How to discipline our pug?

[Hellas]

How do you feel about the alpha roll? I still feel like Penelope doesn't know who is boss in the house. When she nips and plays too rough, do you think I should use this method?

In doggie speak, the alpha roll means "I am going to kill you". I know you love your little girl and would never want to communicate that to her. So my answer to your question is an emphatic 'no, please don't'. Not knowing any better, we used that tecnique a couple of times when Winston was little. I shudder now, looking back on it, knowing what I know. Also, it absolutely did not work. It only made him more frenzied.

Penelope is still a baby and she will do things for fun, just as small children do. It has little to do with knowing who's boss. All puppies pretty much behave that way, so my first advice would be not to worry about it too much. In my experience, the best way to deal with nipping and rough playing is to make it non rewarding for the puppy. Say for example little P tries to bite your pant legs as you walk through the room (a favourite of Winnie's when he was a pup). The best thing with a lot of dogs is to simply stop and turn your back. Don't talk to her and don't move until she stops. If, when you start walking, she starts again, simply repeat. That way, she eventually learns that biting your pants isn't fun and will only make you ignore her. Saying 'no' to a playful puppy will often excite the puppy more and make them escalate the behaviour. Whenever Winston would bite to hard, we would yelp, and stop the play immediately. As an adult, he is extremely gentle with his mouth at all times, so that seems to have really worked.

In response to the original question, I suggest that you simply ignore the monks of Skete. Their methods are outdated. There are much better methods, based on science that not only are more effective, but are also fair on the dogs. I disagree with all forms of violence in dog rearing, including shaking a dog by the scruff of the neck, and know from first hand experience that it's completely unneccessary.

The advice to ignore a dog for 30 minutes after a reprimand is pure nonsense. Dogs' brains aren't geared to understand that kind of behaviour so will have no clue why the human is grumpy.

There are so many good books out there about training dogs with positive reinforcement. My advice is to buy or borrow such a book. (Here's a website with lots of good books Canis netbutik – allt för hunden!) It will explain to you how dogs learn and why teaching is way more important than disciplining. By this, I mean that it's much kinder AND more effective, to encourage the behaviour that you want instead of punishing the behaviour you don't want.

[Snifter]

What Hellas said. Pugs in particular are very attuned to their owners and really need to trust them. That is how they were bred. Sharp words or rough handling will simply cause the pug to shut down, though, rather than seek to perform other behaviours that may have a better result.

Also I believe that the dominance theory is old and has been debunked. Pugs are not little dictators looking for every chance to take over the household. You really don't need to stress over whether your behaviour is alpha enough. Just as you would not seek to dominate a toddler and make it know at all times that you are the boss, but would teach with love and understanding that actions have consequences. Good actions have good consequences, and bad actions have negative consequences (being ignored, not being played with, not having treats...)

[Hellas]

What Hellas said. Pugs in particular are very attuned to their owners and really need to trust them. That is how they were bred. Sharp words or rough handling will simply cause the pug to shut down, though, rather than seek to perform other behaviours that may have a better result.

Also I believe that the dominance theory is old and has been debunked. Pugs are not little dictators looking for every chance to take over the household. You really don't need to stress over whether your behaviour is alpha enough. Just as you would not seek to dominate a toddler and make it know at all times that you are the boss, but would teach with love and understanding that actions have consequences. Good actions have good consequences, and bad actions have negative consequences (being ignored, not being played with, not having treats...)

Seconded. The dominance theory has indeed been debunked. From what I understand, it was based on a misinterpretation of how wolves behave. Scientists now know that wolves don't have the kind of hierarchy that they once thought. It has also turned out that dogs are very different from wolves. The whole idea of dogs as always looking to climb the dominance ladder is simply untrue. Perhaps more importantly, dogs know that humans are not dogs. They don't compete with us for dominance.

Pugs especially respond extremely well to reward based training. My dogs get simply wild with joy whenever I bring out the clicker.