Zion is way too alpha... help me fix him:
My 3 year old bugger Corgi.. I just realized that he's way too alpha with other dogs. I just came to realize this after dogsitting my friends' various other dogs with mine.
1. He is NOT aggressive, but very much in other dogs' face.
2. His general body language and behavior is too dominant towards other dogs. He sleeps/eats/drinks in the friend's dog's bed/food/water bowl.
3. He is well behaved and listens to me and my fiancee quite well. He also loves other people & loves kids too. I make sure I'm the alpha by correcting his wrong behavior, but I can't seem to entirely change his 'presence'. I mean how do you correct his body language when he's doing nothing and just facing the other dog?
4. He never bit anyone or dogs in his life- freaking out with showing teeth does occur with other dogs when they get fed up and explode.
5. He does show jealousy if I pick up the other dog or they get extra attention. But it's never aggressive, just wades in using his body.
Over the course of dogsitting friends' other dogs (chihuahua, beagle, big lab, and a fat puggle), you can tell the other dogs just want to be left alone or end up underneath the couch.
What's a good way to fix it? It's hard to 'correct' him when he's not doing a single instance of behavior wrong.
Right now he's just sleeping on the floor... about 6 feet away from the couch. And my friend's poor dog is scared stuck underneath the couch.
He was neutered at 6 months old.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bogart the Cardigan on
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Obedience training / group classes... I think that will help you help him.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Classes! Also, don't be afraid to leash him and control his behavior. Check out Nothing in Life is Free
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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Hi Andrew,
Zion sounds a lot like my Border Collie, Lady. I wouldn't really be calling this behaviour "alpha"; instead I'd prefer to call it being very intense. I have a corgi, Ace, who is the opposite of what you've listed. Lady bullies the living crap out of him at times during play, and she acts very much like Zion towards him in other respects as well. The thing is, you can't really "correct" a dog for acting the way its personality dictates. Provided he listens to when he pushes the other dog too far (a squeal, whimper, maybe moving into another room) then that's simply how he is. Lady makes the worst noises possible when playing with Ace. It sounds like a hyena tussling with a lion. She flashes her teeth, curls her lips back, body-checks Ace and even drags him around the flat by the scruff of his neck.
Since you're dog-sitting what sound to be pretty low-activity and mellow dogs, I'd ameliorate the situation by enrolling in classes with Zion or looking up "clicker training" on Youtube and teaching him some manners. A good recall, leave it, drop it, stay, and down will all come in handy when you want to give the other dog some breathing space. If he listens well to you and loves people, then this is shouldn't be difficult at all. He really does sound just like Lady. I have had my doubts about her play-behaviour in the past but chalked it up to her just being very intense and go-go-go. Not every dog's up to her speed! But we can give others the space they need while also respecting the fact that dogs like Zion and Lady simply need something to DO with all that energy.
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Permalink Reply by Mai on
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Usually, Chucky could care less about the dogs I pet or interact with but, recently when I was dog-sitting a chihuahua, he was so bossy towards the chihuahua. He did the things you listed where he ate, slept, drank out of the other dog's things.
When I pet the chihuahua or talked to the chihuahua, he would come rushing over as if it was his business to control whether I should pet the dog or not or even play with the dog. Even if he was sleeping and he hears me say the chihuahua's name, he would get up in a flash and rush over to see what I was doing with or to the other dog.
What I did was, if I was playing with the chihuahua or just said his name, I knew Chucky would come running over so, I met him halfway before he could even reach the other dog and addressed/corrected his behavior.
First of all, I didn't call him over and second, he's coming with the wrong intentions.
So, there's the correction right there, you stop the dog from approaching/coming over with the wrong intentions especially when you didn't call your dog over.
I didn't like his bossy behavior because it was making the other dog miserable and that's not fair to the other dog while I was dog-sitting him. His happiness, while he was with me, was my responsibility.
The chihuahua learned that if he was with me Chucky couldn't do anything so, he stuck to me like glue, and Chucky learned that if the chihuahua was near me then he better not try to do anything even if the chihuahua needed to be corrected, I would do it.
Here's a video of Chucky crashing in the chihuahua's bed inside the crate. He's so determined to sleep in the chihuahua's dog bed that he didn't care about the awkward position he had to be in to fit into the dog bed.
I took out Chucky's crate for the chihuahua because he wasn't potty-trained and also for him to have a safe place to stay in when I can't wasn't around. The crate is Chucky's crate but, he NEVER EVER sleeps or would voluntarily go inside the crate that's why I put it away.
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