Oliver Hurt Angel Tonight

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

Oliver hurt Angel, our 15 year old 12 pound sheltie, again tonight. Hubs said it  was dominance behaviour he tried to mount her after flinging her about the room  which apparently all happened in the bit of a heart beat.  I was doing  laundry so wasn't present. 

I'm at a loss as to what to do when he tries to  dominate her, and it's NOT playing!  I did finally find out from the  previous owners that he's an alpha male to the point that even the husband cowed  to him.  

He's ONLY nine months old and weighs 75-85 pounds already!  Submission techniques are  not working on him he wants to push everyone and everything onto the floor and stand on top of them.

No he's not neutered.

[F, Calla & Luca]

What a good boy : )

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

lol, but well trained none the less!

[Robin and Libby Louise]

So funny!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Oh, that is way tooooo funny:)

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I thought so too, Karen.  I have quite a few friends who actually volunteer and/or run rescue groups, and all of them spay and neuter. 

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

Oliver didn't come from a rescue group, it as an individual situation hence his fully being intact.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Kimberly, I also have to say that this idea on your blog is one of the worst dog-related ideas I have ever seen. FB can be fun, but it's not the best place to get advice on dogs. PLEASE don't do this. It is the indoor version of chaining a dog, which should also never be done. I have personally seen it lead to big time aggression.  

The only thing that Oliver should be tethered to, ever, is you. 

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

I didn't buy a boat anchor, I tethered him to the chair I'm sitting in so that he's right next to me. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's very important that you never tether him to anything unless you are right there with him. That includes "tie-outs" in the yard, which should only ever be used when you are out there with him, i.e. doing gardening or other outdoor chores. 

Tethering a dog to yourself is a great tool for supervising a puppy while accomplishing other tasks around the the house, although it's usually done with much smaller dogs, lol. 

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

I tethered Angel to me when I first got her, I ran her leash through a loop on my jeans.  Oliver just rips the loop right off if I don't catch him quick enough.  To tether a dog this large does one need to wear a harness? 

[Kimberly Baxter Packwood]

Geesh I wonder what you would have thought about the first wife, she was a C5 quad and had dogs and they weren't service dogs either! 

Yes I'm going the extra mile for Oliver, if I wasn't I wouldn't be here asking questions!!!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Oy, this thread is like watching a train wreck.  Are we sure this is not a prank of some kind?

BTW, "alpha", "dominant", "submissive", etc. are all relative.  Some dogs - and some people - are more dominant or submissive than others.