[SunCzarina]

I wish I could read Lou's response... it's very itty bitty font and my glasses are downstairs.

What I can offer is this. 10 years ago I adopted a 2 year old male who was a HARD dog, his name was Luther.

My husband, being a hard guy, asked around to his other hard guy friends and was told to alpha roll the dog when the dog was being disrespectful to him. All that got him was bit. Thankfully not on the face.

I never tried to roll Luther. He was a big dog, 110 lbs. I'm 110lbs so it wasn't happening. It didn't make sense to me anyway, I used other sneakier alpha tactics I'd read up on, like block his shoulder when he tried to bust through a doorway before me. Show him I'm the alpha by bringing home the food. Cooking it up, you nice dog, I might give you some. He loved food.

From day one, I could give Luther belly rubs, put my face on his chest and my husband used to say his showing me belly was the dogs way of showing me I'm nothing to him. No, it was just his bonding with Mommy. We were tight, it was a quick bonding. I could open the fridge and work the car. He liked these things that I controlled.

Eventually he'd let my husband rub his belly and they'd wrestle gently. But those early attempts at dominating that dog didn't make it go any easier.

One other note regarding something that I was able to squint out of Lou's post - Luther did roll other dogs. Often. When Morgan was a puppy, she was like a magnet for loose dogs to run up and try to bite her. If a loose dog charged at us, Luther would grab it by the neck, drop it and pin it.