Confused about 'dominance issues' re Birdpup

[birdmomma]

So Birdpup is 13 weeks old now, and we think she's gorgeous. She's getting there with toilet training, is very friendly with all humans, and is learning basic commands well.

Right from day one, Birdpup has been very clingy. She just wants to be with us ALL the time, preferably on our knees. She gets a bit frantic if left alone even for a very short time even if within sight or sound of us. We did eventually train her to stay overnight in a crate in the kitchen, but it was clear that she wasn't sleeping well, and she often cried a bit and soiled the crate in the night, despite being taken out at 2am. Eventually I could stand it no more, and now she sleeps in DD1's bed (DD is 16). She sleeps through, and seems much happier.

I took her for her vaccinations today. She did bark a bit at other dogs in the waiting room which surprised me as she is tiny and they were big. Also she spends 3 days a week with her mum and another dog (handy puppy sitting arrangement) so should be ok round dogs. The vet suggested she may have 'dominance issues' and that the difficulties being left alone are more down to her wanting to control us rather than being anxious. I really don't get that feeling with her, but am now confused about what to do.

Dogs don't try and dominate humans. The vet was wrong to even suggest this. She was removed from her littermates and Mum and is understandably a bit insecure and clingy with you, her new family.

Barking at other dogs in the vets could be a lot of things, including excitement and frustration at not being allowed to go play with them.

Your vet gave you outdated advice.

Your pup may well be a bit of a sensitive soul and prone to resource guarding (you and your family) for security. Try Adaptil collars and diffusers, they can be extremely effective for this kind of dog. Also spending time with the same two dogs is not going to socialise her to other dogs. She (urgently) needs to be out and about seeing dogs in all sorts of situations. She should be meeting 10 new people and as many new dogs as possible per week at this stage (the fearless stage ends around 14wks so you have a very short window of opportunity to show her the world).

Does she go to a training class? If she doesn't you should find a decent one and take her asap. Aside from all the other benefits she will benefit from learning to concentrate on you when other dogs are around.

Hi, thanks for your responses. They fit with what I have been thinking - she just seems extremely affectionate and a little insecure. We start puppy socialisation classes this week. They got cancelled twice for lack of puppies. I live in rural New Zealand, so I think attitudes may be a bit behind the times, plus it is hard to see as many dogs as we may need to.

I have been taking her into town as much as possible. She has met loads of people and has no problems at all with all ages of children as well as adults. She has met some dogs, but probably not as many as she needs to. She will probably never get to mix with many dogs as we live in an isolated place with a lot of land so we won't need to exercise her elsewhere.

I will keep treating her as a much loved member of the family, just as I had planned to!

Took Birdpup to the local doggie park in town today. The first dog owner put her dog on a lead and disappeared quickly up a side path as soon as she saw Birdpup (and us) approaching. At this point BP was barking a bit. The next dog owner was wonderful, one of those really doggie people. Bird pup had her hackles up, was barking and actually trying to go for her dogs. She said to let go of her and then let her approach her dogs. She calmed down fairly quickly and had a good sniff. They were amazing dogs who just stood there and let her yap and growl and sniff and finally wag her tail. Once she was calm, lovely doggie woman gave her a treat, and became everyone's new best friend.

After that, BP met lots of dogs and did not bark at all. She behaved really well and of course recall is never a problem when you have a dog who sticks to you like glue!

We will try to go into town and take her to the park every day now.

That's a great update! Sounds like she just needs to meet more dogs if possible.

Also when you think she might start barking and there is no option of greeting the other dog, try to get her attention before it all kicks off. Use a treat or squeeky toy to distract her, place the treat near her nose and lure her to face you and away from the dog, treat her for keeping quiet and paying you attention and keep clicking and treating until the other dog is past.

Right, will do. Treat box in bag for next time.

These (awful) bum bags are really handy, you can have a clicker hanging off one so it's easy to grab hold of and different treats in there. With a new puppy I tend to go round for a couple of years with this (horrible) (non-)fashion accessory round my waist!

I cant believe a vet said that- were they very old? You need a more updated vet. Id defintely get her in some good training classes and clicker training her is a great plan. She needs to become less dependent on you too, but you can help her with that by slowly slowly making her happy to be without you. You can try different things for this but it is important she can be happy on her own. For example - My dog hates seeing me leave so we give him a treat as we leave so hes distracted, and then hell go and sleep, but if he sees someone leave he goes mad. You can try leaving her for tiny times with a kong or something, and build it up really slowly. And when you return, completely ignore her every time until shes calm. id also get her a DAP collar?

No, it was a young vet. I wonder if New Zealand is a bit behind with this? She also gave me a flyer for a man who specialises in dominance in dogs, who she said was the best person round here. (I won't bother). The puppy socialisation classes are at the same vet. There really isn't any choice as it is a small town in a rural location.

I will build up the time when BP is on her own, and try using treats and a kong. She will sometimes chew her dried pig ear (bleugh) for half an hour and does not always notice if I leave the room. I feel much happier after yesterday. She also met the neighbours (a big herd of young cows) through the fence and decided that I would have to do the protecting in this instance haha.

Sounds like your doing the right things birdmomma, and you were definitely right to trust your instincts on the 'dominance' idea! :)

It's the same here in France, no one has ever heard of the clicker, it's all dominance 'theory' and everyone wants their dogs to be personal protection dogs!