leadership

Question
hello i have a couple question to ask you  first of all i have two dogs a girl and a boy.my boy dog is marking his territory on our refrigerator  and  one of the other volunteers said there could be a leadership issue  how do i get my male dog fro thinking he is the leader??

Answer
To address the specific behavior: Keep the male dog on a leash and watch him every minute that he is not in his crate. If he lifts his leg in the house, grab the leash, give him a firm correction and tell him "NO" very firmly. Then take him outside and praise him when he goes potty outdoors.

In the meantime, develop these habits for pack leadership.

1. When you come home, do not greet the dogs right away. Hang up your coat, take off your boats, grab a snack, if there are other people in the house, greet them first, then call the dogs over for some love.

2. If they ask to be pet, make them earn it by performing an obedience command- sit, lay down, etc.

3. Take your dogs for a walk (Probably separately at first until they are both very good on the leash) every day for 30 minutes. While walking do not allow them to pull. If they start to pull, perform an about face and walk away quickly. This can be annoying and you may not get anywhere, but it eventually works. Every time you stop walking, make the dog sit and stay until you are ready to walk again.
Also make the dogs wait at the door going in and out until you tell them they can go. You should enter first. Pack leader always goes first!

4. Do not allow the dogs on the furniture. Pack leader gets the best seat in the house, and the best bed.

5. When you feed the dogs, make them sit and stay and watch you prepare the food. Put the food down and keep them in their stay until you tell them to take it. If they break the stay and go after the food, pick it up again. Repeat until they comply. After 15 minutes, take away the food. Repeat at EVERY feeding time. This will teach the dogs that you, the boss, control the food. (I suspect that this will be the most important habit to develop to break your male dog of this particular issue.)