Establishing Dominance

So today Dan and I read a book that said one of the things to do to a new puppy to establish dominance (and also see how passive or dominant they are) is to hold it down on his side and see if he is passive or not.  It he struggles, then keep holding until he stops, then lavish with praise.  If he doesn't struggle from the start, then it probably means he is already passive and might even need some confidence training later on.  ANYWAYS, we both did this to Madison and Cormac at separate times.

At first they both struggled.  Madison especially.  But we both proved ourselves to be the dominant ones "in the pack". Good stuff.

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Leash training started tonight.  They aren't too bad. I have to keep reminding myself that they are only 6 and a half weeks old and most puppies don't even see a leash until their 8 - 12 weeks.   At this point we just keep trying to enjoy them for what they are: puppies.  Training will come.  As long as they realize us for that we are, the pack leaders and caregivers, we'll be great.

Right after we put the pups in their kennel for an evening nap, Dan grabbed me and pushed me to the ground laughing. I knew what he was doing.... pretending to establish dominance!! We laughed and I struggled to get up. I've never been even close to as strong as Dan, so eventually I gave up.  "Now the puppies will NEVER respect me!" I giggled. :-P  They watched from their bed as he fake praised me. hah...sure hope they aren't THAT good at observational learning!