My dog is dominant. How can I train him to listen and behave?

Now is the best time to neuter them both. Neutered males are more docile and make better pets. When they reach sexual maturity at around 6 months and their hormones go into full swing so to speak, they may act aggressive toward other males and want to become dominant in the household. If you wait too long, neutering will not help. I suggest neutering all dog sin the house as soon as possible, then the hormones will die down in a few weeks. At this time, implement a training program with a trainer or by doing some research. The behavior will most likely get better, but that is not definite. Neutering with combined training is your best plan to change his behavior. .

Hello there! I understand the frustration of having an unneutered male dog. They don't have hormone cycles like females do, so they don't have a "heat" like females do. Essentially, their hormone levels are the same all the time, which can be even more frustrating. Mounting behavior is not all hormonal, and does have a component of dominance (so he may still do this even after he's neutered). Even females will mount other dogs if they want to express their dominance over them. The mounting behavior will hopefully abate once a dominance hierarchy is established in your home between the dogs, but not necessarily. It can also spur fights, so be watchful over your dogs when they are together, and I recommend against leaving them alone together until you are comfortable with Shadow's personality and interactions with your older dog. Neutering may help, but it takes a long time for those hormones to get out of their system (at least a month), so in the meantime, consistent training can be helpful in stopping the behavior. I have seen some trainers keep a leash and harness on a dog that jumps or mounts, so that when the dog starts to jump up, they can step on the leash and prevent it. It's important to have another task for your dog to do instead of jumping/mounting, so starting off with teaching a solid "sit" could be helpful. Reward him with a treat for any positive behavior, and ignore undesired behavior. I highly recommend contacting a good trainer or veterinary behaviorist if the behavior continues. Best of luck to you and to Shadow!

Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. Most people are not familiar with reading canine body language and training. Because of this, I recommend to work with a professional trainer. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Certainly male dogs who are not neutered are more prone to fighting and aggression. Neutering him may help but it will not likely solve all the problems. Best of luck.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your question. I see that Oliver is not neutered. The behavior you are talking about is likely Oliver trying to establish dominance over the other 2 dogs. I would recommend neutering Oliver to see if this helps reduce this behavior. You can also try the Adaptil products and see if this helps to reduce the behavior. Adaptil products can be found online or at your local PetCo. To deter him from barking, I recommend using a spray bottle and spritzing him in the face every time he barks. You can also use citronella spray collars that are triggered by barking and then emit a fine mist of citronella oil in front of the face. The citronella collar can be found online as well. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

The best thing you can do for him right now to help correct this behavior is to get him neutered. As he grows and starts to produce more testosterone, he can start to become more aggressive and dominant as male dogs are prone to these behaviors. Once they learn the behavior, it can be difficult to train them out of it. But if you spay him now before he has a chance to fully develop these tendencies, it will keep further behavior problems from worsening. It should also stop the humping behavior. After his neuter, if he still seems like he is having issues with aggression, you will want to enroll him in a training course or work with a behaviorist to help you establish yourself as the one in charge. Training courses are there to teach us how to respond to our pets as much as they are to train our pets to respond to us. Aggression is something you want to tackle early before they h ave a chance to become routine behaviors.

Neutering him may help decrease his aggression. You could also try an Adaptil collar and see if that helps. If not, talk to your vet about trying an anti-anxiety medication, like Prozac or Trazodone. You could also talk to a trainer or a behaviorist and have a professional help with behavior modification training.

Consider obedience training ( https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/s/petco-dog-training ) to redirect some of that energy. A pheromone product, such as the Adaptil collar or DAP plug in diffuser, may also help to decrease any anxiety. Provide extra toys, bowls and beds to prevent resource protection.