Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bunny Butts on July 16, 2009 at 5:24pm

Thanks, folks! You have given me some things to think about and consider for some upcoming articles... :)

Merci !
Gracias!

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Permalink Reply by Karen Knuff on March 5, 2015 at 12:18pm

I would love to help you out, and I'm even Canadian too, from Maple Ridge, B.C.

 The topic of discussion is "dominance".  I have had dogs for most of my life. My first corgi (Torgi)  was definitely that, dominant, but because I was so young (13), and had had no training on the subject, just assumed that this was who he was and that was that. Then a lab/border collie, and  then consecutively two golden retrievers, one whom I still have, but all definitely NOT dominant!  And now I have Tilly, the dominant wanna be tri-colored Pembroke Welsh Corgi!  What a great dog!  BUT....I've had to learn a completely new language...how to deal with a dog with a bit of a temper, has her mind made up about who she is, what she does and does not like and how she can wrap herself around us and get away with a lot of things!.  Fortunately, I have a stronger will than Tilly does, and I've been reading, watching videos, talking to people at the dog park and I have learned a great deal just figuring things out for myself.  I've seen a vast difference in her behaviour..thank goodness!  Last week I took her to the vet because when she was touched in areas on her sides and back she would growl and snap at us. This had been going on for a month or so. Last week, when I was towel drying her after a bath she snapped at me several times.  I put my hand down her spine to see where it "hurt".  She snapped at me again when I got to a certain point. I took her to the vet, who assessed the back situation and came to the conclusion that it is a behavioral problem.  He said that in the wild the dominant or parent dog will put his head on top of the other dog declaring his dominance, or will put his paw on their backs.  Aha!  But what if in our case, Tilly is a wanna be dominant dog?  She's not going to like us for that and will therefore snap at us to let us know how she feels.  When I got home I told my husband, so that we are both on the same page about this. But I still didn't know how to properly deal with the situation, until I talked with my friend Wendy,next door to us.  She said that dogs need to know who the boss is.  Words don't work, but actions do.  In any given situation, I must quickly reach down and pin Tilly to the ground until she stops squirming, snapping and to wait until she is calm.  Good thing she's so low to the ground!  We tried this technique for about a week, and now she doesn't get mad at us. I can pat her wherever I want to without the wrath of Tilly! Such relief!  But the one prevailing problem is that I couldn't take her for walks in our neighbourhood because every car that would pass by she would go absolutely crazy, barking in a frenzy, and once, escaped from my hand and flew down the road after the car, leash trailing behind.  Be still my beating heart!!

I think some dog owners throw around the word "dominant or alpha dog" without actually knowing what the word means in real life.  Wendy explained it to me last week.  She said, "Dominant is when the dog thinks she needs to be the parent in any given situation.  She feels that she needs to protect me from perceived or scary things, so she barks to keep the "danger" away from me."  I did not know this. There are other ways of explaining this for different situations that our dog will face. We can tell our dogs in no uncertain terms that it is not necessary to be alpha dog, because I, your owner, am the alpha dog.  Therefore, whatever I need to do to make you understand where you stand in this family, is where you will stand!  After learning all of this great information, I suddenly realized that I could use this technique with Tilly and the car situation.  A few days ago, I took her out and we walked on the street.  Every time she reacted, I pinned her down to the ground and told her "NO"  and "Leave it" in no uncertain terms.  It took us 7 pin downs.  Yesterday we walked in the neighbourhood, with cars going by.  I even took her to one of the busier streets.  Magic!  I was amazed at the different dog that I had.  I knew that she was nervous, but only once wanted to give chase, but after that, nothing. You can also apply this technique to bicycle chasing, jogger chasing, snapping at a dog that was in the household first or any behaviour that you deem to be inappropriate.  If by writing this, I can help one person with their stubborn dog, it will be worth it!!  If you have a problem with your dog, please don't give up.  There is an answer somewhere out there.

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Permalink Reply by Judith Andre on March 5, 2015 at 10:24pm

Very entertaining, John.

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Permalink Reply by Holly on March 8, 2015 at 11:03pm

It isn't specific to corgis, but I recently posted an interesting article on a blog for a class. The article from Deaf Canada was about a man I the UK using a about a Hearing Assistance dog named Robyn. It wasn't a corgi, but I am willing to bet many corgis alert bark to help their owners if they happen to be Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing. I have some issues hearing myself and Sully will alert me if there is a knock, ring or alarm I don't happen to hear. As long as you don't use the term hearing "impaired," which many find too negative, I am sure people would be willing to talk about how corgis work as assistance dogs. Sully is also going to be trained for Animal Assisted Activities (Not as a Service Dog) and as a reading assistance partner at libraries and schools. Interesting, but it would require a lot of research to be sure you wrote an accurate piece. Interesting though.

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