INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Each and every week, “Pet Pals TV” shares a fun, interesting, and informative story about our four-legged and furry friend population.
On the latest “Pet Pals TV,” host Patty Spitler joined News 8’s Pam Elliot and the “American Dog Whisperer,” Nathan Lowe.
When a three-month-old Great Dane puppy started knocking over toddlers and terrorizing a blind senior dachshund in an Indiana household, the Messman family turned to Nathan Lowe for help.
“People sometimes are hesitant to correct a little puppy,” Lowe said. “Well, a three-month-old Dane is a big puppy. And it was a very pushy puppy.”
Lowe said the most common mistake new puppy owners make is believing that love alone is enough to shape a dog’s behavior.
“There’s an assumption: if I bring a puppy into the house and we just love it, everything will be fine,” he said. “The thing is, love is not their currency. Their currency is relationship based on social hierarchy.”
When a puppy is not taught its place in the household, Lowe says it will assume the role of pack leader — with consequences for everyone in the home.
“If a puppy comes in and just rules the roost, guess what? You have a new canine parent over everybody. And that’s when things start going wrong.”
Lowe demonstrated his method using body language rather than verbal commands or physical correction. He said dogs communicate and establish order through posture and movement — not words.
“People think there are magic words. There are no magic words. There’s just magic body language,” he said. “It’s the body language their parents use.”
During his visit to the Messman home, Lowe first worked with the mother and her youngest child, focusing on the most vulnerable members of the group before expanding to the rest of the family. He taught Mrs. Messman how to use assertive body posture to back Millie away from the dachshund’s food and personal space.
“How intensely you come at a dog tells them how much you claim the thing you’re standing in front of,” Lowe explained. “That little boy needs to be protected from the Dane puppy.”
By the end of the session, Lowe said Millie was leaving the toddler alone and respecting the older dog’s space. The family’s dogs are now living together without incident.
Lowe also addressed the role children play in a dog’s social structure, saying that as kids get older, they need to be given more tools to assert themselves with the family dog. In the meantime, parents need to step in.
“Everybody needs to know their place,” he said.
Patty noted that Lowe’s method does not involve hitting or yelling at the dog — something she said she has witnessed firsthand in other situations.
“You’re not hitting them. You’re not yelling at them. You’re just saying, I’m in charge — and they go, okay,” she said.
Lowe credited the Messman family for allowing him into their home and giving permission to share the footage.
