Levels for each february 1 sales double said size asked I hear a person grab onto and run with a poorly understood concept. People who are not of course struggle to replicate what he achieves and this is perhaps his most important and most missed lesson what YOU as the handler bring to the the dog majorly affect how it reacts and responds any given situation. It is difficult to explain a way people can understand, and I believe this is one of 's biggest hurdles I do not find 's admission of fandom to be at all conflict with her to allow her dog to act as individual and often take charge of her. Personally I disagree with much of what Stillwell says but this does not mean I do not learn anything from her, or consider her important voice the dog behaviour world. Would you believe it possible that I am both a fan of AND Coren? The most significant things I have learnt I've learnt from those two people, both at completely different ends of the spectrum. Is there no room for opinions from across the board? The growl should be treated as a communication expression of feeling from the dog and should most certainly be acknowledged. The tricky bit is being able to figure out what that particular dog meant by it's growl at that specific moment, and then to figure out away of addressing that expression and resolving the matter. Growling is indication of something, quite often discomfort It is a warning signal, used to inform the target that it uncomfortable about what it dislikes and if the situation does not improve it raise the stakes and resort to further distance increasing behaviours, like snapping or biting. The danger stifling a dog's choice of growling without acknowledging and dealing with the reason for the dog's perceived need to growl is that, having been shown growling doesn't work, it move straight on up to snapping or biting, giving the offending dog person LESS warning to move away before being potentially damaged. Showing favoritism can cause more problems that it's worth depending on the personalities play. If you favour the wrong dog you leave the other no option but to continue to compensate with it's own style of warning opinion Parkes has the better idea of how to handle the growler on the sofa I worked for a while for a small dog Charity. I often had to stay overnight caring for about 6 rescued dogs. I did find it useful to establish 'leadership' by their methods, basically, never say hello or goodbye to a dog not their concern what you are doing. And, e..g. when a 12 stone mastiff leaned on me, just moving away without speaking. The key was not speaking. We had a 12 year old lurcher type that had been shut outdoors most of his life. He was reluctant to go out at night to do his business. I just went out first, kept back to him and said nothing, and within a few minutes out he came. Time and agin saw this method work when dealing with dogs with fears Needless to say, when I had own small dog, he was totally charge! I have 8 yr old female, 6 yr old female 2 yr old male ……all chow chows, all fixed, all since 8w weeks old When we got the 6yr old as a pup the rescue told us they excepted her to try to be dominant. The last 6 months we have had to step between the girls a few times....... Twice the last month they have actually fought. …common factor seems to be playtime with the youngest. If the 6yr old gets just a little to rough or aggressive with the 2yr old the 8yr old starts to circle or just attacks her. We give the commands to leave it or walk away, most of the time it works but sadly not all anymore and I 't why. Any thoughts on why now this is happening? What I can do to help make things better again? Sean, I completely agree. The 'bullies lack confidence' myth is just a tool to diminish the bullies, it has little basis fact. There are cases where esteem or confidence issues cause defensive behaviour, including pre-emptive strikes and establishing a fearsome reputation but it is a mistake to assume all bullies are lacking confidence. The subject is far too complex to give this blanket 'diagnosis'. Our expectations training a started Texas gun dog are high at Black Water Creek Retrievers. We believe a started Texas gun dog shoud be trained with the emphasis of a hunting dog and be gun dog ready. Yet have the skills to run a UKC Started Hunt Test with the ability to also be successful at AKC Junior Hunt Test with our training. If you are interested what kind of Started Gun Dogs watch some of the video clips below. These are