The Importance of Consistency: Be a Leader, Not an Alpha Male (Fixing Behavior Problems‪)‬

(Problem) We have a German wire. haired pointer who just turned 15 months old; we picked him up when he was eight weeks old. My wife and I had different ideas on how he should be raised. I think a person needs to be firm but fair with a young dog and let the dog know its place and what the boundaries are in the household, whereas my wife wants to treat him more like a young child. We went through a long period of time where he would test her (until he was about seven months old). The way he would test her was by pushing up against her looking for attention (which he would get), going through doors and upstairs ahead of her and basically "telling" her what to do (pet me, feed me, etc.), all things he wouldn't do to me. I think he thought he was second in command.