Cleo being the boss!

[wiggal]

Hey all,

Now as some of you may know, we have 2 dogs, Ashke a 4 1/2 yr old male Samoyed and Cleo, a yr old Terrier x Spaniel.

Now Cleo already thinks she is the boss of me, and no matter what I do, we cant get her to think otherwise. Luckily my fella Alan is boss of the house so its not too bad!

Normally Cleo sleeps in our room, and either sleeps on her bed on the floor, or sleeps at the foot of the bed on my side. The last 2 nights, I have woken up during the night to find Cleo quite happily sharing my pillow! Her paws and head quite comfy and her snoring away!

Just wondering, is she just being more affectionate, or as one of my friends suggesting, is she becoming more dominant over me and thinking she is more in charge then before by welcoming herself up to the top of the bed?

I dont mind her cuddling up, but already being in a battle of who is the boss, I dont want to be encouraging her anymore!

Any input or advice would be great ta!

Wiggal
x

[kita1]

I wouldn't worry about it - enjoy the cuddles!!

Don't understand how cuddling up to you would make her more 'dominant'. As long as you don't mind her being on the bed and she will get down if you ask her to then I would just enjoy it.

You want to try sharing a bed with my boy - he is the size of a Great Dane!! He went through a year where he used to get on the bed when my OH went to work - he used to lie on his side letting out these small groans of shear happiness, then he just stopped out of the blue.

People talk about the dog trying to 'dominate' you, because of the wolf pack theory - but where are the beds in the wild? Wolves sleep on the ground!!

I am sure that little Cleo is not spending her day plotting how to take over the household!!

She probably enjoys the attention and the cuddles just like you do.

[gelda]

My brother has two labs who sleep on his bed, one of them sleeps with her head on the pillow, anyway he woke up one morning to find the toilet brush on his pillow, she'd brought him a present during the night!!

[Eve]

As long as she is submissive enough to obey your commands when needed and isn't aggressive or bullish towards you or others (humans or your other animals) then I wouldn't worry to much and enjoy the cuddles.

You could always take her to training if you're worried about her dominance. A colleague of mine has rules for her dog like that she always goes out the door first and such to show she is the boss of the dog.