[McBean]

I will be moving back into my parents house in about a month or so, and they have two dogs, a male yorkie and a female shnauzer (forgive my spelling).

These two dogs are not trained at all, they are certainly the top dogs over the humans in the house, and have no obedience training whatsoever. They don't come when called, they dart and dance around when you reach for them, they run out the door, bite your hands if you get on their nerves, hell, they were never even taught how to sit. What can I say, my parents were lazy.

At any rate, I do have to move in with them at least to get back on my feet, and I'm taking my puppy with me. Is her training and obedience going to be affected by these dogs? It sounds silly, but I worry about them being a 'bad influence' on her. Does anyone know what comes of situations like these? Will she continue to submit and be trained by me, or will she lose respect because even the yorkshire has dominance over me in that house? Will she pick up their bad habits? Will it be unfair to scold her for the bad behavior when they get away with it? Any experience or advice is appreciated, as always :)

[labman]

I think dogs can accept different levels of status for different dogs and people. Your Doxie will still be lower status than you. You can continue to insist on obedience from her. In turn, your parents will be amazed at how well she behaves. They will talk about how nice of a dog she is, and unfortunately laugh about their own dogs' behavior. Perhaps you could even offer to train their dogs to be like yours. The older they are, the harder it will be, and more so with your parents cooperation. You can't teach the dogs to obey them, only to obey you.

Our family and friends have a 2 tier status for dogs. We are heavily involved in raising puppies for a dog guide school. The puppies have rules that must be followed, stay off the furniture, ride on the floor of the car, etc. The dogs we have that are not part of the program don't have to follow all the rules. We are even able to enforce no dogs on the furniture when our friends' dogs visit that are allowed on the furniture at home.