their dinner. They have concrete "Gives". They've never growled or bitten me. They allow me to poke/prod them. I can brush their teeth, clean their ears, grind their nails, and I don't get a single peep from them.

So I guess I should say, I believe in a benevolent leader theory (thanks Pat McConnell )

[Suki Wingy]

As long as my dog respects me as the leader and has manners, I'm fine. Every once and a while I get down on my hands and knees and "play like a dog". He loves it, and I don't always play the big dominant leader, but he isn't a very testing dog.

I expect my dog to sit when I tell him, go out the door only when I tell him he is allowed to, and he is not allowed on the upstairs furniture (my parents' choice)

When I was younger I would subconsciously NEED to go first, have him walk behind me, do exactly as I said, etc, and it was way too harsh. I realized what I was doing and backed off.