Women not the Master (Oh Boy) - Page 2

Do Right and Fear No one, I have a male GSD that I am his primary care taker. I do 95% of the feeding, grooming, pooper scooping, ect. Although he adores me, protects me and loves to be everywhere I am he respects my husband more. I assumed since his previous trainers were men this was the reason???? He obeys my commands but works a hell of a lot better for my husband. Could be he's more experienced??? Who knows what really goes through their minds. My kids on the other hand (which are young) try to give the dog general commands and he usually just looks at them like "yhea right, whatever kid, get outta my way". lol I'd have to say that I agree with the author of your books theory in my particular case it's true but every dog is different just like kids are all different.

I have seen some outstanding female trainers who were in total command of their dogs...

"women most likely held much less liberated and dominant roles, most staying home all day and then waiting on the husband when he arrived home. I'll bet the husband was served first at dinner" i have to agree with alto on this matter. the women were much more submissive in max's day and no doubt his words were true at the time. i don't think they hold true today. it is certainly going to very from one household to the next. pjp

Heeheehee, well you can hear the women getting ready to respond. I really don't think that proves true in my home. My husband is the one that is all fun, I am seen as the alpha. My dogs all know that there are boundries and commands they must obey. They respect me at all times and it does not matter if they are with daddy, they must do what they are told. And they also know what I expect from them; and they love me for it. My husband does not understand why they follow and love me soo much when I am soo mean to them. I just tell him, I'm not mean to them, I love them enough to take the time to show them what I want from them. Debbie

I'm the alpha at home with the dogs. I get twice the respect with half the effort. Veronica

HAHA! Not in our house!  My husband gets so frustrated because every time he tells either one to do something they look at me with a "do I have to?" expression. If I ignore them they will come around to my line of sight and give the same expression.  It's really funny. 

i'm alpha bitch in my house with a husband, 14 yr old son, 1 yr old gsd female and an 8 mo gsd male. i even have a t-shirt so they can all read it! really, tho, i work with the dogs and my son works with the dogs and they know it and respect us as their superiors. my husband tends to get flustered and the dogs love him but they listen to me and then my son. we trade off dogs on walks, etc so they get used to obeying either of us. i don't see this as a "macho" issue. women are not confined to "house duties" anymore and the dogs respond to the alpha, whether male or female. also, our female, at 53 lbs is totally dominant to our male, at 80lbs and growing! they don't have an issue with it.

I have to work harder at getting the same respect my husband does from the dogs. His Chesapeake never did really believe me, she always looked at him for approval prior to listening to me, and I was the one that took her through obedience. My last big male dog listened to me first and would check for my approval before doing what my husband said. LOL. My current big male will listen to every word I say, as long as we're not at the Schutzhund field. I admit it..... But my husband started him and took him through his BH, and will now continue on. Maybe the difference with some of the responses is we do most everything equally with the dogs. Others women who seem to have no problem do the majority of the work while their husbands play a support role. Our girls listen equally, our boys do not.

This is not as simple as portrayed. I have known dominant males who decided that they ranked above their female owners, yet stepped into line when I used an authoratative voice with them. This is merely anecdotal however, and any dog needs consistent, firm handling so that they understand where they rank and who calls the shots. It is possible that a female voice is less imposing (in general) than a male voice, but there are many excellent trainers who are women, and they seem to hold their own with tough male dogs. Jonah

At least in our household, I see the dogs responding to dominant behavior, honestly I have to cringe writing this as I know my husband would kick my butt LOL, I definately am seen as the "master" in our household as my hubby is somewhat of a pushover, I discipline the kids, and dogs, he does too but not with the presence that I do and the dogs see/know/feel this. I think it's more of the "Presence" not necessarily the sex, but who is the dominant individual in your household. just my thoughts. though I would add, that years long past, Men were definately the dominating presence in any household. at least I think that's the way it was LOL, can't really speak from personal expeirience just from history lessons. :-)