• Pushing past you to go through a door first.
• Jumping up on you.
• Refusing to move out of your path when needed.
• Getting up on the furniture without permission and then refusing to get down.
• Insisting on affection, such as nudging your arm or hand.
• Guarding valuable item such as food or toys from you.
• Growling or baring teeth for ANY reason, irregardless of whether you think that is an "understandable" reaction or not. (usually, for the record, it is NOT)
• Snapping at you for ANY reason, irregardless of whether you think that is an "understandable" reaction or not. (usually, for the record, it is NOT)

***For the bolded items in this list see the "Food Aggression" and "Aggression" sections at the end of this page.

Being A Good Leader & NILIF

If your dog is only doing things that are not bolded above, there is an excellent article HERE regarding being a good leader.  This article talks about NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) in an in-depth way, and how to take charge of your home.  NILIF is one of the best non-confrontational ways to show your dog that you have the leadership role.  For most situations, unless your dog is being aggressive towards you, firming up your role as leader and being a better leader really does take care of a lot of it.

Furniture Privileges

My personal dogs know their place.  It is on the couch.  It is OK with me if they get up on the couch, they move when I tell them to move, they move when my daughter tells them to move, and generally cause no problems with this.  I don't sleep with them.  This works for me and my dogs. 

If, on the other hand, your dog won't move when you want him to or you simply don't want him up on the furniture, make him get down and stay down.  Give him a dog bed or a pillow or a folded up blanket that is his on the floor, lure him down with a treat and make him go to his spot to get it.  You can parcel out his kibble rather than giving it in his bowl as a meal if he is really determined and up there all the time so you aren't overfeeding.  Gradually make him stay on his bed longer and longer before he gets a reward.  If he is a particularly hard nut to crack, try leashing him to you and making him stay with you all the time.  You can correct him immediately and he won't be able to sneak up on the furniture the minute you turn your back.  

Human Food & Begging

It is best not to give human food or allow begging.  If you must give your dog a bit of human food, give it over their regular meal in their bowl.  This sounds really simple and I am not going to say that my dogs never get a little treat from my or my daughters plate, but if your dog is showing signs of dominance, do try not to do that.  When a dog begs, and you give him food, in his mind he has given you a command to give him some of that and you have complied, reinforcing his mistaken idea of who is in charge here.

Demanding Attention

Dogs can be real attention junkies!  The more they get, the more they want.  If your dog is always nudging your hand, practically demanding attention, it is normal to think it is cute, and endearing, and pet them.  For a lot of dogs, it doesn't go any further than that.  For some dogs, this encourages their mistaken notion that they are in charge.  Hey!  I commanded her to pet me...and she did!  Yippee!  You see how this can go.

Don't give your dog attention on demand.  Every dog needs affection and love, but when you are working on the computer, it is really hard to type and pet your dog at the same time.  Ignore the behavior if you don't feel like giving any affection at that moment.  Resist the temptation to push them away because this can be taken as a pet by the dog.  Say a firm "NO!" I say "NO!  Go on!" without making eye contact and refuse to give any attention at all.  When you do feel like it, call the dog over, make them do something like go into a sit or down, give them attention and affection on YOUR terms!  When you have had enough, stop.  You control the time and amount of affection, not the dog.

Obedience

Taking your dog through a basic obedience class can really help with dominance.  It helps to firm up your role and can give you ways to communicate to your dog that they understand.  Going through a formal obedience class is best, and PetSmart offers a fairly good class for a pretty reasonable price.  Talk to the trainer first, though and make sure you are comfortable with his or her methods before signing up for an obedience class anywhere.

If you are unable financially, or time wise to take your dog to an obedience class, and it does happen...here is a website about clicker training.  It has all the lessons for a basic obedience class, and you can print them out and use them for free.  Read through the home page, the FAQ page and the "What Is Clicker Training" page and if you decide to persue this at home, a clicker will cost about $2.  It is very important to do the first 3 lessons, The Clicker, Attention Please, & Targeting in that order.  After those 3 lessons, you can go in whatever order you prefer.

Food Aggression

If your dog actually lunges or snaps at you when you approach his food, don't try the method below.  You don't want to get injured or bitten.  Call an animal behaviorist or personal trainer for help.  Your local humane society may have some contact information, or resources for you.  If your dog is a rescue, try calling the shelter or rescue you got the dog from.  Many rescues or shelters are willing and eager to help the dog maintain his home and be a successful adoption.  If your dog was obtained from a reputable breeder, don't hesitate to contact them, explain in detail the behaviors you are seeing, and a reputable breeder not only knows the breed, and how to work with that breed, but will be more than willing to help you and their pup have a successful home life, or can at least point the way to a behaviorist that has breed experience.

If your dog growl or bares his teeth while he is eating if you approach his bowl, he is displaying food aggression.  What you can try is for the next week or so, hand feed him.  Take his regular amount of kibble, put it in a baggie, and feed it by hand.  This lets him know in a very concrete way that you, not he, controls that resource.  Make him do something for every handful, like sit or go into a down.  Gradually increase the time he has to hold the sit or down in order to get the food.  After about a week of that, put a handful at a time in his bowl and make him do something for that as well.  You can work with extending the period of time he has to hold his sit before he gets the food, putting the food in the bowl and making him wait to get it, etc.  Once he has worked his way back to actually getting a meal in his bowl, always make him do something for you like sit and make him wait for permission to start eating.  Dogs sometimes "forget" and need a reminder to stay on track.

True Aggression

If your dog is displaying the bolded Signs Of Dominance above, well, there is some aggression involved.  The main thing to remember is you don't want to get bitten or injured.  Correcting aggression using physical means is not the way to go in the vast majority of cases by the vast majority of owners. 

If your dog has actually snapped at or bitten you, at that point it is best to call an animal behaviorist or personal trainer for help.  Your local humane society may have some contact information, or resources for you.  If your dog is a rescue, try calling the shelter or rescue you got the dog from.  Many rescues or shelters are willing and eager to help the dog maintain his home and be a successful adoption.  If your dog was obtained from a reputable breeder, don't hesitate to contact them, explain in detail the behaviors you are seeing, and a reputable breeder not only knows the breed, and how to work with that breed, but will be more than willing to help you and their pup have a successful home life, or can at least point the way to a behaviorist that has breed experience.

When You Need Professional Help...

Even a couple of sessions can give you a starting point and also a professional trainer's take on your dog can be a valuable thing.  Most dogs when they are behaving in this way are trying to tell you something.  In a few cases they are trying to tell you "hey, I'm a nut" and these particular dogs may be better off not being tortured by their own thoughts.  Most times, although they are unintentionally getting that message across, that isn't what they are trying to tell you.  An experienced dog trainer meeting you, and your family, and your dog, and giving you their take on the situation can be a very valuable tool in determining exactly what your dog is trying to tell you.

Here are some guidelines for choosing a professional trainer:

From the National K-9 Dog Trainers Association:

http://www.nk9dta.com/selecting_trainer.aspx

And from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers:

http://www.apdt.com/trainers-and-owners/trainer-search/choosing-a-trainer.htm