to want to stand atop a high building and yell "YOUR DOG IS NOT TRYING TO DOMINATE YOU!" so that all othe dog owners in the land hear meme?

[poachedeggs]

/facedesk

what are you on about?

No YANBU.

And I will happily stand beside you and yell it as well.

But people will still not listen.

Should post this in the Doghouse - some MN (not doggy type) will not get it ..
My dog dominates the sofa BTW

Yanbu

Cats can be a problem though.

I might stand next to you but I will have to know why first, I won't look like a nutter without a pretty good reason

Cats just can't be arsed to even bother with domination - they just give you that 'whatever' look.

My dogs dominate the sofa too!!

Apart from that, they're pretty meh about everything.

and cows

I had a dog that dominated slippers and a cat that dominated the slipper dominators head.

now this is dominating the sofa !

trash, some people still believe this bullshit about packs and hierarchies and alphas and think dogs members of human packs.

Nobody needs to eat crackers before feeding their dog anymore. We've moved on. We know better. We've got scientific papers to support us. It's ok not to choke them and jerk them and smack them. They aren't plotting to overthrow anyone, they just want another Bonio.

My dog will do anything for a Bonio - even get off the sofa !

Sorry I get where your coming from BUT

Yabu

Because some dogs are.
Most dogs don't want to be pack leader so will quite happily accept you as leader because you are bigger and you feed them

Some dogs are utter gobshites who really do require constant reminders that you are boss.
Just depends on the personality.

www.uberkinky.co.uk/bondage-gear/bondage-hoods/dog-hoods.html?gclid=CKisld2Pw7UCFaLHtAodcTAALQ
So you can get dominate the dog.

ah... fanks poach!

pissing myself at the thought of some one having to eat crackers before feeding their pooch! boak

Ahh, that's like looking in a mirror gordy.

It is I am bloody Moootiful

:o! Ahem!

Sorry poachedeggs I do agree with you, I'm just a little silly tonight.

Herena pack theory has been disproven. Dogs are opportunistic scavengers, not pack animals. Even wolves don't behave in the way the original (flawed, by the writer's admission) research suggested.

Hmm, sorry but having worked with large groups of dogs and seen how they naturally create their own hierarchy I just find that a bit hard to swallow.
Do you have a link for this research?

My spaniel "dominates" his cushion every time I leave the house.

I forgot my phone the other day, and was back inside after 30 seconds - to find him very enthusiastically dominating his cushion halfway down the kitchen.

He looked most upset at being caught.

There are loads of articles like this giving references to research.

herrena, you generally have to pay for scientific research articles but if you pm your email addy i will try and mail you some pdf copies of recent studies into dog 'packs' and dominance.

So OP its ok to let the dog on the sofa etc etc?

All the books I read when I had a dog, that was a big no no.

In fact it talked of putting the dog outside to sleep no matter what the season. I didnt do that!