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Silverfoxkit · Feb 28, 2009, 05:16 PM

In my house, I am Alpha without a doubt. If I say "sit" they sit, If I say "off", they get off so fourth. I rarely have to tell them twice to do anything. I use short, sharp commands. I'm with them almost 24/7. I'm a house wife, at least for the moment so taking care of the animals is my day while my husband is working for half of the day.
On the other hand our dogs do not see my husband as an authority figure. He has to tell them many times to do something, and they still may not listen. The problem is my husband is not an alpha by nature so to say. He is more of the passive nurturing sort. He does not like to use sharp commands, he feels like he's yelling at them. They will not listen if you "coo" at them. You have to be strong in what you say or they won't take it seriously. He does not like to reprimand them. He's more of a friend then a pet parent, and while its nice to be friends, they need to listen to him to. I know the problem lies more with how he handles them then the dogs themselves, but are there any suggestions?

DoulaLC · Feb 28, 2009, 06:27 PM

Yelling doesn't even have to come into the picture. He needs to spend time working with them... and then revisit it on a regular basis. Basic obedience training... commands, walks, when they get fed, etc..
He should see an obvious change after just a week of consistent daily work... and even more so if he keeps it up.

Silverfoxkit · Feb 28, 2009, 06:57 PM

Well its not really yelling at them, just using a more serious tone. If you talk baby or playfully they don't listen as well. As soon as they obey the "good job!'' baby tone comes back and they get a "good girl/s!" so they know they've done the right thing. I also use a combination of hand signals for certain actions.

DoulaLC · Feb 28, 2009, 07:02 PM

Show your husband what you have already trained them to follow. He can then work with them on his own. Once he sees some results from the work he does with them, he will likely be more comfortable with that role.
Again, just as with children, consistency is key. Good luck!

Akeginu · Feb 28, 2009, 08:43 PM

He needs to talk to the dogs with a commanding voice. Maybe you should have him work with the dogs and teach them basic commands using positive reinforcement. That might help.

rex123 · Mar 1, 2009, 03:39 AM

He does have to spend more time with them... And something I should probably share. One night me and Rex were watching Dog Whispere, where he was helping a lady and her small breed dog, I can't remember what breed for the life of me... Anyway she was trying to be all assertive, and caeser stopped her.

He said that by nature she wasn't a very assertive person. And that the dog knew this and the dog didn't trust her because she was pretending to be something she's not, and it was really confusing the dog.

So caesar told her to be herself. And as weird as it may sound it worked. Rather then a''drop it now'' Command with a bone what worked for her was a'' please drop it''.

The dogs trusted her and listened to her then, because she was being her self and it wasn't abnormal for them...

I found this was, pretty funny because. When I ask my dog to do stuff, I'm not to assertive either. I respect and trust him, as he respects and trusts me.