owning a dominant dog..

hi.. havent posted n a while so hi!! lol.. if some of u remember i got a min pin arpund xmas (8 wks at the time).. but now hes 6 months and has started obiedience classes (few wks ago).. chase is pretty good now that he is used to it and the dogs.. but he still shows signs of dominance like putting his front paws on tha others dogs shoulders or heads.. standing up on his hind legs intendeing to make himself taller.. or jus sometimes avidly barking at tha other dogs.. how do i get him to b less dominant.. i am kinda worried bcuz of him being only 12 lbs. (prly will get a lil bigger) that if there was ever another dog that didnt put up with him or wasnt intimdated by him they hed get hurt.. well thnx raymond

Have you had Chase neutered yet Raymond? That will help. Getting him into obedience classes like you've done is going to help too - the more socialized he is the better. You just need to keep after him and make sure he understands "down."

You're right to worry about him getting in over his head, and I really appreciate that you're concerned about him acting this way. I can't tell you how annoying it is to have a big dog that is trying to behave when someone's little one is acting like a brat - and the little dog's owner thinks it's cute! We all know what would happen if the big dog got tired of being snapped at and nipped!

This is the classical "Little Dog in a Big Dog Suit" syndrome! I agree about neutering, but some dogs will always feel they are DOMINANT. My boyfriend's little dog always tries to dominate my big lab who just rolls his eyes at him. And the little dog is OLD AND NEUTERED

LOL, EliN - that's where that 'down' command comes in handy - even if it doesn't always work.