Dominance Exercises

This is a tool to maintain the alpha position you must have with your 
Siberian Husky.  One rule you must follow though, if you do a dominance 
exercise, you must be prepared to win it.  If the dog threatens to growl or 
bite, muzzle it.  If the dog can overpower you, do it with someone nearby to 
help if it is needed or do the exercise on a table or somewhere where the dog 
is intimidated enough to make it possible for you to overcome it.  If you 
lose the dominance exercise, then the dog has won and will feel more 
alpha--it would have been better to not do it than to let the dog win.  When 
the dominance exercise is finished, you are the one to say, "good boy or good 
girl" and "OK, up" so the dog knows you have ended the exercise and are 
permitting it to get up.  If it starts to struggle in anticipation of being 
let up, you must control it again and make it lay quietly--otherwise you are 
letting it struggle free and it is winning the exercise.

Always follow the dominance exercise with lavish praise and affection.  You 
are not trying to make the dog submissive so much as happy to be second to 
you.  

The simplest exercise is to lay a puppy upside down in your arms, close to 
your chest, with its legs up, cradled like a baby.  Hold it like this and 
tell it to settle.  Do not coochy coo it though you can say good boy if it is 
settling.  Don't scratch or pet it or soothe it except to say good boy if it 
is quiet.  Once it has settled, which may take 30 seconds to 15 minutes or 
longer, it needs to lay limp and relaxed in your arms and then you can let it 
down and praise and show it tremendous affection.

Sometimes it is easier to do the cradling exercise while sitting since the 
dog can get heavy.  Remember you must be prepared to hold out as long as it 
takes.

The other exercise to graduate to is to lay the dog on its side, head to your 
left, legs sticking towards you, and to lay across the dog at the shoulder, 
your chest over his shoulder.  Be prepared for the dog to want to escape and 
hold it still.  Maintain this with some of your weight on the dogs shoulder 
saying good boy if he is quiet and no if he isn't but do not pet him or 
scratch him.  He is to obey because you tell him too, not because you are 
bribing him with pets.  When he is quiet, start to release the pressure and 
the dog will probably struggle to get up.  Reassert pressure and tell the dog 
to stay or settle.  You should be able to get up, kneeling at the dogs side 
and then release him, again lavishly praising and hugging the dog.  

Do these exercises a couple times per day at first, depending on how rapidly 
he is learning to submit, more often if he struggles, less often if he 
submits readily.  If the dog ignores your command for come or sit or NO, then 
do a dominance exercise on the spot if you can.  You will be surprised how 
much more obedient the dog is if you correct him by dominating him every time 
he is bad.    Once they settle into you being alpha, they usually are content 
to be your subject if you are loving, caring and trustworthy, like any good 
alpha should be.  If you are moody and inconsistent and/or the dog is really 
genetically alpha, they will rechallenge you but repeating the exercises can 
be used for life.

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