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Because perhaps each dog is an indivdual and they come into their own in their own time. I guess some people do get given dodgy advice though.

Oh yeah we tried the scruff and to lay him down, he became the real spawn of satan when he did that LOL

All it does is attract the dog to a spot it doesn't make the dog toilet there.

It's a nice thing, she's just saying you're boss. After shower licking is pretty normal

I had a lot of problems with my puppy biting hands or whatever else, all the typical tatics didn't work. He's 17 weeks old and is pretty much over it now. Ask your breeder how they handle it. If I could turn back time, I would forget about how cute he was and be bossier and more aloof with him from day 1. I also got frustrated a lot with him which of course he realised and this made him worse. We changed his attitude by working on us first. If he was stressing me out with the biting and I could feel myself getting stressed, I needed to get into a more bossier frame of mind and mean what I said and follow through with the repremand. He learned very quickly that I didn't always follow through. Tatics we used were: Verbal Repremand - did nothing. Folding his mouth skin over his teeth so he would bite himself: did nothing. Smack (not particularly hard): did nothing. Redirected him to a toy - would get him even more wound up & we were stuffed if we didn't have a toy on hand. Water gun - worked for about 2 weeks. Stop chew spray - worked for about 3 days. Time outs: worked for short periods of time. Being Bossy & aloof and showing him who was boss (body language & tone of voice) - still working.

We have a Ute as well as a car, when we're in the ute we find it perfectly acceptable to place a dog on one of our laps, no big issue because any other time they are treated like dogs.

It doesn't sound like she sees you as an Alpha at all. I'm sorry but I think you may be mis-interpreting what an Alpha is. All the best though

Hard to know not seeing it first hand. Shows can be overwhelming for dogs, however this isn't an excuse to use. If you're not aready putting in place firm leadership, the time is now.

I prefer to bring a puppy home between 8-10 weeks. The puppy shouldn't leave its' mother until a least 8 weeks, it needs that time to learn socialisation, bit inhibition, toileting behaviours etc.

Ok, here's my opinion, I'm not saying this is what is happening just what I think.... From the sounds of it your Pom doesn't understand where she stands in the pack order, this happens to many dogs, unfortunately it seems to happen to small dogs more due to the way they are treated by their owner. Your dog is repremanding your husband for getting too close because the dog sees you as 'hers', she sees herself as the Alpha in the pack. You can snap her out of this, but it all depends on whether you're ready to dish out the tough love because it can be emotionaly harsh for us humans to do. I really reccomend you head to your book store and pick up a book by Jan Fennell called Dog Listener so you can understand the correct manner in how to communicate with a dog as us humans tend to treat them like humans and then get frustrated and angry when they start to display behavioural problems. Both yourself and your husband need to start acting like leaders of the pack so she understands where she stands, this takes the pressure off her. Imagine if Australia were to go to war tomorrow and the Prime Minister said "Ok, I need you to be in charge of the troops, you must protect them and make sure no harm comes to them". What would you do? Freak out most likely, you'd try your hardest to do the job but you don't really have the confidence levels to do this and you'd probably stuff it up. You're curently asking your dog to protect the troops....the pack....which is you and your husband. You dog may not be a born leader and may very well be a born follower and this responsiblity is too much for her and she may be very willing to give up her title as Alpha in a heart beat. She could be a born leader and this could take a little bit more time. Remember, when you're referring to your girl, refer to her as a dog first and her breed second, behavioural problems aren't individual between breeds. If I were in your situation, I would be doing the following: 1) She's not allowed on the sofa anymore until she can be a follower rather than a leader, so everytime she gets up on the sofa you put her back on the foor, you keep doing this, she'll get the message pretty fast. When you decide to let her back up in the sofa, she must sit first to ask permission and then get on, if she ever just jumps up without asking you put her back on the floor. 2) Each time you are seperated by a door, this can be a hallway door, a bathroom door, a front door, a back door etc on your re-entry you pretend you don't have a dog for a full 5 minutes, no eye contact, no verbal etc. It's very hard initially but just go and do something that will keep you occupied for 5 minutes. Why do a 5 minute ignore? Alpha's come and go as they please and the pack shows no concern, however when the Alpha returns to the pack they must demonstrate that since they have been gone there have been no changes, Alpha's do this by acting aloof. After a couple of weeks of doing this you should be able to take down the 5 minute ignore to just seconds if your dog is displaying calm behaviour. Now, after the 5 minutes, you call her to you, if she comes 'instantly' to you, ask her to sit, pat her and continue on with your day. If she doesn't come instantly then you ignore her until you are seperated by a door again and you go through the 5 minute ignore. If she continues to not come (ignoring you) you ignore her for a full day. Don't give out free attention. You can still give out as much attention but it must be on your terms not hers. If she approaches you and asks for attention, you ignore her. Any time she wants something including attention, she must do something for it i.e. a sit. So not touching her unless she does something first. If she starts to automatically sit, step it up and ask her to drop and keep upping the antie each time she offers the behaviour automatically as that's cheating. And no more picking her up, your raising her to a higher level and this confuses her position in the pack. Now, just to burst your bubble....you said this is not a huge drama, unfortunately it is, your dog is currently exhibiting dangerous behaviour that could have her put to sleep if she does it to someone else. Also, you want your dog to be happy right? Take the pressure off her, she doesn't need to be the leader, she needs you and your husband to be leaders and defenders of the pack and tell her what to do and to show her everything is ok. Remember though, Leaders are not Bullies, they are Firm and Fair. Be careful with your tone of voice, females especially need to be aware of their tone, higher tones will exite a dog. See yourself as the Leader and Protector of the pack and speak in the tone of voice of one....no need to raise your voice though......just have that air of confidence. Just my 2 cents and what I have personaly used on my own dogs and people I know have used on their dogs with success.

Quality of the instruction.

Good Luck! Let us know how you get on!

The screaming sounds like a protest, my puppy is currently in his rak & shape period and tantrums are common right now and yes he does scream from time to time, being firm with him and never letting him win a protest is how we're moving forward. You may need to take her for a run if she's old enough to exercise like that prior to class.

A wire crate that is big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around but no bigger You'll need to get the puppy used to the crate during the day, i.e. feed the dog in the crate, play with toys in the crate, each time puppy falls asleep pop them in the crate. Many people pick up the water bowls an hour before bed, then when you want to go to bed tke puppy out for a toilet stop, then pop puppy in the crate with a small chew treat, a hot water bottle is also a good idea. Also having a good play with puppy an hour before bed will help puppy get to sleep. Now, be prepared for some whining, crying and screaming. Ignore it all, it's really hard not to feel bad but just ignore it. During the night puppy may whine, this will be your indicator that puppy needs to toilet, go to the crate inbetween whines if you can, don't say anything to puppy, get puppy out of the crate and take it to its' toileting area and give the toilet command then praise and do your normal toileting ritual. No playing though. When puppy has gone to the toilet take puppy back to the crate not saying anything. Puppy may need another toilet stop through the night. My puppy was able to hold through the night at 11 weeks, he's a giant breed though so may very well be different for your puppy. Good Luck!

Pls don't do Bark Busters, in my opinion throwing a bag of chains on the floor does nothing positive for a dog. www.k9force.net he's in Sydney.

When we get puppies or new dogs, they will always challenge us and help us to learn new things, never feel dumb, no dog is the same as the other. I'm having quite a bit of trouble with my puppy going through his rank period at the moment but I'm sure we'll get there and I would have learne alot from it as well.

Dante could hold through the night at 11 weeks. I've had 6 month old fosters that were: 2 x BC crosses and 1 x Whippet cross and they could all hold through the night.

I think people have to remember dogs are predatory animals, don't expect them to act in some kind of Godly manner. It's your responsiblity to protect any chooks on your property. Does your dog needs to be rehomed? I don't think so, this appears to be your fault not the dogs.

Sorry to say but your instructor has no idea what she is talking about. I would suggest you go and find yourself another uppy pre-school. Puppies should be on leash at all times at puppy pre-school. Free play - as much fun as it sounds isn't fun or good for all baby puppies. Your puppy is 5 months old? he's way too old for puppy school, he should be at normal obedience now.

I agree to let the breeder help you choose th pup most suited to you

It's not necc. a dominance issue. Dominance is a way over used term and people shouldn't just be chucking around the term. Have you spoken to your breeder about the humping?

Dominance is such an over used term. Who told you that?

Have you tried ignoring her until she settles and does the command that you ask? It sounds like she has a good amount of food drive and is trying to do every command she knows to get the treat quickly. If she does have good food drive, then some research into Drive training might be a good thing.

That seems odd that you're dog need to be of that high standard in obedience before you start in agility. Many agility clubs only require the basics and will help you from there.

My club is still in the dark ages unfortunately. I just do my own thing.