Thanks for the input, and I do appreciate the Devil's advocate statements. That's seriously what I was looking for.
Perhaps I overstated the severity of the dominance issues. We never had any food issues (I've always been able to walk right up to her food and take it w/o so much as a side-ways look), never been growled at, and never even close to being bitten (mouthing not withstanding). She plays well with other dogs in our yard/house and other people's yards. We have friends who have a cockapoo that constantly fear snaps at her (whole 'nother story) When she gets snapped the worst she does is a warning growl and pinning until the cockapoo's owners pick it-up and move it (I know, I know). My point is even when snapped at, she hasn't made an attempt at physical harm.
However, when we were setting boundaries such as what was off-limits it took forever to break. The record was a 45 minute marathon of Gracie jumping on the couch, going through the discipline steps followed by her jumping right back up. Our instructors always talked about her supreme confidence and strongly recommended we stay on top of things. She was described as a "make-me dog." Gracie's the type of dog who used to jump on the couch just to get a reaction and then take off running the second she saw you looking.
Here's a question. We live in a 70-yr old Cape Cod. The only things upstairs are an office/guestroom and another guestroom that is soon to be the baby's room. We spend little time up there and currently Gracie is not allowed up there for three reasons:
1) When she was little she used to run up the stairs and lay down to watch us. We were told this "lording over" us from an elevated spot was a top-dog privilege so we gated the steps off
2) We wanted the guest bedrooms to be dog-free as we have several friends who are allergic to dogs or uncomfortable with them.
3 (the big reason) The stairs are very narrow and EXTREMELY steep. They are small enough that I have to walk sideways down them. When you go down, you go onto a hard-wood floor. Given GSD hip/elbow problems we didn't want her dealing with the stairs esp. in light of her going down onto a slick surface. They are steep enough that she's somewhat uncomfortable with them, but she doesn't mind stairs at all in other houses.
Would you recommend contuning this to be a dog-free zone (esp. after the baby) or do you guys feel Gracie should be allowed up there? I appreciate all input.
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