DH has been Googling pack theory.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Puppy has seperation anxiety because he has no strong pack leader.

He bounces a lot because is confused and has no leader.

He chews things because is stressed when the alpha male i.e DH leaves the house because the Alpha female i.e me is weak.

I am clueless because I won't practise pack theory even though Google says it's true

I am fairly certain that Google also says Elvis is still alive, America blew up the twin towers themselves and Rihanna is sucessful because she worships Satan.

Are you asking if pack theory is correct or just blowing off steam at your DH?

Pack theory is bollocks, it was all based around observing the behaviour of a captive wolf pack yet amazingly, dogs are NOT wolves and wolves behave differently in captivity to how they behave in the wild anyway.

A wild wolf pack is an extended family group with a little bit of discipline but general all-round normal family relationships. It's not a constant battleground for the 'alpha' position.

And remember, dogs are not wolves. They are dogs. Sometimes they're naughty. But if they get on the sofa it's because it's comfy and smells of you - they are NOT attempting to mount a coup d'etat.

Read "In defence of dogs" by John Bradshaw (i think).

You're wrong on 1 issue Rhinestone.
My dogs ARE trying to mount a coup d'etat. I swear.
One of them is always in my spot when my arse leaves the sofa!!

Just blowing off steam and laughing at him. I know it's bollocks. I have the kindle version of that book. I might buy a hard copy for DH.

PersonalClown well maybe a benign coup d'etat then!

D0oin - tell you DH his willy is much bigger than Cesar Milan's and therefore has no need of this alpha pack leader King of the Wolves bollocks!

Alpha roll him

Rinestone

MrsZoidberg DH is too big to Alpha roll but I might start 'tapping' him on the nose with a rolled up newspaper every time he annoys me

He will not be hitting my dogs btw, he is scared of two of them and the other one is his baby who can do no wrong, even when she is trying to eat smaller dogs, she's still a saint in his eyes. The other dogs must be looking at her wrong

I think what this thread demonstrates is not that CM is a twat (as we all know that) but that some husbands should be carefully supervised when they venture on to the wilder shores of the interweb. We hear a lot about supervising teens but I think there is a less well known danger - grown men being susceptible to believing strange things..... there's the conspiracy theories, the mad health theories, aliens, I can make you rich in 30 seconds, or the vaguely occult (Knights Templars, freemasons, egyptian mummy curses etc... )

Actually we could make up our own theory - CM is really an alien, the Govt knows this but is keeping it secret, he is here to bring us the secret of a long life and even longer erections, and hte Alpha roll is really a demonstration of an ancient pagan initiation rite..

So true Scuttle. DH is definitely not to be trusted alone on the interweb, he seems to catch all sorts of strange diseases from it on top of outdated theories.

He's getting worse. Everything the pup does wrong is explained away by me not being a strong Alpha female.

I have given him names of studies to read that disprove pack theory, apparently I am picking and choosing what to believe in and which trainers he should read up on just to prove him wrong because I don't like that he knows more than me about dogs

Pack theory is bollocks.

My DH is forever telling me the reason little dog is going through a "difficult" phase read totally ignoring me is because I let him walk in the house before me and upstairs before me and let him sleep in my bed.

And I should carry a big stick when I walk him. And give him "a gentle kick" on his back legs if he refuses to sit.

Who actually does this madness??

I had to point out they are my dogs and I am actually not going to kick any of them or carry a big stick anywhere.

And he can try his Alpha male bollocks but my dogs know where DH is in the "pack" and it certainley ain't at the top.

And CM should never ever be given the title of "dog trainer"

He is a dickhead.

This is why I'm quite glad my DH has absolutely zero interest in my dogs and what goes on in their heads

He likes to stroke them (annoyingly and inexplicably, given his disinterest, they absolutely worship him) from time to time and that's about it.

If he tried to tell me how to train them I'd probably have to get him a shock collar.

I think your DH needs more training Dooin'. It's fine to use negative reinforcement or positive punishment for this.... Mine long ago that that if it's regarding dogs he must bow down to my superior knowledge or suffer the consequences....

Could you clicker train him? Each time he moves away from the keyboard, Click & Treat?

Some of his suggested ways to become a pack leader are quite worrying. One is the good old take the dog's food away while they are eating (it is wrong that I hope he tries this on Devil Dog, isn't it?) but others are simply bizarre, I should growl at them and bare my teeth at them if they 'challenge' me, challenging me includes barking in excitement when they see me in my walking boots.

Ooh yes my DH said I must take little dogs food away from him.

I suggested he tried it first.

Little dog growled at him. He ran. And said, see that's why you should keep doing it.
Now me and DCs can move little dogs bowl if we want with no trouble. But we don't because we dont need too

DH cannot. Because the dogs know who is in charge in this house. And it sadly isn't DH.

It was quite amusing to see DH running away from a 6 month old puppy though

The moral of the story is don't mess with my dogs!

We can now go near Devil Dogs food and walk past him when he is eating, we possibly could take his food away, or I could, DH could not. I wouldn't want to try it though. I value the use of my hands

If I need to move his bowl for him eg. if he has pushed it under something and can't get to it, I gently push it along with my foot. I wouldn't put my hand near it.

High value items like bones he will give up on command, usually because he knows he will get them back after a treat, but it means if he has anything he shouldn't have I can get him to "give it" to me.

I won't be growling at them. They sit when you growl, DH accidentally taught them that a person growling is an alternative command to sit. This is when he proclaimed himself leader of the pack.

They'd beg for his food (usually because they know they'll get some in the end) so he'd come out with a string of random commands they don't use, cue the dogs running through all their tricks for him in confusion. After this he started growling, so they tried more tricks, when they sat he decided he had won, they had accepted him as leader, so he fed them, thus they learnt when he growls he wants them to sit

That is so funny, your DH growling and the dogs sitting.

My DH is another that does random commands. The dogs have no clue what he is on about because they are words they have never heard before. So they give him their paws when he is actually trying to get them off the sofa by shouting "no get off the sofa, go to sleep, move"

Then I say "off" and they get off.

Why is one word so hard to use. One word commands, not a whole sodding sentence.

He said to big dog, who had his head in the bin "just behave yourself" and was amazed when big dog didn't understand.

I don't let my dogs upstairs or let them on the sofa. It's not a pack thing it's a I do not want a dirty hound on there thing!!

I could remove feed if I wanted to, they understand leave it and would leave it if necessary. It hardly ever is though? Otherwise we would feed them!!

Love the growl to sit. We have a similar problem in that big curly wees on the grass when we tell her to fetch. So now we use fectch to wee, fetch it to fetch or the name of the toy we want her fetch. little curly seemingly does as she pleases in terms of commands!!

Worryingly, I think this is DH's approach too. Worse, he seems to have picked it up through the dog obedience classes. Apparently the trainer said "you can be quite rough, but you must make them do what you want."

So manhandling a fear-reactive dog is apparently the way to go? Seems Legit.

Wow, the arrogance and pretentiousness in this thread is astounding.
You may know better, of course, but all this crowing about it is sad.

Crowing? Arrogance?

Ok then :)