Watch me battle a dominant Alaska Malamute

"He wasn't doing anything wrong. But I don't care" was so cathartic. My friends and family think I'm "being mean" when I withhold his dinner till I give the command to eat because hes a really sweet and well behaved dog. They dont realise he's sweet BECAUSE I am strict.

Probably something you don't hear every day but my 19 yr old cat really enjoyed this video.

I have been using thisas a handy reference book youtube.com/post/UgkxGQVgV21bQ7B9b9duQ1ByImyT9xHbj… . I read through the book and enjoyed the little glimpses of examples. I love that this author believes in rescue dogs. The tips and training has been invaluable and gave me moments of.... "how simple why didn't i think of it" so it's been a great tool. Thank you!

"You need to be the boss" and "dominance is not aggressive". Every dog trainer MUST be taught My dog responded immediately improved once I understood this. Thank you for your videos!!

Thank God I see a trainer that can explain the difference between dominance and aggression.

Thanks for showing the actual "ugly side" of raising a dog, especially one that's as stubborn and assertive and this fella.

Although I am not a professional trainer, I have trained both my Alaskan Malamute and my current Siberian Husky. Dominance is not aggression, and showing your dog, you are the boss is essential, especially with these alpha dogs. Sure, they are cute and all, but dogs are not toys, and one must take responsibility for both their well-being and of those around your dogs. I love what this guy is saying. I had never seen his videos before until now, and I am so glad he is right there with what I have always thought what training your dominant dog should be all about.

Bear is actually more comfortable knowing he can be chill when Joel is on duty. We all appreciate knowing things aren't going to fall apart if we relax. On a dog sled team, they'd be the driver and lead dog, expertly guiding the rest of the team from the front and the back.

I’m a dog groomer and this is definitely true even while grooming dogs. You have to remain calm and not get triggered but calmly show them who’s in charge. I’m very gentle with what I’m doing but my energy is never to be messed around with. The dogs always behave for me.

I needed this! I have a dominant 2 year old shiba that mean mugs all the dogs in the neighborhood and he bullies me in the house until I get exasperated and submit. That battle you had with Bear in the beginning is the battle I have with my Shiba. I have been watching your videos and began implementing your techniques on being the boss last evening and in just a few hours I saw a change in him, like he actually stayed off of the couch and we practiced his recall and it got much better. He left his toy when I said to leave it, he dropped it, etc. He doesn’t seem to ignore me so much. I saw your video on dog on dog aggression and correcting any tiny sign of aggression at another dog during an interaction and I’m going to implement that. He is no longer running the show here. Those very sugary positive reinforcement only methods don’t work! I’m naturally like that by nature and if they worked we wouldn’t be having these issues but I realize my dog isn’t a baby and correction needs to be correction, not a tail wagging snack break.

Got a malamute and I’m so glad someone said that positive training won’t work for all dogs. Got a malamute and it didn’t work for months. Watched his vids in weeks I got him under control. Thank you so much!

You are so right. Dominance IS a thing. There's a Malamute that visits our local park, man this dog IS dominant. It doesn't not take crap at all, it knows it's boss. It always sits on the table looking out, doesn't back down, not even to humans and has the most intense stare. It doesn't play, just sits calmly, watches constantly to make sure everything is in order and launches in to break up fights or out of line behaviours. Even my dominant GSD knows his place with this dog. Dominant dogs are pack leaders and it's the way they're naturally wired, this order keeps the packs calm and safe, but you are right, we as humans need to be their pack leader if not they'll without a doubt pack lead us.

I have a 6 month old Malinois, and he's another bear. He tries to submit all dogs, without being aggressive. He TRIES to listen when he wants but I don't tolerate that nonsense so he's getting better by the day, but it is an EVERY DAY battle. It's amazing when you see it finally click in their head and they start to just listen. Great video, great points, and such a beautiful dog.

As someone who trained an American Eskimo 100% positive I can verify that it does not work with every dog. All positive trainers always make videos with dogs that are just naturally submissive. I now own a GSD and have since converted to balalanced training that uses all 4 quadrants of operant conditioning. You just need to issue a correction occasionally for 100% reliability with certain dogs.

So refreshing to see this. Just adopted a dog and so many “Training” videos make me wonder who is training who the dog or the human. I just see people raising spoiled dogs like they do kids. My dog will have a warm, loving home, but it’s my home and I’m the leader of it. He will listen to me. He’s not my friend or my equal, he’s my dog. I love him and will protect, provide, and love-but he has to respect me. Thank you!

This is the first time I've seen someone talk about this so big props to you man. I have a Chihuahua and Aussie mix and he is as smart as clever as he is dominant. Saw him bamboozle a German Shepard twice his size into giving up her spot near HER owner 😂

We just adopted a malamute puppy, and the breeder took 4 hours out of her time to explain to us how different the training for a malamute is compared to another dog. She has been breeding and training Malamutes for 27 years, and she told us exactly what you explained. Dominance is not aggression, and you have to be always consistent and calm in order to gain a Malamute trust. Your video is very interesting and makes me even more confident in myself in order to be respected by my pup so she can have a good life in our pack !

Had a discussion with two opponents of "be the boss" which I can only assume means they are purely positivers. I gave a specific scenario "You bring an adult dog home, they jump onto the best seat of the couch. When you ask them to move they growl at you." Neither one, as you often point out in your videos, had anything productive to say. The first lady bowed out immediately by saying "Well I've never had a dominant dog so I don't know." The second individual basically told me that dog/human dominance doesn't exist and that when bringing an adult dog home that's exhibiting the ^ behaviors they would "wait for the dog to forget it's past and passively teach them new behaviors." No specifics whatsoever. Just some regurgitated positive behaviorist nonsense they prob heard at the last class they took. Moral of the story, you are 100% correct, these people have nothing to say.

As a dog owner of a really dominant dog for 13 years, I can absolutely say with certainty that dominance is a reality when it comes to dogs. It comes to humans as well. All social creatures have dominance hierarchies

I learned a good lesson in a roundabout way years ago. I was dealing with a tremendous case of vertigo and out very slowly walking my senior lab. I came across a dog off leash, like a griffin and a lab mix and so beautiful and she stole my heart with her peacefulness. The owner and I let our equally sweet pooches check each other out, and I called her to me for a pet but I couldn’t do my usual crouch because of the vertigo, having to stand with my head up/chin in the air in order to not fall down the ole vertigo hill. And as soon as the girl came to me she dropped to a lie down and stayed that way the whole time I was petting her. I eventually put it together that it was the height of my chin that had to do with the interaction. Ever since then I’ve used it with my new dog when I give commands. Makes for minimal repeating myself; especially if my head is turned away from him during a chin-upped command. And thank YOU for sharing so much on this special channel. A public service, I’d say and bravo. 🙌🏼🐾