Sophie and I started puppy classes today at 11 weeks, and the dog trainer today said she is a dominant puppy. that’s all I need?! Has anyone been told that about their puppy?! Should I be concerned or no cuz she’s a lab? This wasn’t the news I needed to hear- it made me feel like somethings wrong with her!
Why did she think your puppy was dominant? It's actually a small percentage of dogs that are naturally leaders not followers. Just be the leader with her . Never give up on a command , if you tell her to come , wait it out . Always walk out the door first , make her do something for her food. Sit or lay down or whatever . She's a baby , at 11 weeks you have a full of love and life puppy , she is simply not old enough for you to have done something wrong yet in my opinion . Don't fret , love your baby and stay consistent always . Calm and confident and full of love
everytime my puppy did something in class or interacted with another dog she kept saying “see this ones a dominant little one...this is dominant behavior” sure Sophie is hyper, 11 weeks snd has little manners so far, but she made it sounds like I have so apply all these rules or she’s going to turn into a bad dog. I’m thinking of having a non-pet store trainer assess her.
I think you need a properly qualified force-free trainer. This person is very out-dated, ideas of pack-leadership and dominance have been discredited. If you ask her to do something and she doesn't comply she either doesn't understand (most likely at this baby stage) or hasn't been sufficiently rewarded for doing what you want, or is finding the environment too distracting.
I hate those group classes and if I ever got another puppy I would do one to one training. A force free trainer would not talk about dominance.
