Alpha Staring

Okay, hey there guys.

I'm sure you're all very familiar about Alpha Staring, and that is when dogs lock eyes to dominate.
Now Junior has started doing it with me, and its been going on for sometime and I know its Alpha Staring because that stare just holds and holds and I cannot distract him other than saying "lay down" and then he has no choice but to look away as he lays down.

Are there any other ways of breaking the stare successfully, because it's scary and also, the lay down command doesn't actually work to the fullest extent, he will continue to stare as soon as he lays down.
I need to be able to break this stare because I can't hold it, honestly, my eyes will start to water and I will HAVE to blink, also, most of the time I just look away because it's so INTENSE. Not a good intense either.

So, basically, I need a humane and effective way of discouraging/stopping the Alpha Staring that is going on with Junie at the moment.

~skull

How about keeping some treats in your pocket so that when he starts you can whip out a treat & throw it down in front of him? Once he eats the first treat you can then get him to do some basic obedience for some more, but make it quick-fire obedience, one command after the other so that he doesn't have time to think about it!

Agree with Caryll.

lean towrads the dog when staring or stand over him

Standing over him could trigger dominance issues. IMO that should be avoided wherever possible. Distraction & reward is far more effective.

fireball wrote:lean towrads the dog when staring or stand over him

No offense, but I'd rather try and avoid getting my face bitten off. Junior has serious issues under-laying his behaviour and I will only use this method if nothing else works.
Treats don't work, he just stares at me regardless, not even breaking eye contact. It's actually very disconcerting. I've tried pushing his face away but it just doesn't work.

what you need is something that is quick and loud have you tried the stones in the bottle. if you get a small enough bottle you can keep it in your pocket and when the staring starts give it a shake and it should distract him cos he will wonder what it is. just a suggestion never had the problem to try it thank god. good luck anyway i am sure you will digure something out

_julie_ wrote:what you need is something that is quick and loud have you tried the stones in the bottle. if you get a small enough bottle you can keep it in your pocket and when the staring starts give it a shake and it should distract him cos he will wonder what it is. just a suggestion never had the problem to try it thank god. good luck anyway i am sure you will digure something out

Worth a try!

it stops our 2 knocking hell out of each other when they get too giddy.

Caryll wrote:Standing over him could trigger dominance issues. IMO that should be avoided wherever possible. Distraction & reward is far more effective.

can`t believe i`m reading this.an owner who doesn`t dominate their dog shouldn`t have the dog to begin with,especially a dog of that strength.the dog needs to know who`s boss...end off..the 1st sign of aggression blue or any of my previous dogs showed towards any of the family they wouldn`t be with us.period

fireball wrote:

Caryll wrote:Standing over him could trigger dominance issues. IMO that should be avoided wherever possible. Distraction & reward is far more effective.

can`t believe i`m reading this.an owner who doesn`t dominate their dog shouldn`t have the dog to begin with,especially a dog of that strength.the dog needs to know who`s boss...end off..the 1st sign of aggression blue or any of my previous dogs showed towards any of the family they wouldn`t be with us.period

Woah, that's out of place. Just calm thy self, seriously =/ You can't just attack someone for there OPINION. I am not going to have a fight on a thread where help is clearly needed.

And Julie...that is a brilliant idea!
I'm going to try it, I need to get over the embarrassment of training/correcting him in public. People are very critical at times.

[quote="Skullkandi"][quote="fireball"]

Caryll wrote:
And Julie...that is a brilliant idea!
I'm going to try it, I need to get over the embarrassment of training/correcting him in public. People are very critical at times.

we have used the bottle for a while now but you need to pick the things you want to use it for cos they will get used to and then ignore it after a while. we use it for lottie fixating while we're out (she's a rescue and needs all sorts correcting at times but she's getting on great lately) then theres in the house both her and lemmy get too giddy with the mouthing each other theyre not fighting just too rough poor lemmy comes off worst every time.

its worth a try and hopefully you will find something that works good luck

Jazz ... what serious under-laying behavour issues are we talkin about ? did you adopt ?

fireball wrote:

Caryll wrote:Standing over him could trigger dominance issues. IMO that should be avoided wherever possible. Distraction & reward is far more effective.

can`t believe i`m reading this.an owner who doesn`t dominate their dog shouldn`t have the dog to begin with,especially a dog of that strength.the dog needs to know who`s boss...end off..the 1st sign of aggression blue or any of my previous dogs showed towards any of the family they wouldn`t be with us.period

Before you start being rude, think again. You don't have to 'dominate' your dog to get it to respect & obey you! That's a load of old fashioned codswallop (yes, I know that's rude, but you started it).

We're not talking aggression here. But even if we were, what would you do? Thump the living daylights out of the dog? For your information I have had dogs for over 40 years & currently have an extremely dominant dog - I've never had a problem with that, I've never had to 'stand over him' or thrash him. He knows I'm in charge, and there's never an issue with it.

We use the bottle method to and it works very well. I don't agree with the opinion of having to be dominant over your dog. If your dogs listens and obeys you out of fear you are IMHO asking for serious trouble. This may provide more immediate results but can cause long term issues. They should listen out of respect and a desire to please which they will have if trained properly.

Caryll wrote:

fireball wrote:

Caryll wrote:Standing over him could trigger dominance issues. IMO that should be avoided wherever possible. Distraction & reward is far more effective.

can`t believe i`m reading this.an owner who doesn`t dominate their dog shouldn`t have the dog to begin with,especially a dog of that strength.the dog needs to know who`s boss...end off..the 1st sign of aggression blue or any of my previous dogs showed towards any of the family they wouldn`t be with us.period

Before you start being rude, think again. You don't have to 'dominate' your dog to get it to respect & obey you! That's a load of old fashioned codswallop (yes, I know that's rude, but you started it).

We're not talking aggression here. But even if we were, what would you do? Thump the living daylights out of the dog? For your information I have had dogs for over 40 years & currently have an extremely dominant dog - I've never had a problem with that, I've never had to 'stand over him' or thrash him. He knows I'm in charge, and there's never an issue with it.

lol,who said anything about thrashing,is that an accusation of dog abuse lol.....blue`s a handfull but he won`t hold a stare.if you`re frightened of a dog you shouldn`t have it .simples

Andy wrote:Jazz ... what serious under-laying behavour issues are we talkin about ? did you adopt ?

He's not the most stable animal, never been socialised and does not trust his current owners, and I know he's been forced on his back and hit.

Julie, I will take your advice, and see if I can get him out of this bad habit.
Fireball...I have no words to express what sort of annoyance you've caused me and I'm not going to justify myself to you. I asked for help, not an all-out attack.

if i knew of a dog being abused, i`d have no hesitation in bringing the matter to the relevant authorities.don`t take things so personally.maybe your just not the right person for the dog .it`s a forum,as far as i know everyone`s entitled to their opinion

I'd do the pennies in coke can. I have used that in the past with a turd eater and also with out cat to keep him from shredding the toilet paper rolls. It usually will snap them out of it. Hope that helps as Julie and jstaff have said already.

Okay _julie_ I will try that method. Sometime I think it's just him checking me out to see what I'm going to do next. He's a quick learner as well. Thank you for the help. If we could please lock this thread now :3 I shall keep you updated.