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An Article from the Founder

Jumping

Wolf   Dominant wolves are permitted, indeed, intentionally put their feet on the backs of others to display their dominant status.
Dog   A dog who thinks he's high in rank is permitted to put his feet on lower ranking members of the group.
Treat the cause   Establish owner leadership to lower the dog's rank

Housesoiling

Wolf   Dominant wolves can urinate or defecate anywhere they please, even on the sleeping mats or areas belonging to lower-ranking group members.
Dog   A dog who thinks he's high in rank is permitted to eliminate anywhere he pleases.
Treat the cause   Lower the dog's rank.

Scent Marking

Wolf   The dominant wolf in the pack has the daily obligation to mark the area or territory several times or more.
Dog   A dog who thinks he's high in rank is required by his position to mark the territory every day.
Treat the cause   Establish owner leadership to lower the dog's rank.

Aggression

Wolf   High-ranking wolves maintain their status by keeping underlings in line. No subordinate wolves are permitted to display dominant behavior over a superior. Superiors protect their belongings and keep lower-status wolves in line with the use of facial expressions (baring teeth), vocal sounds (growling), even nips or pinches.
Dog   A dog who thinks he's high in rank is required to maintain his position by protesting any dominant handling by his lower-ranking humans, and guard his "stuff" from lower-ranking humans. He will growl or nip over such things as nail clips and other care-giving, head-petting and hugging, and will growl if subordinates get too near his food, toys, chews or sleeping areas.
Treat the cause   Establish owner leadership to lower the dog's rank.

Sibling Rivalry

Wolf   Wolves settle disputes over rank hierarchy with spats or tussles. Rarely do wolves fight to the death.
Dog   Dogs living in the same household who are confused about their rank as it relates to one another will fight or tussle to resolve the discrepancy. Rarely do dogs fight to the death, but never should they be permitted to "fight it out."
Treat the cause   Lower all dogs' ranks below humans so that humans have leadership, then use that leadership to reinforce the correct order of hierarchy between dogs.

Excessive Puppy Biting

Wolf  Wolf cubs are not permitted to bite excessively higher-ranking members of the pack. They are encouraged, however, to bite their littermates.
Dog   Puppies who are uncertain about who is leading the pack will bite a human as they would a littermate.
Treat the cause   It is crucial to avoiding puppy biting to establish human leadership as early as possible.

Housetraining

Wolf   Wolves are not concerned about where puppies eliminate. Wolves simply continue to redirect puppies to the right location, knowing that potty training will take place eventually.
Dog   Puppies who aren't certain whose house it is and who are "attacked" for soiling the rug will take a long time to housetrain.
Treat the cause   Establish human leadership as early as possible.

When owners of problem dogs begin a leadership program they should be prepared to give it time to take effect, i.e., two weeks to see a 60-80% overall improvement. Not bad, considering most dog problems have persisted for an average of 2 1/2 years before owners finally get help. Chewing, jumping, soiling, digging, barking, biting and aggression just aren't going to stop the first day. Fixing it overnight necessarily involves pain, fear or force and will develop other problems owners won't want later. Ultimately a leadership program will work to solve behavior problems. Have some patience; give it four to six weeks.

Save the "discipline" for the kids. Teach a dog what to do and ignore what you don't like. Make your dog truly happy: give him the leadership he craves -- and deserves!