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Canine Submission/Domination

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CANINE SUBMISSION/DOMINATION

Dogs are pack animals and are hierarchical. Alpha dogs are the leaders and dominants, omega and beta dogs are submissive, and there are combinations of the two types, anywhere in the scale between dominants and submissive. The submission ritual is learned very early. At 5 1/2 weeks old, the puppies have teeth, and it hurts the mother when they feed. So the mother becomes aggressive towards the pups. When the mother becomes angry, the puppies lay on their back, showing their bellies, and sometimes they urinate. Then, the mother licks them, to appease them. This is a ritual that will be used by the dogs all their lives, as a way to communicate with each other. The dominant dog will act like the mom, and the submissive will act like the pups. Dogs see their human family like their dog pack. As soon as a dog comes home, he tries to know where he stands in his new family. That's the reason why owners, and each member of the family have to dominate him, in order to prevent agresitivity and inappropriate behaviors.

SUBMISSION RITUAL As soon as you take your new dog home, you should begin submissive rituals in order to show him your authority. He wont be frustrated by that. That's what he needs to know. In packs, the submissive dogs are not unhappy. It's just their personalities. So it's the same thing in their human packs. The more often you will do those rituals, the more your dog will obey willingly. Do the exercises while you're playing with the dog, when he gets out of control, and when he shows any sign of aggressiveness. Submission rituals are canine language. Dogs understand them. But they will not understand violence. Dogs who are beaten up will become submissive (often too much and will urinate whenever the owner moves), but they will do it in order to avoid a punishment. The result of violence is fear, anxiety and aggressiveness. If the dog is too afraid of the person who beats him to be aggressive towards him/her, his aggressiveness will inevitably come out at the first occasion, and it could be on the neighbor’s child... If the submission rituals are done regularly, it will result in a stable, happy, obedient and pleasant dog.

Here are a few submission exercises that can be done daily:

1) Make the dog lie on the side with all parts of the body touching the ground, motionless, and stand over him/her. Place your hand on his/her throat (without putting pressure), in order to maintain him/her firmly. This mimics the dominant dogs that put a leg over the body of the dominated one. So it's canine language. The dog has to stay in that motionless position for at least 15 seconds, and not more than 3 minutes. Each time the dog moves, you have to restart the 15 seconds again. If you don't, the dog will understand that he/she dominates you, and you'll have the opposite effect of what you want. It's really important that YOU decide when he/she has the permission to move. Once the dog understands this, you can do this exercise, and alternate it with having him/her laying the same way, but at distance from you. But in the same way, he/she has to be motionless until you give him/her permission to move. Once you release the dog, always praise him/her a lot. Pet him/her and give him/her treats.

2) Make the dog sit in front of you, and wrap your arms around her/his chest. Then, lift the dog a little bit, so her/his front legs wont touch the ground. She/he has to remain motionless again, and like for the first exercise, you do this for at least 15 seconds, not more than 3 minutes. Each time she/he tries to move, start again.

3) Other exercises you can do, as a daily routine is to have the dog sit automatically each time you give her/him her/his food or water, waiting for you to give the permission to eat or drink. Have her/him sit and wait automatically each time you open the door, before she/he goes outside, and when she/he comes in (it has a practical side when her paws are wet...). NEVER let her/him sniff the ground or urinate when you go for a walk. It's the leader of the pack job!