Daisy's Mom
Well-known member
Our Daisy is quite a little bossy lady! We have had biting problems with her from Day 1, which we have been working on and to be honest, I think we have kind of just gotten used to being bitten all the time rather than the fact that we have made any real progress with her on addressing it. Yelping out in pain has zero effect on her. Putting her down and leaving the room -- also zero effect. Distraction works occasionally. Right now we are hoping that when her teething is over, that will help the problem more than anything we are doing! We have also just started puppy kindergarten, and we're hoping that will help, too. She is 4 1/2 months old.
Don't get me wrong -- she's sweet most of the time and we love her. She's hilarious with her antics and playfulness, and when she's worn out, she's very cuddly and loving. She's as smart as they come and responds really well to training and learning tricks when treats are involved. She is affectionate with everyone, so she's not a mean dog. It's just that when she's with you, about 90% of the time she is either actively trying to bite your hands, clothing, or hair, or is at least trying to mouth them. That really gets old. I know some of it is normal puppy playfulness, but I also feel very confident that some of it goes beyond that and is her trying to establish her place in the pecking order, preferably at the top. It's almost like she has a bulldog or pit bull personality somewhere deep in that sweet Cavalier body.
Anyway, what I'm wondering is if anyone else has such a dominant, assertive puppy? I am just so surprised that a cavalier would have such a bossy personality! Last night, we were outside with her and she was running around the yard with our neighbor's half shi tzu, half poodle dog, who is about 2 years old. It was so cute and they would chase each other around in huge circles, having a high old time. But every time the neighbor's dog (Fluffy) would stop running and lay down, Daisy would immediately put her leg on top of her and kind of hold her down, and would even put her body over her. Clearly a very dominant behavior! I was just so surprised that a 4 month old puppy would have the chutzpah to do this to an adult dog!
The breeder told us that she was clearly the alpha dog in the litter, doing every developmental stage first and physically dominating the other pups in the litter. Of course we learned most of this AFTER we had brought her home and were having biting problems. (Lesson learned for the future -- never pick a puppy based on color preference, pick based on disposition.) Also, reading the Puppy disposition test items online (where you do these little tests to gauge where the various puppies are on the dominance/submission scale) has been enlightening. Daisy is on or near the top of the charts for dominance on almost every test.
We spoke to a trainer who suggested that we put her on her side and hold her down gently until she quits struggling 5 times a day to establish dominance and trust, since she is apparently on a mission to rule the house and everyone in it. We do that when she's jumping and biting at the kids or when she growls at us in a serious way (not play-growling), and you can tell she does kind of get the point. She usually quits struggling immediately and rolls those huge eyes up at us as if to say "OK, OK, I'm sorry." It helps to break her out of the frenzy, but I'm not sure it's having any effect in a more long-term way.
Does anyone have experience with a dominant puppy in terms of whether they mellow out when they get older? When they are spayed? When they quit teething? Or will we have a continued or sporadic dominance challenge with her the rest of her life? (Please say no!)
Don't get me wrong -- she's sweet most of the time and we love her. She's hilarious with her antics and playfulness, and when she's worn out, she's very cuddly and loving. She's as smart as they come and responds really well to training and learning tricks when treats are involved. She is affectionate with everyone, so she's not a mean dog. It's just that when she's with you, about 90% of the time she is either actively trying to bite your hands, clothing, or hair, or is at least trying to mouth them. That really gets old. I know some of it is normal puppy playfulness, but I also feel very confident that some of it goes beyond that and is her trying to establish her place in the pecking order, preferably at the top. It's almost like she has a bulldog or pit bull personality somewhere deep in that sweet Cavalier body.
Anyway, what I'm wondering is if anyone else has such a dominant, assertive puppy? I am just so surprised that a cavalier would have such a bossy personality! Last night, we were outside with her and she was running around the yard with our neighbor's half shi tzu, half poodle dog, who is about 2 years old. It was so cute and they would chase each other around in huge circles, having a high old time. But every time the neighbor's dog (Fluffy) would stop running and lay down, Daisy would immediately put her leg on top of her and kind of hold her down, and would even put her body over her. Clearly a very dominant behavior! I was just so surprised that a 4 month old puppy would have the chutzpah to do this to an adult dog!
The breeder told us that she was clearly the alpha dog in the litter, doing every developmental stage first and physically dominating the other pups in the litter. Of course we learned most of this AFTER we had brought her home and were having biting problems. (Lesson learned for the future -- never pick a puppy based on color preference, pick based on disposition.) Also, reading the Puppy disposition test items online (where you do these little tests to gauge where the various puppies are on the dominance/submission scale) has been enlightening. Daisy is on or near the top of the charts for dominance on almost every test.
We spoke to a trainer who suggested that we put her on her side and hold her down gently until she quits struggling 5 times a day to establish dominance and trust, since she is apparently on a mission to rule the house and everyone in it. We do that when she's jumping and biting at the kids or when she growls at us in a serious way (not play-growling), and you can tell she does kind of get the point. She usually quits struggling immediately and rolls those huge eyes up at us as if to say "OK, OK, I'm sorry." It helps to break her out of the frenzy, but I'm not sure it's having any effect in a more long-term way.
Does anyone have experience with a dominant puppy in terms of whether they mellow out when they get older? When they are spayed? When they quit teething? Or will we have a continued or sporadic dominance challenge with her the rest of her life? (Please say no!)