Becoming Pack Leader

[laminas]

I have an 8 week old Alaskan Malamute called Loki.  The breeders we got him from told us that they free feed their dogs and suggested we free feed Loki, which is what we have been doing.  He is a good little boy and can already sit and shake hands on command.  However, I can already see his stubborn side showing and want to get on top of this straight away.

In all the research on obediance and training I have done, I have seen mention of feeding time and how you use this to show leadership over your dog. ie, he has to sit and be calm before he gets his dinner.

My question is, is free feeding a bad idea for puppies?  With a stubborn dog like a Malamute, should I be feeding him at certain times and making sure he follows my commands before he eats?  

Any training tips for a stubborn breed would be appreciated.

[lonewolf07]

Hi

Is this the dog who had health problems awhile ago?  If so, how is he?

If an Alaskan Malamute is anything like a Siberian husky, he must be stubborn = )
It sounds like Loki is an intelligent little guy if he can already sit and shake hands on command.

We have had generations of huskies and have never free fed them mostly so they would not fight over food.  Some dogs can be "food aggressive" and we wanted to avoid this so they ate when their humans told them to eat.

Do you have other dogs besides Loki?  We have always had more than one dog and usually they can work out their own hierarchy.  There might be some posing and posturing with the males as to who is going to be the alpha dog. They might even fight.  This can be modified by having them neutered.  If the dogs are female; well, they can fight to the death over who is going to be alpha female.  Spaying doesn't help.

If Loki is your only dog he might "test" or "challenge" you the way my Siberian husky did before he passed on.  He did this as a puppy and all I can tell you is that if he chewed my fingers I often had to constantly give him a firm "no".  If he obeyed, he got a treat; if he didn't he got nothing.  After a few weeks he stopped chewing my fingers.

With stubborn dogs like Malamutes and huskies, IMHO, they have to learn from the beginning who is "in charge".  For this, I used the reward system described above.  I have heard of the "pack mentality" and how humans can be "leaders of the pack" but have some problem with this theory.  

I honestly don't know if free feeding is a bad idea for puppies.  Personally, I would not free feed a dog, particularly a stubborn one but it is your decision to make and I'm sure you will make the right one.  Have you asked your vet or the folks who run Loki's obedience school?

It looks like an intelligent little Malamute has found a caring and loving parent - you!!!!  It takes a special type of person to have either a Malamute or a Siberian husky.

If you have any further questions, please ask.  I'm sure peek and others in this community can give you lots of advice but I would recommend asking the vet or Loki's obedience school trainers what they think.

lonewolf

[laminas]

A bit more information on Loki:

He sleeps outside in his own little house which is an enclosed tank stand about 2m x 2m.  His food and water is kept in there aswell.

His housebreaking is going very well. He has only had 1 accident inside in the last 4 days.  He is getting very good at going outside when he needs to.

[peekawho]

I do not free feed, mostly because our dogs devour any food put down instantly.  It makes no difference to them how much we put down.  Its gone in a flash, and that's it.

Plus, free feeding puppies makes housebreaking 10 times as difficult.  Puppies will eliminate shortly after eating and drinking, so if they are constantly free feeding, you won't have a clue when they might "need" to go, and thus will miss some important chances to get that done much more quickly.

I also believe personally that dogs need to know that they must depend on us, their pack leaders, to give them what they need.