How to tell if a puppy is Alpha?

As soon as the mange is cleared, invest in puppy classes.  The one I went to didn't teach a ton of obedience but it was great for socialization and offered great tips as to how to establish myself as the leader in a positive way.  We will be starting actual obedience classes on Dec. 23, but the puppy class was a great start.  The dachshund puppy of mine really learned a lot.

puppies are never alpha. Dogs don't start "rank climbing" until they are adults.
The best way to establish yourself as in control of your dog is use a non-confrontational NILIF program, and to train the dog.

Mudpuppy is right.  Your puppy was being a puppy.  If you want to calm your puppy down, don't "put her in a submissive position."  Just walk away, or seperate yourself from the situation, turn your back on her and ignore her.  If she bites, yelp loudly.  Until she's around other puppies to learn proper bite inhibition and puppy/dog etiquette, YOU are her primary socialization.  Do it right and you'll be rewarded.  Remember having a puppy is a chance to shape the dog it will become.  It takes a lot of hard work and you only get out of it what you put into it.
 
She's a cutie too...

If she's a pyr, or an english shepherd, or both, then you can tell her she crossed the line by simply isolating her for a few minutes, or even just a moment. Both these breeds need to learn how far to go and even something as simple as turning away can be effective at coveying the message that she was over the line there. An ES or BC mix may get fiesty and require an actual timeout, but don't make a big deal of it and make it very short.

The reason I mention the breed is both ES and Pyrs are bred to be livestock guardians and have that need to "be a part" of everything. But a misbehaving pup would be backed off by the dominant adult in a farm or flock gaurding situation (usually the oldest bitch). Physical punishment is almost completely ineffective on these dogs as they are geared to react into pressure.

Good luck!

An alpha is as you know the individual in the community to whom the others follow and defer. Then just create situations and observe if your/the dog fits this definition. Simple

Hi all, this is my first post in this forum.

Just as a note, I have a one year old English Cocker, Jack. Me and my husband just went through an interesting period with the dog-the adolescents (we're getting there). We picked a 'top pup' from the litter: the biggest and the most confident one. He had all his littermates down with one paw, so to speak .

How to tell if a puppy is Alpha?

Puppies can't be declared "Alphas"; they are at the stage when they are practicing these roles - dominant and submissive. However, I do believe that some dogs are natural born leaders (just like people), and from what I can observe, my pup is one of these dogs. Puppies practice these roles through play - your pup was doing it with her littermates, her mother, and now she is doing it with you.

I don't recommend alpha rolls, and I have a very strong opinion against that. I think only a hand full of people can pull that off successfully... I too tried "calming" my dog like that, and it did the opposite. We got physical, and since he enjoys every opportunity to get physical, he got hyper, more bitty, then growly. Some puppies are sensitive, and will respond to a still stare, or a firm touch will snap them out of it. Others will do the opposite, and will only get more excited about the desired rough play.

Don't get physical when dealing with dominance issues - with a puppy or with an adult dog. Don't force your dog out of the bed if she is growling. If a dog feels that it *got you* (ex: when you shift your body back a bit), it will get even more confident. I red there is this biofeedback effect seen in humans: when participants win in sports, their level of testosterone goes up. It could be natures' own way of helping the strongest keep their dominant position.

One other advise that didn't work for me was ignoring my pup by *me leaving the room*. I ended up leaving it every 3 minutes, and I repeated it for a quite while. Every time I'd come back, he was back to nipping at me like nothing had happened. Finally, Jack found other interesting things to do. I guess, the world didn't evolve around me . There are some training techniques that just don't feel natural to me, running in and out of the room is one of them. (Although this might be the only option if you have to "ignore" a powerful and aggressive dog.)

Some of the things that did help me were body blocking - just turning away and completely ignoring his attempts to get attention. (More than anything else I had to train myself to stay calm.) If she jumps on, turn and block her with your body. Say "Stop it!" in a dead serious tone.

Redirecting bad behavior to a toy or a chew. Although keeping puppies busy is hard, I know.

During the moments of total crazies, if you have the energy, practice commands, or teach her the names of objects. My dog loved it! He now knows the names of his toys, and he loves bringing them back to me when I ask. Intellectual challenge wears him out, and that's what you want. That's what natural leaders want. When I had no energy at all to deal with the crazies, I asked him to go to his bed. If he refused, I offered him a treat. By throwing a treat you are not rewarding him for bad behavior, but for cooperating with your request.

Puppy classes helped, but now I think one of the best things I got out of it was the fact that my dog was practicing self-control, not necessarily the commands.

Hope this helps!

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

puppies are never alpha. Dogs don't start "rank climbing" until they are adults.
The best way to establish yourself as in control of your dog is use a non-confrontational NILIF program, and to train the dog.

Absolutely correct!  And, your role is not to "alpha roll" or put your pup in a "submissive position". Your role is to establish leadership in a way she can understand.  Go to puppy school.
Here are some step by step lessons to get you started at home.
www.clickerlessons.com
You can find a class at www.clickertraining.com or www.apdt.com where there are trainer searches if you live in the US or Canada.