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Help with a dominant dog!
So I need some advice about my sister's dog. She has an Alaskan Malamute, Bear, and he is just over a year now.
A little backstory, my sister lives with my parents, and they do a lot to take care of Bear. My sister was in a car accident, and she has a fairly extensive injury o her neck and shoulder, so she cannot walk Bear without extreme pain and risk of further injury. So my mom is walking Bear daily 2-3x/day on pretty long walks.
Bear has never respected my mom, even as a puppy he would single her out to bite, bark at, and growl at. It's getting better, but there is definitely a pack order, and Bear thinks my mom is at the bottom - which is strange since she has been taking over all of his care. But like I said this has been going on since he was 8 weeks old.
So there are a couple issues that I was hoping you all could help with -
1) how can we get Bear to respect my mom more?
We have tried it so she is the one who gives him commands, and rewards him exclusively. This works at the time because he is a food whore and will do anything for a bite of anything. As soon as the "training" stops, he will go right back to his previous behavior. She was also the one to feed him exclusively after we realized that this was a problem when he was a puppy. She has gone back to work nights, so she cannot feed him every meal. If she is playing with him, he will "miss the toy" and bite her arm instead. He does not do this to anyone else. If she tries to hold his collar or pull him away from a situation he will bite/growl (like last night a glass broke, so to keep him from rushing over the glass, my mom held his collar, and he turned and bit her. Not enough to break skin, but she has a nasty bruise now).
2) which may stem from #1 - When my mom takes him for a walk in the morning, she takes him to a park you need to drive to. While in the car, Bear with bark extremely loudly nonstop, and he will get right in her face as she is driving and bark in her face/ear and try to nip her arms/face. I am extremely concerned about this behavior, it is dangerous and unacceptable. Bear does not listen to my mom when she tells him no. My mom has started clipping his harness to the seatbelt, but he is a 90 pound dog, and he has a lot of force behind him if he wants to use it.
I am at a total loss for what to do to help my mom; she is so stressed about this dog. With my sister, dad, and I Bear listens pretty well, and if he does try to mouth/me I immediately make a loud "ow" sound and stand up, removing myself from him. This works 99% of the time. This does not work at all for my mom. It is just so frustrating.
I am so sorry this is so long...but if you have any advice, I would really appreciate it!
Re: Help with a dominant dog!
Honestly, it sounds like you all need help from a trainer (or even better, a behaviorist) who uses positive reinforcement. They can help you get away from the idea that Bear is trying to dominate anyone. Dogs just don't think that way.
Aside from that, employ Nothing in Life is Free training: https://sites.google.com/site/petsboardfaqs/home/training-and-behavior
Sounds like you're doing some of it already, but there's more you can do.
No one should be grabbing/dragging any dog by the collar. Does he not come when called?
Also, why is he even able to get next to her while she's driving? He should at least by restrained by a doggie seatbelt, or even better, crated.
Yep we have a trainer, and we are looking in to meeting with a behaviorist.
For the collar grabbing thing, it is strictly when he needs to be restrained right away (like with the glass breaking), holding him back so he does not injure himself. This is before we can put him outside. This is not a first resort, but if he is rushing over, he needs to be stopped. He basically listens when he feels like it, and he definitely doesn't listen when there is exciting things happening (like a glass breaking). This is something we have worked with his trainer about, and he is improving, but slowly.
With the barking in the car - he is restrained, his harness hooks onto the seat belt in the back, but it is a small car (Jetta), and he is a large dog, so even restrained he is very close to my mom. He has broken/gotten loose from the restraint, and that is when he is up in her face. The car is too small for him to be crated.
We have looked at the Nothing in Life is free, and we use it. A lot more than what I mentioned here.
I guess I might have used "dominant" flippantly, he is extremely strong willed, and is selective with who he listens to within the family - therefore it seems like there is a pack order. Obviously I know he isn't waiting in the wings and plotting against us, or looking for ways to show us up, I guess dominant was just easier to say
I will tell my mom about the crating thing, my sisters car was totaled in her accident, so they will be getting another, maybe they can look for one a little more conducive to having a big dog. Thanks for the advice!
ETA: response cut off
Is he neutered? If not, he should be.
Also have him checked for an undescended testicle.
I wouldn't suggest a dog walker because the dog's got a problem already; I don't know if he'd have a problem with a stranger walking him.
Ditto the behaviorist.
Personally, until my fosters have a rock solid stay, leave it, and recall, they stay on leash and tethered to me. Freedom is a privilege they have to earn
Have you seen my monkey?
Ditto on the behaviorist and training!! Ditto on neutering - that can stop a lot of aggressive behavior!