How do I Show my Basset Hound that I am the Boss?

spunsosweet: How can I get my Basset Hound to realize that I am the boss when she is being aggressive?
Sometimes out of the blue my female 5-month-old Basset Hound will jump on me with her gums raised and her teeth showing, and the more I try to stop her the more aggressive she gets. I have been hearing about dog packs having an Alpha dog and I need to teach her that I am the Alpha dog but how can I do that?

Photo Credit: patchattack/Flickr CC

Answers and Views:

Answer by bassetnut
She is playing with you, that's how dogs play.
That said, she needs to learn to respect you as a leader. I suggest starting obedience classes.

Answer by Cindy
I think she's playing a little too rough. I would very firmly tell her NO! and put her back on the ground.

Answer by Corgi Girl
Make sure your Basset pup knows who is in charge. Train her. Before she can eat, make her stay. Before she can go outside, make her sit. Make her understand the boundaries.

Answer by cinney
Firmly tell her NO and roll her onto her back looking dead in her eyes. That shows her YOU are the boss.

Answer by laura
Only let her eat from your hand. The alpha dog has food. Or, pretend you are eating her food first, then she gets some. Basset Hounds are kinda aggressive, especially females, but most people don't realize it.

Answer by xcbellx1980
Put your Basset on it's back.. and stare her straight in the eyes… do not stop until she has submitted… you can tell if she has submitted when she looks away from you and no longer looks you straight in the eyes.. at that point you have reached alpha … she will still challenge you every once in a while but if you never back down you will become the alpha dog!

Answer by Terri J
My dog is now extremely obedient. But, while he was growing, there were times when he also became belligerent with me. Each time, I immediately got his leash, put him on it, and began insisting he obeys commands. If he got nasty with me, I jerked upon his collar.

When he started coming around, I would praise him profusely. And, when his obedience came into the range of where it should be, I began giving him treats each time he obeyed a command.

For the most part, you should ignore bad behavior in your dog and reward good behavior. But when they get out of control as you describe, the above worked for me.

Answer by kat s
Flick her on the nose.

Answer by GiggleZ
Do not abuse the dog like flicking her nose. Tell her in a firm voice to stop and if she does you can give her a treat.

Answer by dan
I bought a Korean Jindo puppy last year (1.5 years old now), and to "dominate" him I held his back legs up and forced him to walk on his two front legs so that he felt that I was controlling him. I did this every hour or so just to keep him in check. I also held his mouth shut for a minute or so when he nibbled me or something, Now he's a very behaved dog that knows that I am his leader.

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Answer by Kathryn Nissen
Canine behaviourist.

Wow.. You have a whole heap of advice here, very little of it helpful most useless and some downright dangerous. Please ignore any advice to tap a nose, roll her on the ground or even to tell her NO. It is useless to use a word that she has not learned. To tell you to be a pack leader is useless advice when you don’t know how. I bet you are now really confused.

First of all, without seeing what is going on it is impossible to be sure of giving you the correct advice for your situation. You say she raises her gums. Does she Growl? You say you have tried to stop her. How? Saying she gets more aggressive does not explain enough. You might just THINK she is showing aggression.

Secondly do the wrong thing and you could easily escalate the situation. DO NOT flick her nose. Forget about the pack leader bit for now it is too involved to explain it in writing and you are not experienced enough. Also, she is a hound, she is likely to be stubborn It could be attention-seeking it might not be.

There is a very simple way to stop a dog from putting feet on you. Simply by ignoring the dog and turn around so it is unbalanced and feet are back on the floor. BUT..and this is huge BUT.. you have to learn how to do it properly or it won’t work. If she is scaring you at all and/or she is in contact with children you need more help than you can get here.

The best advice here... join a knowledgeable dog club that uses reward-based training. A more expensive but problem-focused option is to consult a canine behaviourist.
Please do one of the two.

Answer by Volleyball14
Make your Basset know you are the boss - the pack leader. MAKE her follow you. TELL her that you want her to come. DON'T let her take control. YOU take control! Good luck!
Stay strong!
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