Women not the Master (Oh Boy) - Page 3

Another line of thought here.. in Max's day were the dogs kept in the house where the wife was all the time?? Or out in the field with dad?? Did dad attend to training the dog? It is doubtful that tyhe wife had any part in the dog's training whether for sport or herding. If the wives stayed in the house for the most part and had little contact with the dog, it would certainly stand to reason that the dogs would view the man as their leader. He's probably the one the dogs would have followed around the property and bonded with more as well. I'm sure Max's statement, that the man was seen as the alpha was at least semi-correct for his day, but not for the reasons he listed, and would not hold true today inmost households where the women are involved with dogs on the same level as their husbands. And after all, Max was just a man with one man's opinion.

Since I am an Alha person, my dogs are in my total command as there is no male person to follow..When my son comes home, they do not listen to him unless it in a routine of work, or a simple sit or in the house command of little importance...and quite often ignore him and come find me....when I sell a pup , customers call me back and tell me they can tell a woman raised their pup, but after a while whoever is alpha in their hours wins the honours......it is not like olden days, where women were alot more submissive and did not train a dog or even work in the public.....I have a woman trainer in Alvin , Texas for one of my pups and she is terrific, and has done American Staffordshire pups in Schutzhund and put titles on several .....Schutzhund 3 and then we talked her into the shepherd after many years of encouragement......she is the most alpha woman Ive ever encountered.....a very serious trainer...

Times change and so do family dynamics. I was raised in a very strict German family where women were to be seen and not heard. For 3 generations in the US the female children were not educated since it was understood that they would one day find a man to care for them, so there was no need to learn to read or write. Some of the young girls were placed out of the home to work in rooming houses and as servants for wealthy families. If any of you have done your own family trees and have roots in Germany, I think you will have a simlar story to tell. Lucky for the world that we women no longer accept that subserviant role and are now above most men on the social ladder ROFL..........we now have our own dogs. I doubt that in Herr Captain's heyday many woman in Germany were permitted out of the kitchen long enough to bond to a dog.

i think family dynamics are probably the foremost issue. who trains the dogs? who feeds the dogs? who disciplines? i do, however, find, that i need to use a deeper voice to be taken seriously. if i talk in a higher pitched voice for discipline, it may take just a bit longer for the right response. the higher pitch works just great for training and praise. hhmmmmm.

Couple of things. I agree about the "times have changed" as to the role of women in the household (heck, everywhere), and that may be a big reason that Stephanitz came to his conclusion. I also think that evolution HAS to have a hugh part in a male being the dominate pack leader. It is apparent from just the few stories here that Stephanitz was right sometimes and wrong sometimes (as we all are). Two last things to say to Blitzen and Yellow Rose of Texas. Blitzen: Hillary is not President yet, No women has ever won the Heavyweight Boxing Title yet, No women is in the NFL, NBA or MLB yet(tried and failed), No women has ever been the top Commanding General or Admiral of the USMC, USN, USAF or USArmy yet, LUCKY WORLD is right (ROFLMAO). Yellow Rose: Vroooooooooooooooom, see ya when you get there :)

Adrian Ledda taught me that a good gruff voice for discipline works there, and use the higher pitch for like"free" or some training commands......and praise....angusmom is right there....

This is not true in my household. Although, my dogs love my husband. They check in with me before doing anything he asks. My female especially will blow him off and look to me for guidence. In thinking back over the stories my mother told me about my german grandfather and his dogs (he raised and trained GSD's for the military in Munich prior to WWI), it seemed that his dogs were very responsive to my grandmother. But my grandparents did lived in town and most of the dogs lived in their home with them. My grandmother participated in their training as did my mother and her sisters.

i think, if my husband were to be very involved in the day to day training and discipline of our dogs, they would look to him as alpha male. however, being alpha female, they look to me. in pack situations, there is usually an alpha male and female. in our case, the alpha male would be our son. he trains, he disciplines, but my husband does command some respect with his deep voice. also, i have noticed and been advised that gsd males will almost always defer to a gsd female.my mom is better at discipline than my dad with the dogs too. he's too affectionate w/o any discipline.

Ouch, Do Right, you really know how to hurt a girl!!! We shall overcome...............

Do Right" Im already in the Whitehouse and I got there while u were starting ur engine,,,,,Im gonna email u something to laugh at...if I have anything to do with it Hillary will never be president, and mine is only 1 vote.....I think it would be neat to have German shepherds on the lawn of the whitehouse instead of Scotties, or cockers ...