DH and I have a 1 1/2 yr old husky female. She does not respect me at ALL!!! She does listen to DH and respects him, why I don't know since I'm home with her more.
Trainers have told me it's because DH has a deeper voice. Sorry, I can't change my voice that much!! How can I make her listen and respect me???
MrsTC
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
He is the 'alpha male' ...and you are the mommy or the playmate of your dog....you should read this book: The Art of Training a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. It tells all about why dogs do what they do from birth on and how to train them. Dogs are raised in packs and there are pack leaders...that's prob why your dog respects your husband more. My Casey is the saaaame way with me!
coxmandi
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
She believes that your DH is the 'alpha dog' in your family pack. To establish dominance (respect from your dog) trainers usually recommend that:
-you be the only one who feeds her, walks her, plays with her. -everything must be on your terms. Call her over to play with you or to pet her. If she comes up to you and begs for attention and you give it to her (negative attention is still attention) then she is in control. -when you take her out, make sure that you exit the doors first. If you follow her out the door, she is the leader.
The voice is important. It doesn't have to be deep (although it helps) but it has to be strong and authoritative.
btrflygrl
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
you need to show her that you are a dominant character in the house....you show this by laying the dog on its' back with the paws in the air and laying on top of it, putting some weight down on her. Emphasize this when she does something bad and Say NO!. We have a rottweiler and she tried to dominate me...did the above several times (we still do it now once in awhile to remind her when she gets out of control) and if I yell at her she cowers in her cage or runs to my feet and lays down
coxmandi
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
Posted by btrflygrl
you need to show her that you are a dominant character in the house....you show this by laying the dog on its' back with the paws in the air and laying on top of it, putting some weight down on her. Emphasize this when she does something bad and Say NO!. We have a rottweiler and she tried to dominate me...did the above several times (we still do it now once in awhile to remind her when she gets out of control) and if I yell at her she cowers in her cage or runs to my feet and lays down
The submissive role (the technique above) works best when done as a puppy, and reinforced if necessary. If you've had your dog a while they will likely be very resistant to this and can actually become aggressive. Just be careful.
lesleyw
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
I agree with the previous poster -- it can be extremely dangerous to try to 'alpha roll' a grown dog -- Please do NOT do this. You may be bitten. The trainers who popularized this technique (the Monks of New Skete mentioned in one of the earlier posts) no longer recommend this technique and believe that it can be both dangerous and counter-productive. The best way to show her who's boss is to make her work for everything -- she wants dinner, fine make her sit for it; she wants a treat, make her sit. This is called the Nothing in Life is Free technique and there is a lot of information on the web about it. Please do not try to 'alpha roll' a grown husky -- you really could be hurt.
bluegrl24ny
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
Posted by starhead
DH and I have a 1 1/2 yr old husky female. She does not respect me at ALL!!! She does listen to DH and respects him, why I don't know since I'm home with her more.
Trainers have told me it's because DH has a deeper voice. Sorry, I can't change my voice that much!! How can I make her listen and respect me???
Dogs will not just give you respect, you have to earn it through consistent training and establishing yourself as the Alpha. Have you had her since she was a puppy? What kind of training did you and your DH do with her? - were you both equally involved in going for walks, feeding, training, etc., or did he do most of it? If you were less involved with shaping her behavior then she will naturally see your DH as the alpha bc he spent more time asserting himself in that role with her. I don't how true that is about her responding more to his deep voice - my Rottie pup will be 7 months old and he responds equally to both me and DH, even though his is VERY deep and mine is not. The trick is how forceful your voice is - you can be commanding without sounding like a man ;) We are both equally hands on in our training with him though, so he is learning now that he answers to BOTH of us, not just one of us. It's so important for you to establish yuor role as Alpha early on with your pup, that way they grow up knowing where they stand! Golem will occasionally 'test' us, just to make sure that we're worthy of that coveted Alpha title, but we always win, no matter how persistent he tries to be! He almost seems happier knowing that we have control too. Dogs have an instinctive nature to want to please you, but you need to assert that commanding role or they just see you as an equal. You being the Alpha takes that stress off them and leaves them free to just be a dog :)
starhead
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
Thanks for all the advice.
We did have her since she was a puppy. We did puppy training with her, and I did it most of the time since DH has a crazy work schedule. I am always the one that feeds her and believe me, I make her sit and stay for her food, and even for water and treats.
I think she feels always in competition with me for DH's attention. She goes nuts when we hug or kiss or anything like that. I'm like hello, dog, I'm his wife, you're our pet!!
bluegrl24ny
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Re: Getting my dog to respect me...
it might not be a respect thing then - it might just be something as simple as two females vying for the male's attention - as you mentioned :) Craig and Golem sometimes butt heads in thier little male/male battles - esp when I am hugging him or if we're fooling around - Golem will always come over to check out what's going on and tries to get right in the middle of it! We ignore him though, then only when he's calm and not annoying us for attention, do we acknowledge him. Otherwise he'll think he's on the same level as Craig, my HUSBAND!
Sounds like what's happening with your girl. Next time you hug/kiss your hubby and she tries to intervene - completely ignore her. When she gets the hint and stops - give her a treat. She might just need a quick refresher course on her place as a dog, not your equal :) Good luck!!!
