[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by CFrance

On another note... When we got our first puppy, we were told to sit with him while he eats and take food out of his bowl AND his mouth. Gross, I know, but the idea with a puppy is to establish pack dominance, as in you are the leader and the pup is the follower, and you will decide if and when and how much the dog will eat. It gets the puppy used to others being around him and bothering him while he's eating. There are other dominance exercises to do with a puppy. You really need to bone up on these before getting a puppy, especially if there are children in the house.

Very good point CFrance. A dog will gladly take over the role of pack leader if you let it, and that can be dangerous with a hyper dog. When my friend was having some aggression issues with a male greyhound she adopted off the track, they gave her some easy fixes. As the pack leader she was told to eat first before feeding the dog. go out the door first and make the dog wait, etc. In no time the dog realized that his owner was the pack leader.