Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs "Will-to-power" dogs?

Has anybody heard this phrase before? It seems that Cookie has that as a strong characteristic - wish I had heard of this term a year ago.

What have people's experiences been with their dogs while training?

I'd never heard the term before so I looked it up. Yup, it means about what I expected.

I had a male Rottweiler who was a real tough customer. At about 6 months old, he decided that he was NOT going to be made to perform any stupid drills. I settled the issue of who was boss (without ever hitting the dog), and he always respected the chain of command afterwards.

My Golden male has had me pulling out my hair from day one. The main difference is, he's non-violent. Early on, he made some serious looking threat displays but he had nothing to back it up with. Still, establishing dominance with him has been a much longer process. I'd guess I'm about 90% through it but he's still looking for any chink in the armor. Always. He's pushy, obnoxious, demanding, and bratty. Some days I'm not so sure I'm winning. He makes me laugh--a lot--or I would have killed him a long time ago.

Obedience training has been tougher with this Golden than any dog I've worked with. True to his field dog breeding, he is nearly immune to pain. Corrections that would traumatize a lesser dog for life, won't even get his attention. He was very independent as a pup and has been a long time coming around to where praise was any kind of incentive for him. He's now very affectionate and a pest when he's feeling ignored. He's as smart as the Rotties (though he does a very convincing impression of a retard) and picks things up lightning fast. But there just can be no relaxing of the rules--not ever--or he'll take full advantage. Not at all what I was expecting from a Golden.

WOW! You've described her almost to a "T". I guess I need to get over the fact that she's not one of those nice, relaxed, and she will always, always be in training. Unfortunately, this is our first dog. And her fight-or-flight response has started to change from flight-only. We've got to stay on top of her like Rosie O'Donnell on a case of Cheetos.

It comes from Nietzche, "Man and Superman" and "The Will to Power". Must-read books, but out of favor since Hitler said he liked them.

I can't claim any expertise on field Goldens, as this is my first retriever. I will say that I've been told that this temperment is somewhat typical, and that they are very willful and intense. The good news--I'm not so sure I believe it--is that they do settle down when they mature. The bad news is that they don't mature until they are about 3 years old. OY!

Mine is almost 1.5 years old and I have seen a big change in his personality. He was like a wild Dingo until almost 1 year, and then suddenly he became very attached to me. It was like someone flipped a switch. I thought he was born without the watchdog gene, but in the last couple of months he's begun giving out with a couple of big-dog barks when someone approaches the door. I still have doubts about whether he would protect his pack, but it sounds like there's a real dog in the house. He's also (in the same time frame) gone from being pure chicken-hearted around dominant male dogs to standing to his ground with a no nonsense posture. He hasn't shown any dog aggression, but he appears to have no intention of rolling over either. He's become much easier to deal with, over all. He's still a handful but these are very big changes. He appears to be outgrowing his "deafness" too.

Thanks for the reassuring words. I, too, know why God made puppies cute . . .