Do You Need to Dominate Your Jindo?
"Jindos need to be trained by a dominant owner."
"You have to show a Jindo who's the boss, or it won't listen to you."
I won't beat around the bush: Jindos are considered a dominant breed. Once they hit puberty, a Jindo will usually start trying to move up in the ranks of the "pack." If you own two or three dogs, a teenage Jindo will eventually develop the desire to run the show, and they often will not do well with other dogs that challenge their authority. I am not talking about Alpha theory here — I am talking strictly about family dynamics and the fact that within animal groups, individuals will act either dominant or submissive toward each other depending on their temperament. By nature, the temperament of a Jindo tends to lean dominant. (For what it is worth, this is something to think long and hard about if you already own a dominant dog and are considering adding a Jindo to the household.)
That said, I personally do not believe you need to dominate your dog. When I say "dominate," I am referring to the school of thought that insists yelling, swatting, looming, jerking dogs around, or physically manhandling them is how you establish authority. I am a firm believer that Jindos thrive with balanced training methods — generous positive reinforcement paired with judicious, fair consequences (which can be as small as ending a play session if your dog is getting too rough and ignoring "no"). None of this requires domination.
What I have found, personally, is that SunMi responds incredibly well to consistency and follow-through. A few examples of what I mean:
Recall. If I call "SunMi, come!" and she decides to blow me off because she has found something interesting in the grass, I will stop what I am doing, walk over, leash her up, and physically follow through on the cue. The same applies inside the house — if I am upstairs and she is downstairs, I will go get her. You can start building this foundation with a puppy by keeping them on a drag leash in the house for the first few weeks home, so you can easily enforce recall if they decide they do not feel like listening. Get up, walk over, bring them to you. Eventually they figure out that blowing you off is not worth the effort, because they are going to have to come anyway — and if they come on their own, there is usually a tasty treat waiting.
Place command. If I send SunMi to her "Place" when we have guests (because she thinks she is a cat and will otherwise try to rub herself all over them, or pester them for scratches), she will occasionally pretend she did not hear me — even when her body language makes it very clear that she did. When that happens, I excuse myself, walk over to wherever she is, say "Place" one more time, and stand there looking at her until she — sometimes begrudgingly — goes to her cot.
There is also a training method I really love called "Say It Once." The principle is that you only tell your dog to do something one time. The idea is that if you repeat the cue over and over — "Fluffy, sit. Sit! SIT. SIT!" — Fluffy eventually learns that he does not have to listen the first time, because you are going to ask five more times, and he is allowed to comply whenever it suits him. Instead, you say the cue once, and you make sure the dog follows through, even if you have to wait.
For this to work, I have found that getting SunMi's attention first is essential. I say her name to bring her eyes to me, and then I give the cue. It is also important to be fair about the level of distraction around us. If we are on a sidewalk during rush hour with motorcycles flying past and construction going on in the background, I am not going to expect perfection — but I can get close to it, because of the foundation we have built together. That is why it is so important to practice at home first, then graduate to the backyard, then the front yard, and slowly build up the level of distraction over time. As Jindos age and their bond with you deepens, they become more willing to listen even in high-stress or high-distraction environments.
Jindos are known to be one of the more biddable Asian spitz breeds, but biddable does not mean compliant. They want to work with you, not for you. You have to accept that this breed is extremely intelligent and was bred to think independently — not to constantly be told what to do, the way many modern Western working breeds (German Shepherds, Labradors, Border Collies) have been developed.
Consider the original function of the breed for a moment. Unlike most modern hunting breeds, which work closely alongside their handlers, Jindos traditionally went out at night in small packs, hunted and caught game on their own, and then one or two dogs would return in the morning to fetch their human back to the kill after the hunt was already over. In other words, Jindos do not need us to survive, and they know it. They see us as their partners, not their “masters”.
With that in mind, it is critically important to never slack on building your bond with your Jindo. Training classes and dog sports are a fantastic way to strengthen that bond and learn to communicate with one another. Be consistent, be fair in what you ask and when you ask it, and you will find that Jindos are not nearly as "stubborn" as the internet likes to claim.
So, all of that to say — yes, Jindos are a dominant breed.
No, you do not need to dominate your Jindo.
