> spike: Especially if you have big male dogs, you cant allow them to get
> too high an opinion of themselves. spike>>
>
> [Glen] ...did also stare him down a few times<sg>. I don't think the growling
>
> and baring of teeth is all that necessary, just the ability to show that you
> will not be cowed without making the animal feel it has to attack.
I found another technique to keep my dobermen in line: piss on his trees higher than he can. A dog marks his territory by urinating on objects. Watch him: he first sniffs to see if something else has already marked that particular tree. If he finds a mark lower than he can piss, he will mark that as his territory. If there is a mark higher, then he assumes he is in the territory of another dog bigger than him, and he will assume the proper attitude. This *does* work. With big male dogs, they need to approach you as if to say "Hey, noooo problem Alph, you da man, you da alpha, noooo problems from me, im just the dog, call me beta..." etc. If they *ever* growl at you, they dont know their place, and that can even be dangerous. spike