"Who's The Alpha Dog In Your Pack? Is It You Or Your Cocker Spaniel?"

Be Honest, are you the alpha dog, or is your Cocker Spaniel ruling the household? If your dog is the alpha male, or thinks he is, then you're heading for trouble and you need to act fast.

The term 'Alpha Dog' means, figuratively, top dog - the leader of the pack - the one who 'calls the shots'.

The alpha male dog doesn't have to be male either; there are also many alpha females.

Nor does it need to be a dog; this position may be held by a human.

In the wild, pack members will usually compete with one another for leadership and the strongest will win the position of alpha male.

The same instinct will apply where the dog's 'pack' is human.

Who's The Alpha Male?

Your Cocker Spaniel needs to understand that you are the leader of his pack and his place in the hierarchy is below you and your family - and that includes children and babies.

If there are other dogs in your household, they will settle their own hierarchy between themselves - their status, however, should always be lower than the human members.

It's extremely important to establish, right from the beginning, who the alpha male is in your pack - and that must be you!

If your Cocker Spaniel becomes unsure of his status within your pack because of a leadership issue, he will become unsettled, anxious and frustrated. Packs always need a leader, and if your Cocker Spaniel sees a weakness in your leadership, he may attempt to challenge you for the role of alpha dog. This should never be allowed to happen.

Any question over leadership may cause dogs much stress and frustration, leading to unwanted alpha dog behaviors such as growling and snarling, food aggression in dogs, resource guarding, air snapping or snapping at fingers, barking, and, because your alpha male will be unable to protect you while you're away from home, separation anxiety.

If you see this beginning to happen in your household, you need to take swift action.

Important Note: If your dog is becoming aggressive, or worse, has bitten someone, we strongly recommend you seek the assistance of a qualified dog trainer or dog behavioural therapist.

Do not attempt to remedy this yourself.

Reinforce Your Role As Alpha Dog

Alpha Dog Behavior

• Dogs need to satisfy their instinct to run with the pack - that's what they do in the wild - they hunt and migrate each day with their pack.

  You and your family are your dog's pack, and one of the most effective ways in which you can reinforce your role as alpha dog is to take your Cocker Spaniel for plenty of walks.

  We recommend you observe the following basic rules when walking with your dog:

• You decide when and where you walk - not your dog.
• Walk him on his lead for an hour each day. You can allow him a little daily off-lead freedom when he can run through woodland or pasture, or you can throw a ball for him in the park.

  By walking your dog in this way, you are satisfying his basic need to migrate with his pack, you are also reinforcing your status as the alpha dog.

• Don't allow your Cocker Spaniel to walk ahead of you - leading is what pack leaders do!
• Don't allow him to pull on the lead; your dog must walk to heel, quietly and calmly.
• Don't allow your dog to wander from side to side, sniff the ground, or mark his territory whilst walking on the lead. You decide when and where he 'does his business'.
• Extendable leads aren't recommended as they don't give you the control over your dog that normal leads do. Besides, if you don't allow your dog to walk ahead of you, you won't have any need for one!
• Your dog should remain focussed on his walk and remain by your side, or slightly behind you.

Feeding Your Dog

• Whether you feed your dog once or twice a day, always feed him at the same time each day. By doing so you are deciding when your dog eats - not the other way around - another alpha dog trait.
• Don't feed your dog scraps from your plate while you're eating at the dinner table. Instead, any scraps should be put in his food bowl and fed to him at him at his normal feeding time(s).
• The alpha dog always eats first ergo you must always eat before your dog. If you are not ready to eat, place a cracker next to your dog's bowl as you are preparing his meal, then eat the cracker - even better, pretend you're eating from his bowl.

Important Note: If your dog is food guarding, you may need to change the way you feed your dog until his dog food aggression is resolved.

Alpha Dogs Always Lead The Way

• Never allow your dog to walk through a doorway before you - humans must always lead the way - the same applies to traversing stairs.
• When Max was a puppy, we taught him to 'Sit' and 'Wait' to allow us to walk through doorways or go up or down stairs first - he now does this automatically.

Discover lots of puppy training tips in our article on how to train a puppy.

• If your dog rushes through a doorway before you, make sure you call him back and make him sit - walk through the doorway and then release him. Be consistent - don't allow him to get away with any unwanted behaviour.

Height Reinforces The Alpha Dog's Role

• Height always reinforces the position of the alpha male (or alpha female). If your Cocker Spaniel is fighting for the role of alpha dog, you must ensure he is always positioned lower than you, ie., on the floor.
• Do not lie on the floor with your dog as dogs view height as a seniority in status. You will be confirming (in his eyes at least) that he is your equal.
• If your Cocker Spaniel is becoming dominant, fighting for the role of alpha dog, he should not be allowed on your furniture - do not let him sit next to you on the sofa. If you want to allow him on the settee, you must be the one who invites him up and the one who tells him to get off.
• Simirlarly, don't allow your dog to sleep on your bed. In the canine world, the alpha dog always gets to sleep in the best, most comfortable spot. Your bed is where you (the alpha dog) sleeps. If your dog claims your bed as his - move him!
• If you prefer your dog near you at night, you could allow him to sleep on the floor, by the side of your bed, in his own dog bed.
• If you simply can't bear to sleep without allowing your dog on the bed, make him sleep at the foot of the bed. Don't allow him to sleep on your pillow and never allow him to come up onto the bed uninvited - he should be there at your request and should leave when you ask.

Eye Contact With An Alpha Dog

• When dogs make eye contact with the alpha dog, the lower-ranking of the two will always look away first. In the dog world, a stare is a challenge, so a weaker dog's natural instinct will be to look away - unless he's wants to challenge the alpha dog for his position.
• When a human, therefore, stares at a dog it's likely that the dog will view this as confrontation. If the dog is dominant, he may stare back at you and begin to growl, and it may then escalate to further aggressive alpha dog behavior.

  If the dog is submissive, he will back down either by looking away, moving away, or laying down, or he may roll over or urinate - all submissive behaviours intended to show the alpha dog that he remains unchallenged.

• We've heard conflicting advice about eye contact with dogs - some say 'Never look a dog in the eye' and others have said 'Always look a dog in the eye' - this is how we've interpreted it.
• It all depends upon the circumstances and the dog you're dealing with.
• We believe there many are times when you can safely make eye contact with your dog. For example, when your Cocker Spaniel looks at you with those big soft gentle eyes, you just know he adores you and it's safe to return the eye contact.
• There may be times when you give your dog a command and he fails to follow it (as they sometimes do!). Give him a 'firm' look so that he understands that you mean business - if you're top dog in the home, and you should be - he'll respond fairly quickly!
• There are also times when you should never stare into a dogs eyes, and, where eye contact has already been established, you should back down immediately. You will know it when you see it, if you haven't already.

  The dog will give you a 'glassy stare', he may lower his head slightly, and may stand very still. He may curl his lip and begin to growl. If you see these warning signs, back off - quickly. Break eye contact and look away - that's the safest thing you can do at this time.

• Later, when things have calmed down, you can take the time to work out exactly what caused the dog to behave in that way. You can then consider how to avoid it happening again. If it happens again however, we would recommend you consult a behavioural therapist.

Additional Important Points To Note

• Don't treat your dog like a human; he's not, he's an animal - he's a dog and doesn't have human traits.
• Always make your dog work for his keep. Ask him to 'Sit' or lie 'Down' before you give him a treat, take him for a walk, feed him, stroke, or play with him.
• When anyone comes to visit, don't let your dog greet them before you do; the pack leader always greets visitors first. If your dog gets excited and bolts for the door - don't anwer it. Move your dog well away from the door and make him sit quietly. Open the door and greet your visitor. If your dog's still sitting quietly, you can release him and allow him to greet your visitor.
• You may occasionally find your dog blocking your path. If you do, don't walk around him or step over him - make him move! In a pack, the alpha dog would nudge a lower-ranking out of his way. If the lower-ranking dog protests, he would be challenging the authority of his leader by trying to guard the space he occupies.
• Don't make a fuss of your dog when you re-enter a room. It's not what the alpha dog would do. Instead, ignore him for a few minutes.
• If you find yourself in a position where you have to re-establish your role as pack leader, we don't recommend that you hug or cuddle your dog during this time as there's a possibility that your dog may see this contact as a direct challenge.
• Never, ever, allow your dog to mouth anyone's hands, skin, or clothing - even in play! Puppies do this when they're playing with their siblings and are taught bite inhibition by their mother. Puppy biting is easily managed but puppy chewing takes a little more effort.
• Don't allow your dog to initiate any form of play - you must decide what and when your dog plays. You must also decide when it's time to end your dog's playtime.
• Never play tug-of-war with your dog without first understanding the rules of play.
• Don't allow your Cocker Spaniel to get away with attention-seeking behaviour such as barking, whining or pawing. He may want you to play with him, or he may simply want you to pet him. If you give in to his subtle 'demands', he may view you as weak and see himself as the strongest pack member. If this happens, he will begin to fight for the position of alpha dog.
• Make sure your dog fully understands and obeys the 'Drop It' command to help reinforce you as the top dog. You should be able to take anything from your dog's mouth, easily and safely.
• Exude confidence. Dogs sense our emotions - they know when we feel threatened, frightened, insecure, anxious or nervous.

  Alpha dogs are pack leaders - they don't display these types of behaviour - they are calm, confident and strong.

By following the above guidelines confidently and consistently you will begin to teach your pet that you are the alpha dog and therefore the pack leader.

Be confident, walk tall and let your dog see your positive body language - you are the alpha dog!

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