Instructions
Determine whether your dog is actually dominant or not. According to VetInfo, dominance is not part of your dog̵7;s personality. Rather, it is a series of behaviors that permits one dog to have greater access to resources than another member of the pack. Domestic dogs share pack membership with the humans with whom they live. A dog that quietly ignores your command is not necessarily dominant. Rather, it is independent and does not feel that you have established your role as pack leader, allowing it to do as it pleases. Many traits are used to separate dominant behavior form other forms of behavior. Typically, a dominant dog will display guarding behaviors, it might bite or snap when challenged or it might simply be assertive and try to show leadership over its owner.
Determine the type or types of dominance or aggression your dog displays. Your dog might choose to guard toys but not its food bowl. It might decide that your bed is now its bed but the couch is a fine place to share. Once you determine what your dog considers the most valuable resource, seek to control that resource. Your dog must understand that all good things come from you, especially the good thing it desires most.
Eliminate games that might allow your dog to establish dominance over you. The American Dog Trainers Network suggests that a puppy should engage in an active game, like Fetch, instead of a game like Tug-O-War. Games like Tug-O-War ̶0;inadvertently teach your puppy [the] power of its teeth, that he̵7;s stronger than you and in encounters against you, that he̵7;s likely to win. Dogs tend to do what is in their own best interest to do. If fetching a ball produces a valued resource and attempting to pull an object away from you provides no reward, then the dog will prefer the first game over the second.
Remind your dog that nothing in life is free. The Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) method of establishing rank is a strict program that removes all privileges and resources from the dog̵7;s control. Your dog cannot choose to establish play times or demand food and it is not allowed to sit on any furniture. Control over all resources lies in the hand of the owner or owners, which gives the humans superior rank over that of the dog. Everyone in the dog̵7;s household ̶0;pack̶1; needs to be on board with the NILIF process. Even one deviation from the NILIF program will cause the program to be ineffective.
Call a professional. An animal behaviorist is trained to understand what makes dogs act the way they do. A behaviorist might give you insights that you do not have in terms of establishing rank over your dog.
How to Establish Rank With a Dominant Dog
Contrary to popular belief, a high amount of prey does not make your dog a dominant dog. Stealing food is not a mark of dominance. Even when your dog urinates on you or your possessions, it is not necessarily from dominance. A dominant dog will attempt to establish control over all resources in the household, from furniture to food to you. Dominant, confident dogs are often difficult to assert control over. However, dogs that are dominant only because they are not confident in their leader -- you -- may be convinced to give up their control when you establish your own dominance.