CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVERS

DOMINANCE & AGGRESSION
AN OVERVIEW

The dog has evolved from wild canids that lived in packs rather than as solitary animals. By selective breeding, humans have produced many breeds and types of dogs, modifying both looks and personality traits.

A strongly inherited behavior.

Pack mentality seems to be one behaviour that is maintained in most individuals of any breed. In each pack there is a social heirarchy. There will be a dominant male & female, the others are lower in rank. Puppies are shown their place by all the other members of the pack. As they mature, the more dominant individuals will try to improve their position. This behaviour is seen in adolescent males & females. The more submissive types will be less apt to challenge for the leadership.

The human role in your pack.

Because we usually have only one or two dogs in a family, humans have become a substitute pack. It is up to us to teach the dog his position in this group.

Like children, dogs are more secure if they know what behaviour is acceptable. Unlike children, you cannot discuss their behaviour and explain their social standing. You must learn to communicate with dogs in both a non-verbal and verbal way.

Through repetition, dogs learn to recognize spoken commands as being connected with required behavior. However, in everyday life, they still take most of their cues from our "body language" and tone of voice.

Structured obedience vs leadership roles.

Formal obedience training is usually limited to a short period of every day, even by dedicated trainers. That leaves a great deal of time for the dog to learn good or bad behaviour in a less structured setting. Think about this scenario. You spend 10 minutes each day teaching the dog to sit and wait for your command to go through a door, get in the car, etc. The rest of the day, you allow him to barge through doors ahead of you, demand to be let out or in for no good reason and jump on you to get your attention. Which behaviour will become engrained? You have spend 10 minutes being a leader, the rest of the time being his slave!

Chesapeakes and leadship.

Chesapeakes, in particular, are very good at taking advantage. If you do not become the leader, s/he will try for the job. With submissive dogs this is not usually a big problem, just lack of discipline and passive disobedience. The "Oh, I can't do that" type. A more dominant personality can become a bully or worse. Many behavioral problems stem from a lack of leadership. If you have provided this leadership from puppyhood, the adolescent challenges will be much easier to handle.