A strong-willed obstinate dog, with a mind of his own that does not readily accept authority, is often known as an "alpha dog". It is a dog that is not willing to accept your position as leader of the pack.
In my long involvement with dogs I have had a number of "alpha" dog. I have never had problems with them at all. If handled correctly, after a certain amount of training they became very well-behaved, reliable, delightful, loyal companions, confident, self-assured and wonderfully protective.
In fact I preferred training a hard, somewhat obstinate dog to a submissive animal that presented no challenges. But the alpha dog is not suitable for every type of owner.
When selecting a pup from a litter for competitive obedience , it is sometimes better to ignore the most dominant "pack leader" and settle rather for the friendly, outgoing, happy, anxious- to- please type of pup that seems to love everyone.
Obviously this depends on the type of obedience work you have in mind and your own personality and temperament. But, in general, the "alpha" dog does require special handling. Even as a pup the animal has to learn to respect you before he is prepared to give you his unconditional love.
I have made reference to the male rather than the bitch because the alpha animal is more likely to be a male. But
this is not always the case. There are occasions - although not often - when the leader of the pack is quite definitely a bitch. If this so, the same conditions with regard to training will apply.
This is not to suggest that the method of training necessitates harsh, severe methods and complete domination on the part of the handler. There are some trainers who firmly believe that it is necessary to break the dog down in order to get dominance and get the dog to obey at all times.
I do not hold this opinion. It is definitely not necessary to be harsh and brutal in your training with any dog. Be firm, certainly but not unnecessarily harsh to demonstrate your superiority.
What is important however, is consistency in your training and fairness. Consistency may be easier to understand than "fairness".
My interpretation of fairness is that when you train the alpha dog you must be completely in control of your emotions.
This is a general principle when you are training any type of dog. There is absolutely no point in beginning a training session when, for some reason or another, you are irritable, in a bad mood and there is the danger of over-reacting to disobedience on the part of the dog.
This applies to all dogs irrespective of the temperament. But it is of even far greater importance when you train an alpha dog.
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