Hi everyone, back at the end of October, my wife and I decided to adopt a young puppy (8 weeks old) — her mum was a Cane Corso and her dad a Staffy. Despite several power struggles with her (she’s quite a dominant character, and I’ve never given her an inch when it comes to training; I’m understanding if I feel it wasn’t on purpose, but firmer otherwise. By firm, I mean if she barks at me aggressively or does a wee right in front of me while staring me in the eye, I’d take her by the scruff of the neck and put her on her back with my palm on her throat and my hand over her muzzle. Mind you, this is without any force or violence; I speak sternly but without shouting). She follows my every command, both at home and on walks, she’s fully house-trained, hardly ever barks or growls, follows me everywhere and loves sitting between my legs or right next to me. She’s very playful, brings me her rope toy, and we do three or four 15-minute training sessions a day, along with play and plenty of cuddles. With my three-year-old son, even though he can be a bit rough with her sometimes (we’re working on that with him a lot), she is incredibly patient. If she’s had enough, she just gives him a little nudge to move him away and goes off to her own space. She’s very protective of him; she can’t stand anyone raising their voice at him, and if we even pretend to give him a smack, she steps in and growls. She doesn’t bite, but you can really tell she’s a dog that won’t tolerate any aggression.
The issue now is with my wife. As soon as I leave, the dog starts barking at her — I can even hear my wife shouting from outside. She growls at her regularly, and if I’m not there, she won’t listen to a word she says unless she senses my wife is about to reach breaking point and is at the end of her tether. When I get home, my wife is more exhausted by the dog than by our son. I honestly don’t know what to do about this. Is it up to me, as the master, to establish the hierarchy within our "pack" (and if so, how?), or is it up to my wife to work on this herself? For context, at the very beginning, she thought I was being too rough (the scruffing, putting the dog on her back with my hand on her throat and muzzle), but for the last fortnight, she’s been trying to do the same thing herself. The problem is, the dog just treats it as a game; it amuses her rather than setting any boundaries.
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post, but I think the more detail I provide about her environment, the better your advice will be! :D
