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Dogs are pack animals and will follow a natural hierarchy within your family. If they don’t perceive you as the leader of your pack (family) they will take over as a natural survival instinct to defend their pack. Most dogs don’t want this responsibility and will gladly defer to you if they feel confident in your ability to lead.

As the owner of a passive dominant female lab mix I have learned quite a few tricks to get control of my ‘wannabe’ pack leader and have her toeing my line for a change! She is now two years old and we are all happier for the change in her behavior.

So, how is he or she establishing themselves as pack leader? There are subtle ways like leaning against you, stopping a few feet away from you and making you come to them and of course the obvious like ignoring your commands to come, sit, stay etc. The one behavior that we were unaware of and perhaps made the biggest difference was the fact that she liked to lie across the front door. Your dog views the front door as the entrance to their den and if they are not confident in your ability to protect the den they will take over. The leader of the pack always has control of the entrance and considers it their duty to determine who enters. Take control of your door! We ended up putting a child safety gate across the entrance to our little foyer so she couldn’t get near the front door.

5 Ways to get control of your Dominant Dog

1. Get control of your front door – we can’t stress this enough, it made a huge difference.
2. Ignore your dog when you come home – 10 minutes is the general rule until they calm down.
3. Control the food – make your dog sit and wait until you give the command they can eat. Doing this for just 30 seconds will make your dog respect you like you wouldn’t believe.
4. Leash walk your dog everyday. Never let them go ahead of you, keep them besides you or slightly behind you. You’re the boss, you go first.
5. When coming in or going out of your home with your dog make sure to have them sit and wait until you go first, then invite them in or out. This also applies in your home, you always go first, don’t let them lead you!

These tips are not hard to implement. My dog responded immediately and started to look at me for direction within a matter of minutes. Repetition is the key. Once you start to do these exercises with your dog you can never stop. They must become a habit for you to maintain control. Keep your voice firm when you give them a command and praise them when they do something exactly the way you asked. Never over-praise, it becomes meaningless to them. Finally, joining a basic dog training course in your area is a must and will make both you and your dog much happier.