OK... I didn't know about the not-letting-the-dog-out-of-the-house-first thing. I had thought that we kind of did the Alpha thing until a friend was telling me about the Temple Grandin book. It was important when we got Sophie that we teach her good manners: not begging at the table, not jumping on people, not being too mouthy, that sort of thing. Part of this is because she's a big dog, but part of it was that we wanted her to be the kind of dog we wanted to hang out with who wouldn't scare our friends.
The thing with dogs and respect is a little weird for me. Yes: I believe that people need to be really consistent when socializing their dogs, but I don't think about the level of "respect" that Sophie has for us. We're her pack. She's happiest when everyone is home.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-08-24 04:34 pm (UTC)The thing with dogs and respect is a little weird for me. Yes: I believe that people need to be really consistent when socializing their dogs, but I don't think about the level of "respect" that Sophie has for us. We're her pack. She's happiest when everyone is home.