Are You A Leader?

Are You A Leader?

By Marty Guerra

Developing and establishing your Leadership:
We often hear from clients that they were told by someone that they "really need to show the dog who's the boss"! They then go on to explain what they were told to do to "show the dog who the boss" is. This usually entails rolling the dog over onto it's back and growling at it, grabbing it by the scruff and shaking it, or grabbing it's muzzle while sternly telling it no. I have even been told by a client that her Veterinarian suggested that she charge at her dog while making growling noise. It was no big surprise why the dog ran from her whenever she tried to approach. Many of the things people are told to do to establish leadership involve harsh and confrontational methods, and depending on the temperament of your dog, can make the problems worse or even cause the dog to lash out at you. Look at it from your dogs perspective; all of a sudden you're grabbing it, rolling it over, growling at, etc. From the dog's point of view you are arbitrarily attacking it. This is not good and will often lead to aversion and possibly aggression of you, or a greater distrust of people in general. Establishing leadership is about building mutual trust, respect and clear communication. Leadership is not about dominance or intimidation.

1. Ask your dog to do something for you before doing anything for it. If you constantly cater to your dog's every whim for attention, food, play, etc., you'll create a demanding, disrespectful pet. So, when Rover comes up to and nudges you for some petting for example, have him "sit" for a few seconds then pet him. He'll learn that approaching and sitting gets him what he wants. Be aware and stop reinforcing things you do not want!

2. Be consistent!! Establish the boundaries and stick to them.

3. He/she who controls the resources, rules. I recommend feeding your dog at least twice a day (three times for young puppies). If you free feed your dog you are putting her in charge of the most primary resource, food. Feeding once a day means that the dog is on an empty stomach for approximately 18 hours. This could lead to hunger stress related problems and/or foraging. Dogs that control the resources tend to think of themselves as leaders.

4. Grooming and handling: You as your dog's leader should be able to handle and groom your dog without the dog complaining, fussing or fighting with you. Your dog should be deferent to your handling. Handle your dog frequently, give positive reinforcement for calm acceptance. DO NOT let your dog go when it is fussing and fighting you. You'll only teach it he can control you by squirming around.

5. Be fair and persistent!

6. Until you have some control over your dog, I recommend not playing games of confrontation such as, tug-of-war, and roughhousing. These communicate the wrong things to your dog (from our standpoint that is).

7. Control play. You should start and end all games.

8. Control sleeping/resting places. This is another resource you need to be in charge of, especially if you do not have good control of the dog. This means until you have more control, keep the doggy off the furniture and out of your bed.

9. Mean what you say, and say what you mean. Otherwise, your dog will be confused. Don't give commands to your dog if she has not learned reliably what the command means. If your dog ignores known commands, take a hard look at your relationship. Ask yourself who's leading whom?

10. Don't allow your dog to charge through doors, up or down stairs, out gates, etc. before you. Leaders go first! The bottom line is that you are after subordination and not submission per se. Submission is the dog voluntarily rolling over and perhaps urinating on it's self (submissive urination), groveling. Subordination is a recognition of your "higher rank", respecting it, and complying to the rules to maintain order.

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e-mail: mguerra@dogmanners.com

Phone: 342-2494