The Ultimate Book of Proper Dog Ownership & Dog Psychology: Turning Your Pet Into the Dog of Your Dreams
This book is dedicated to Tacey the dog,
who now lives in the Great Big Kennel in the Sky,
eating bees & wreaking havoc wherever she goes.
Introduction
Our dogs are great. We love them dearly, & they love us. They love us with a deep, unconditional type of love not found anywhere else. They don't care whether you're rich or if you don't have a cent in your bank account. They don't care if you have the latest fashions, or if you don't have a single shirt to your name. All they care about is you. Dogs happily give you their heart & will gladly steal yours away. Our dogs enrich our lives. Isn't time we enrich theirs & pay them back for the immense love they so willingly share with us? After taking a crash course in dog psychology, I now see & understand the psychological suffering our beloved dogs go through each & every day of their lives, right under their owners' noses. We pamper & smother our dogs with all the love we can give them & think they surely must be happy. Sadly, friend, no. A dog needs much more than love to be really, truly happy. Come, take a journey with me into the very mind of your dog, & emerge enlightened. Your dog depends on you for what he needs deep inside, & you may be failing him! It's time to call an end to this madness. Read on.
Chapter One: For the Good of the Pack
You're sitting up on the couch one day. Smiling, you watch Fifi the poodle as she sleeps in her favorite spot in the sunshine. You give her tons of love & lots of food & toys, but you're wondering if she's still happy, if she's missing something in her life. Well, it turns out that if all you're giving Fifi is affection, affection, & affection (food & toys counted,) then she is missing a key ingredient in her life, & that key ingredient is. . . drum roll please. . .leadership. Contrary to popular belief, dogs actually want & crave leadership. If this were not true, packs would not exist: every group of animals need a being to lead them & keep them safe from harm, the job description of a pack leader. How does one become a leader? Through strong, fair, consistent leadership. You DO NOT have to kick, hit, scream at, or otherwise abuse your dog in any form in order to become or remain their leader. Such treatment is far too harsh for a creature as sensitive & intelligent as the dog, & will result in making them terrified of you. The type of leadership a dog is looking for is very calm, very gentle, but still very firm. Still wondering why you should establish leadership with your dog, wondering why they can't be your leader? Okay. In a dog pack, there are only two roles: the leader & the follower. In our human society, dogs can only coexist peacefully with us if they're in the follower role. The reasons why will be explained & explored in further detail later on in this book. In most households, the leader is the dog. This can put great stress & pressure on a dog: they have a pack to run, & the followers (the humans) don't always listen to their leader. For example, we do things like leave the house when the dog says we can't, we don't get up or go to bed when the dog says we must, we don't eat when the dog says we can. This results in a hyper, frustrated, anxious, unhappy pet. If you'd like an idea of what exactly a house dog goes through, picture this scenario in your mind: you're brought to a big, roomy cave (yes, that's what your home is to a dog) where there is no leadership, no rules, & no minute form of structure, so everything's a free-for-all, resulting in a stressful, chaotic home. Whenever you're taken for a walk, you're expected to lead the pack (a huge, potentially stressful responsibility), & you pull on the leash all the time. When you get home, there's a whole pack to run & take care of, but no one listens to your orders consistently, resulting in even more stress. The stress & pressure to lead is making you hyper, so you run around all the time, but you never get any more tired. Imagine living like this every day of your life until you die. Now, imagine this scenario: Since your behavior was “uncontrollable” (it was the humans who were uncontrollable!) you've been dumped off at a shelter, when not long after, another human family takes you to another big, roomy cave where you find the rules, structure, & leadership you've been craving for so long. You get to go on walks every day where the humans lead, so you can just relax, follow, & enjoy the sunshine, the trees, the grass, the birds. When you get home, you have all the affection, playtime, & food you enjoy. But most importantly, you have a calm, confident leader that takes care of you, gives you what you instinctually
The Most Vital Aspect of Establishing & Keeping Leadership
Where does leadership come from? It comes from various elements that blend together harmoniously, & there is one vital aspect of true leadership you must be able to grasp, & that aspect is. . . energy. What is “energy”? Energy is a term that refers to the emotional/psychological state of any living being. For example, a person feeling fearful would be said to be projecting weak, fearful energy, a person feeling angry would be said to be projecting weak, angry energy.
Simply put, your energy is whatever emotional state you're in. Why is energy so important in your relationship with your dog? Since dogs do not have a spoken language like we do, they communicate through body language & energy. Dogs are able to feel the emotions/energy of the beings around them, & if they feel emotions from you such as anxiety, fear, nervousness, etc., what they consider weak energy, they will see you as just that: weak. They will not look at you as a strong leader & will consequently try their doggone (no pun intended) hardest to be yours. However, if they feel such emotions from you as calmness, firmness, & confidence, they look at you in a whole different light: they look at you as a genuine, trustworthy leader. Dog “psychologists” (those that study the behavior, instincts, & body language of the dog) call this calm confidence “calm-assertive” energy.
More on Calm-assertive Energy
“Assertive” is one of those words that have a bad rap amongst people; many dog owners think it means you must be harsh, forceful, or even aggressive with your dog; if you've read the above paragraphs, you'll know that's not true. So, besides calmness & confidence, what else makes up calm-assertive energy? Calm-assertive energy is. . .
Confidence, certainty, decisiveness, firmness, positivity, strong-mindedness, security (in one's decisions), & self-assurance. But there are many thinks a calm-assertive leader is a not. A calm-assertive leader is not:
Harsh, angry, pushy, frustrated, dogmatic, dictative, forceful, domineering, or overbearing. The difference between an assertive leader & an overbearing leader is an overbearing leader physically forces their followers to obey their commands, an assertive leader does not.
Dogs respond to the calm-assertive energy of their leader/s (yes, dogs can have more than one leader!) with an energy of their own: calm-submissive energy.
More on Calm-submissive Energy
“Submissive” is another one of those words that have negative connotations in people's minds. Many dog owners think it means that their dog is sad, weak, or somehow “missing out” on something in life. That's not how a dog looks at submission. In fact, calm-submissive energy in a dog is actually happy energy. As has been mentioned, dogs are much happier being followers rather than leaders, & calm-submissive is the energy of a follower. But what is calm-submissive energy, exactly?
Acquiescence, amenability, humbleness, reverence (bit of a stretch), respect, trust, docility, tameness, tractability, passiveness, & politeness. You know what submissive means to a dog, but what does it not mean? A submissive dog is not...
Depressed, suppressed, slavish, fearful, weak, timid, shy, ashamed, or apprehensive.
Creating Calm-assertive Energy
It's one matter to talk about calm-assertive energy & quite another to create it. How do you go about creating calm-assertive energy? Take a few slow, deep breaths to help you stay on the calm side. Stand up straight: head up, shoulders back, (no tension, though), chest out, & back straight. Strut, if you must, it's okay. Envision someone who comes across to you as a calm, confident leader, & pretend you're that person. Think big & powerful, because you are. It's time to develop a little healthy pride in yourself, that's where calm-assertive energy comes from. Tell yourself, “I'm the pack leader around here!” You are. And your dog knows it. How do you know your dog knows it? Read his body language. (Body language will be discussed in the next chapter.) Now that you've got calm-assertive energy down pat, it's time to move on to the other aspects of leadership.
Rules For Establishing & Keeping Leadership: the Do's & Don't's of Alpha-dom
Every dog has an instinct to know their place in their pack. If they don't, they can become very stressed out & react by destroying things as an outlet for this stress & frustration. This is one reason you must be a leader to your dog. However, there are rules as to how become & stay a pack leader. Below are those rules. Everyone in the family & every friend that interacts with the dog every day & that is old enough to make decisions & control their emotions must be in on the program. It's confusing to a dog if one human is a leader & no others are. The dog may discover he can get away with certain behaviors, like barking & growling at anyone that disturbs him during dinner, because one person controls the food & the others do not.
Follow this program strictly for two weeks; depending on the natural dominance level of a dog, two weeks is the amount of time it will take for a dog to accept his owners as pack leaders. At the end of the two-week program, you can stop making your dog sleep in a closed crate; you can leave the door open if you want him to stay off the bed. Good luck with the program!
The Walk
*First of all, there's the walk. There is a proper way to walk your dog. It's discussed in the next section.
The Awesome Power of Food
Food has an amazing effect relating to dogs & the balance of power. In the wild, the pack leader controls the food. That means from now on, the humans are in charge of meals.
*Take the bowl off the floor, no more free-feeding. In dogs packs, the alpha chooses when everybody gets to eat. If your dog is choosing when he eats. . .well, point proven. *No more sneaking Max treats or tidbits under the table. A pack follower would hardly ever dream of disturbing the leader while they're eating. In the wild, the pack leader will eat first. He gets the best-tasting, choicest bits of the kill, & when the alpha is finished & only when the alpha is finished do the rest of the pack get to eat.
*If the dog is to be in the room during the meal, he must wait until all humans are finished eating & the table's been cleared before he can be fed. Ignore any barking or begging.
*Once the food is in the bowl, tell him to sit. If he refuses, no food. Try again every five to ten minutes until he listens to the command. Set the bowl on the ground. DO NOT LET THE DOG EAT YET! If he darts towards the food, body block him & make him sit or lay down. Stand over the food, this is how a leader claims what belongs to them: they get on top of it & use energy, eye contact, & body language to communicate to another being that this thing now belongs to them. You're telling him that food now belongs to you. Once he submits (see the article on body language), give him the command to eat. Use whatever you want. If you have multiple dogs, feed the calmest dog first.
Sleeping Arrangements & the Furniture
*No more doggies sleeping in the bed! The highest, most comfortable places are reserved for the highest-ranked members of the pack. At least in the very beginning, have your dog sleep in a crate or kennel. His crate can become his own personal “den”, which instinctually feels safe & secure. Pad with a dog bed or some blankets for comfort. The crate should be big enough for him to stand up, turn around, & stretch out in comfortably. Proper introduction to a crate will be discussed in chapter four. Place the crate in your bedroom, positioning it so your dog can see you through the door, & cover him up with a blanket, leaving the door uncovered. Once your dog accepts you as leader, & if you don't mind them sleeping on the bed, they must be invited up, not be allowed to nudge humans around, & they sleep at the foot of the bed, not on the pillow.
*Same thing applies to furniture & car rides: the dog must be invited up. No sitting on human laps unless strictly invited. No getting in the human's face. Space is respect, & your dog must learn to respect yours. Don't let the dog on the furniture if he has not been invited.
Attention
*Plain & simple: no attention at all if the dog nudges/noses you, paws at you, barks at you, or nibbles on you. Only the pack leader gets to demand attention from their followers. Only give attention to the dog when he is calm & in a submissive state of mind.
*If your little dog demands to be picked up, do not; tell him to sit, & if he complies, pick him up & cuddle. Don't put him down unless he's settled quietly in your arms.
If you have left the home or room & come back in, even if you've only been gone for a moment, ignore the dog for a few minutes. Followers always the greet the leaders, not the other way around. This will also aid in treating &/or preventing separation anxiety. *When guests come over, the dog is not the first being to be greeted, you are. Part of the job of a pack leader is to greet/investigate any being that comes into their territory, letting the rest of the pack know if the stranger is safe to meet.
Playtime, Toys, & Possessions
*From now on, the dog owns nothing.
*No playing keep-away or snapping at humans that try to take an object away. If the dog runs away with an object in his mouth, just stay calm & assertive, & use body language & touch to “herd” them into a corner. Wait until they drop the object of their own accord. Give them a few pats & scratches & let them go. Don't yell “Drop it!” over & over if the command was not followed the first time.
*You decide when human-dog playtime starts & when it ends.
Body Positions
*During that critical two-week period, no hugging the dog. He may take it as a dominance check & possibly growl, snap, or even bite. You can resume the hugging once your dog accepts you as leader.
*Don't ever tolerate a jumping dog, yes, even the little ones. Jumping up is disrespect. If your dog tries to jump, step into them, bumping them. Keep walking into them; either tell them to sit or wait until they sit by themselves. Claim back the space your dog tried to take away.
*If the dog's in the way of your path, make him move or step over him, don't go around the dog.
The Miscellaneous Group
*Start making all the big, important decisions, such as where you go on a walk or when human-dog playtime starts & ends, but leave little, unimportant ones to your dog, such as what bone to chew or which tree to rest under.
*No more letting the dog go through doorways/gates/up & down the stairs first; leader goes first, leading the way.
*Give an obedience command or a trick to perform before any interaction with the dog: going out the door, going for a walk, feeding, petting, etc. If the command is not heeded, the dog doesn't get what he wants. Dogs have an instinct to work for everything, so this type of exercise both satisfies the instinct to work & reinforces your higher pack position at the same time. This also teaches him that obeying commands can have its rewards. If your dog doesn't seem to understand commands, practice them.
*Eye contact is a powerful communication tool. If a follower makes direct eye contact with their leader, the follower always blinks or looks away before the leader does.
*And most importantly. . . don't lose sight of your calm-assertive energy. When around your dog, avoid weak emotions such as anxiety, nervousness, fear, or anger. Use less talk. Dogs do not understand your words, but they understand your body language & energy, that's what matters to them.
Babies as Pack Leaders?
Even a little baby can be pack leader to the biggest powerful-breed dog if everything is set up right. Start taking your baby in a stroller while you & the dog go out on walks, ensuring the dog is following both you & the stroller. Stop allowing the dog in the nursery, but don't just close the door. Stand inside the nursery with the door open, your dog on the other side. Draw an invisible line across the threshold of the door & do not let your dog cross that line, stepping forward, giving a quick verbal correction & making her back up if she tries. Commit 100 percent to the project, & you may be surprised at how quickly the dog begins to understand. She can now sit outside the nursery & watch what's going on just like she could when she was allowed in, but now she won't be jumping up trying to see the baby or grabbing dirty diapers & running away with them or getting underfoot. Also build a “bubble of space” around the baby herself, a bubble the dog can't enter without permission. As the baby grows & gets older, you can start letting her get more involved in caring for the dog. For example, out on a walk, point out how the dog follows along behind or beside you. You can instruct the child on how to feed the dog or how to pet the dog, teaching her how you only give the dog affection when she's calm & submissive. Your dog will soon accept the baby as a leader, too.
If you're expecting a baby, you can repeat many of the above steps, as well as desensitizing the dog to the movements & sounds of a baby by buying one of those dolls that crawl on the floor when wound up or a doll that cries, always enforcing that “bubble of space” around the doll. Start working on your leadership skills as soon as you can. It's important. Dogs need leadership more than anything else.
It All Comes Down to the Proper Walk
Did you know that approximately ninety-five percent of the connection between leader & follower is laid down in the walk? When you hear the word “walk”, you may imagine trailing behind your dog, patiently waiting for him to move on as he stops to sniff every single tree, bush, & telephone pole in the neighborhood. I'm sorry to tell you that that's not the proper walk. Think about dog packs in the wild: the pack leader is always forging ahead, leading the way, & their followers are always, well, following. When I say your dog needs to follow you, I mean for your dog to heel. Heeling has become a bit of a lost art, but that doesn't mean a dog can't learn. Here's how to teach your dog to “pack walk”.
The Proper Walk Outlined
A successful pack walk starts with your own energy. Stay calm & assertive; don't chase after your dog with the leash, but call your dog to you instead, & put the leash on the dog only when the dog is sitting & in a calm-submissive state. If possible, place the leash up high on the dog's neck, like in a dog show. The highest part of a dog's neck is also the most sensitive, giving you a maximum amount of control with a minimum of effort. You can make a makeshift show-style lead by taking your dog's leash & clipping the metal part to the leash, creating a loop that can be adjusted to fit your dog's neck & that will not slide down over time. Give your dog an inch to an inch-&-a-half of slack, winding the rest of your leash around your hand.
Start this exercise by the door or gate, & have the dog sit before opening the door. Do not let the dog bolt out at top speed, but calmly body block if they do try to bolt, insisting they wait calmly. This may take quite a bit of time & patience to accomplish at first, but don't give up & keep working at it, taking slow, deep breaths, & thinking calming thoughts as you picture the dog sitting & waiting. Once your dog has sat calmly & submissively at the door for a few moments with the door open, step out first, letting the dog follow. At this point, the dog may pull forward a little. Do not let them, just give an up-&-to-the-side correction. Continue walking, correcting if your dog pulls forward or to the side or tries to walk ahead. Remember that the correction must occur at the exact moment the dog starts to pull or move forward because that's how the dog will associate the correction with pulling. Also, remember that if you've turned the leash into a show-style lead like I suggested, the loop will gradually become tighter as you correct. You will need to stop every now & then to loosen the “collar” so it doesn't become too tight & make your dog uncomfortable.
The dog may try to pull quite a bit, so just as with the waiting at door exercise, stay calm-assertive & keep taking deep breaths, picturing your dog in the heel position. If you keep at your assertive, calm state, eventually your dog will give up on trying to pull & start walking calmly, seeing that you're now the leader & they aren't. Do not praise your dog once they're walking calmly, that will only create excitement; walking calmly is already in a dog's nature, anyway. Keep your head up, chest out, & shoulders back, walking at a good pace. If the dog gets distracted by something, give a correction; the goal is to keep your dog concentrated on following you, that's what really makes a pack walk a success. Pay attention to the dog's body language: if the head is up but not high or is carried low, the ears are back a little, & the tail is relaxed (it can be either up or down), then that's a submissive dog out walking with his pack leader. In about ten to fifteen minutes of proper walking, you can unwind the leash & allow your dog to smell the ground & pee & poop if he need to. Say to your dog, “Fido, take a break.” You are letting the dog explore his environment & relieve himself just like he would when he was still leading you, but now it's on your terms. That's not being a control freak, that's being a leader. Your dog can do pretty much anything except pull while he's “on break”. You can let him wander ahead a little, just as long as he doesn't pull & is smelling, not trying to lead. After about two to five minutes, it's time to return back to the walk. Wind the leash back up & continue. Cue your dog, “End break” or “No break”, whatever you want to signal that now is migrating time. This type of pack walk, where the dog heels & follows you, drains both a dog's mental & physical energy & reinforces your position as pack leader.
Why Even Bother to Walk Your Dog?
The proper walk, as a has been mentioned, drains a dog's mental & physical energy. This will calm her down & make her easier to live with, & will also aid in treating & preventing behavioral issues. The physical exercise helps keep your dog fit & prevents obesity or obesity-related health issues, many of which noticeably shorten a dog's lifespan. The psychological aspect of following satisfies the dog's instinct to get out & migrate with an esteemed, trusted leader & keeps a dog mentally stable, as she doesn't have the pent-up energy & frustration resulting from not getting out & walking. Out in the wild, packs of dogs get up in the morning to hunt/walk, walking until they find the food & nourishment they seek. This process of hunting can be simulated by walking your dog before feeding them; the instinct to work for food is ingrained deep in a dog's nature, & this instinct is one of the easiest to satisfy.
There Is No Substitute For the Proper Walk
There isn't. Taking your dog to the park to play will not satisfy the instinct to migrate & work for food, although the dog is getting a little exercise. Playing fetch in the backyard, while providing your dog with a little exercise, will not satisfy this instinct, either. A big backyard, even if it's half an acre, compared to a walk, is like a big kennel or a prison.
“To keep our dogs in our nice fenced yards is like putting a human in a padded cell & feeding them, but not letting them out, never letting them see the light of day.” So writes Sharon Maguire, dog owner/psychologist & creator of the website dogbreedinfo.com, & she's right. Nothing is going to satisfy the instinct to migrate & work for food, only the walk will.
How Long to Walk Your Dog?
This will depend on the dog's energy level & how much exercise they've had in the past. At first, walk them as long as you can, then add about fifteen to thirty minutes on top of that. Towards the end of the walk, pay attention once more to your dog's body language. If they're panting heavily & beginning to tire or lag behind, then they've had enough exercise for the day & can go back home & rest until their evening walk. If they're only just beginning to show signs of tiring, walk another fifteen to twenty minutes, then check them again, repeating the pattern. Make the evening walk half the time of the morning walk.
Dogs that have not been walked in the past, or that have not been walked enough, will show signs of hyperactivity, such as jumping up, zipping around the house or yard all day, &/or always being in an excited state of mind. No, excitement in a dog isn't happiness, it's stress. Stress is a negative thing & it should not linger in your dog's life.
Once those signs have diminished & gone away, you can start making the morning walk about forty-five minutes to an hour & the evening walk thirty to forty minutes. Adjust the time as you see fit & according to your dog's activity & energy level. You may be thinking, I don't have the time in my schedule to walk my dog for two hours! I'm here to tell you that if you don't have the time, make the time. The point is, for you & your dog to have a good leader-follower relationship, & for your dog to be stress-free & mentally stable, they have to walk, even if that means adjusting work hours or going to the later church service or getting up earlier or cutting breakfast time short. There is no way around it. However, if you absolutely cannot adjust your morning schedule to fit in a walk of this magnitude, then get a backpack for your dog. You can find them at most retail pet stores or order one online (you will be able to find a better selection online). Get one that will fit your dog well. Weigh it down with bricks or stones, about twenty percent of your dog's body weight. Backpacking will allow you to cut the walk time in half, giving you twice the work input in half the time.
Alternate Ways to Exercise Your Dog
There are other ways to exercise your dog besides walking, provided your dog still heels. You can bike, skateboard, run, jog, sprint, Rollerblade; use your imagination. Every dog, even little dogs & senior citizens, need to get out & exercise. It doesn't matter what breed they are, what size they are, or what temperament they have. The point is, walk! Raining outside? Get a raincoat for your dog & grab an umbrella. Snowing or cold? Bundle up & get a coat & boots for your dog. Is it gonna be a hot one? Get up as early as possible, before the air & ground get hot. The point is, get out & exercise together!
Do Dogs Really Need to Be Followers?
The best & greatest dog trainers out there say that leadership is a vital ingredient in a human-dog relationship. But why do dogs need to be followers? Why do you need to be a leader?
First of all, dogs bite. You may think that because you have a little dog, you can let them bite or snap all they want because they're so little & won't cause very much damage. Let me ask you this: what if that adorable little five-pound Chihuahua that's snapping, snarling, growling, & biting your hand was a 150-pound Rottweiler, would you still think of that snapping & biting as “cute”? A time may come when people refuse to come over to your house or can't even get through the front door because of your little dog's snapping & aggression. Part of the reason these little ones snap & bite is because they are pack leader & feel a need to protect their “property”, which is you. The amount of stress that occurs from this type of guarding/protection is too much for a dog of this size to handle. Why make them bear a burden they can't when you can easily take it off their shoulders? You may think that your dog will never bite because he's a Golden retriever or a Lab or a similar “safe” breed, & only pit bulls or Dobermans or other so-called “aggressive” breeds are dangerous. Let me tell you something: I've seen more calm, mellow “dangerous” dogs than I have calm, mellow Labs. If you have a large, powerful-breed dog, then you'd better make sure you're a good leader. There's a reason many of these breeds are deemed dangerous & vicious. The number one reason a dog bites is because an instinct is not being fulfilled in his life, most likely the instinct for leadership & direction.
Secondly, a pack leader does not listen to a follower. Let's say you need to actually give your dog a reason to listen to you when you give him commands. What's gonna happen when he wanders near the curb, intending to cross the street, at the exact same moment a car comes shrieking around the corner, driving at top speed? Will you be able to give him the sit command in time? More importantly, will he listen? I was out walking with my Doberman one evening, & when we passed by a yard, two Chihuahuas rushed the fence, yapping up a storm. Their owner was trailing behind, shouting at them in full sentences. “Pocket, no! Stop that! Quiet! Picket, no! See, that dog's doing nothing to you! Quiet! NO! POCKET RENAE, ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!?!” Why didn’t the dogs stop their barking when their owner told them to? One, they had no respect for their owner. Two, they were the leaders around there & had no reason to regard the commands their follower gave them, no matter how firm they sounded or how loudly they were yelled. There will come a time, more than once, for sure, when you will absolutely need your dog to obey what you tell him. If he has no respect for you as his leader & no respect for your commands, why should he obey?
Thirdly, there's the issue of separation anxiety. Pack leaders are allowed to leave the followers whenever they please, but followers are not allowed to leave the leaders unless given permission. One of the jobs of a pack leader is to make sure that their followers are safe & secure. When the followers leave the care of their leader & the leader is left behind, you can imagine the stress & anxiety a dog goes through. It's not practical for our dogs to accompany us every single time we leave the home. The destruction that occurs from separation anxiety is enough to drive you mad, & the accompanying whining & barking may drive the neighbors to order the dog to be removed from the property. If you put your dog in the yard, he may try to chew & dig his way out, & who knows what may happen if he gets loose?
Remember that a pack leader gets to make most of the decisions. There are certain things we can't let a dog decide, such as when you can leave to go to work or who can come into the home & who can't, etc. These are the things we need to decide, not the dog. When you aren't listening to what your dog tells you when he's the leader of your pack, you cause a build-up of stress that can manifest itself in mild or even severe behavioral issues. Why make your dog live his life full of stress & anxiety when he doesn't have to?
Owners of powerful-breed dogs need not worry if their dogs will still guard & protect. The instinct is still there, & they will still protect you & your home if necessary.
With humans, dogs have to be followers. The stress & pressure of trying to lead humans but failing is like taking a shy child & leaving him unsupervised with a gang of bullies & telling him to “deal with it”. One of a dog's strongest instincts is the instinct for leadership & direction. Dogs are perfectly content with the type of leadership a leader would give in the wild. I'll show you what exactly a leader does.
The Many Jobs of a Pack Leader
A pack leader has many jobs to perform, dictated by their role. Here's another look at why dogs need to be followers & why they're actually happy being followers.
There is the job of protecting the pack. That means you handle strangers at the door, not the dog. You also decide what to do when loose dogs approach your pack.
The leader sets the rules, boundaries, & limitations of their pack. Contrary to popular belief, dogs need & thrive under rules, boundaries, & limitations, provided they are made perfectly clear & are enforced in a calm-assertive, not harsh or domineering, manner. The consequences of breaking those rules are also determined by the leader. Rules, boundaries, & limitations will be discussed more in depth in chapter three.
The leader always leads the way: through doors, up/down stairs, & on the walk.
The leader makes all the big, important decisions, the decisions that will affect the pack, such as when you leave for a walk, where you go on the walk, & how far you walk. The leader decides when the pack gets to eat & who is fed first. The leader decides if & when the dogs are allowed on the furniture.
The pack followers make the decisions that are left over, the little, unimportant decisions. The stress of juggling all of these jobs is a huge responsibility for any dog. Instinct dictates that if a strong-minded, calm-assertive leader is not in charge, the fate of the pack is at stake, so that's when a dog takes over. The burden of leadership is very heavy for a dog to bear. Add the extra stress of trying to control & lead humans that inconsistently follow your orders, & you have a recipe for disaster. That's why a dog will gladly accept a follower position, because they see a way out of nightmarish life. However, you are going to need to consistently show your dog that you are strong enough to be able to lead the pack. “The Rules of Alpha-dom” can really help in that area. Once again, leadership is something dogs want & crave, but they don't necessarily crave their own.
Well friend, congratulations, you've made it through the first chapter! Just remember: if you're working with a very dominant-type dog, you'll discover that your dog's behavior may start getting worse instead of better. This is perfectly normal & perhaps to be expected, as your dog is testing your authority & energy to determine if you're strong enough to leader the pack. These can be compared to “temper tantrums” & the best thing you can do is wait your dog out. A dog can only stay in a negative state for so long before they give up. Stay calm, strong, & assertive (NOT aggressive or harsh!) The more consistent you are in your signals, the sooner this “testing period” will blow over. Now, we move on to the next chapter.
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