Making eye contact with your dog can be a very useful training tool, but it is one that requires very careful application. Eye contact is difficult for dogs. In their natural instincts, another animal making eye contact with them means he or she is asserting dominance. This can be a bad move for an owner with a dog with a dominant personality, but it is actually almost worse when dealing with a fearful or distrustful dog.

Know Your Dog

If you are dealing with a dog that initiates dominant eye contact, especially a large breed, consider how comfortable you are with standing up to him on your own. If you've raised Pugsly from a puppy, and he's a small breed it probably won't be hard for you to stop the aggressive behaviour, but if you find yourself bringing home a large breed adult dog who decides he should be running the show, you might want to seek professional help. A professional can help diffuse the situation without you or the dog getting hurt, and also make sure that the methods used achieve the desired results.

The Big Dog

Size doesn't matter when it comes to dominant dogs and the "alpha." The leader of the pack is the dog that has the most strength of conviction, in many cases, rather than brute strength. That is why the most common advice given to new owners for becoming a pack leader in the home is to force their dog to look them in the eyes and not to break the stare down until the dog looks away. In the wild, this stare down may be accompanied by a lot of growls and posturing, but actually rarely involves physical attacks: The dog that doesn't back down wins.

Teaching Your Dog to Make Positive Eye Contact Without Aggression

Eye contact that isn't a source of dominance is difficult to achieve, but very useful in all forms of training from obedience to fly ball. It means you are getting 100% undivided attention from your dog. The trick is to get them to associate looking you in the eyes as a pleasurable event, rather than as a battle of wills. Start by placing Pugsly in front of you, and holding a treat in one hand. Say his name and when he looks up, give him a treat. After he begins to realise that when you talk to him he needs to look at you, then start calling his name when he's in other locations. If he looks up at your face, give him a treat.

Hint: It may be necessary in the beginning to show him the treat after you say his name, and then lift the treat up to your face so he follows the motion. Slowly wean the treat movement out of the equation as he begins to automatically look at your face.

When to Be Aware of the Danger Zone

Always avoid staring down an unfamiliar dog. Remember this is considered an act of aggression in the dog world, and may be met with a dominant stance from a strange dog. If that dog is also feeling threatened physically, or you are in their territory, in this case it may actually result in a physical confrontation where you will likely either lose, or at the very least be hurt. That's not different from what was stated above, but in a pack situation (ie: your family, your home and your dog) the stare down is a battle between loving members to sort out pack position. In the case of a strange dog on their own turf, or neutral turf, you are an enemy making an aggressive move.

While you can't control the reaction of a strange dog when staring at them, you can teach your dog that eye contact can be pleasurable and won't result in aggression. Bear in mind that your ultimate goal is to gain implicit trust from your dog. Bonds may take a bit to establish, but once they have been set, nothing can or should be able to come between your dog and you.