Dog Training 101... Or Should That Be Owner Training?
We have always had dogs around ever since I was a kid, and even if our family was "between dogs" I quickly adopted next door's Boxer dog as my own. Despite this, as a family we really didn’t have a clue how to correctly train a dog – as long as he didn't mess on the floor, chew up our slippers and finally came on the fifth or sixth hollar we thought things were just peachy.
Like many dog other owners, I really didn't know the first thing about training my dog. Well honestly, we think we do because the dog sits or offers us a paw when we have a treat in our hands but those are just party tricks.
Then, when I got a place of my own I bought my very own dog. As she grew she changed from cute lovable pup into a personal and financial liability. She wandered off, never came when called and turned into the Tasmanian Devil whenever anybody visited me. The final straw came when she tore into the room and scrambled up to sit on the shoulders of a visitor who had come to interview me for a voluntary position. He was no dog lover... I can still remember the look on his face now...
Trouble was, I had always treated dogs as furry friends, always giving in to those sad looking eyes and never realizing that the dog saw me in a totally different way. Dogs are intuitively pack animals and as such they are acutely aware of their position in said pack. You and your family are its pack, yes, even if there's just the two of you.
Grasp that little fact of dog psychology and you are well on your way to a happier dog and a happier you as well. From now on you are going to make it plain to your dog that you not him is the Alpha male or leader of the pack and what you say goes. See that furniture? That's mine. You lie on the floor or in your dog basket. Don't feed the dog tidbits from the dinner table – in fact the dog should be in his basket while you eat, and he only gets fed after everybody else has finished. It's all about the position... Remember this!
But isn’t that just being mean, taking all the fun out of owning a dog?
The leader of the dog pack eats first, that you, not him. He sleeps in the best spot. The Alpha male takes no notice of lowly subordinate dogs buzzing around him when he returns from the hunt. When you consistently act as leader you are communicating to your dog in a language he understands.... You are the leader, not him.
When you come home, ignore your dog's frantic attempts at attention seeking until he calms down – then you praise him well. It won't be long before your dog realizes he's dropped down a few notches in the pack hierarchy and begins to act accordingly. You'll soon find that your dog greets you quietly and quickly settles down as he's worked out that is when he receives praise from you.
Not convinced that training your dog makes him a happier dog? Look at it from your dog's point of view. He's living in a big human world full of confusing things and behavior he simply cannot understand. By not teaching your dog his place in your pack he will feel it's his place to take charge of. But this leaves him feeling stressed out, resulting in an poorly behaved and confused dog continuously trying to make sense of a strange & overwhelming world he cannot possibly understand.
When you assume command and position as leader of the pack, you take that burden of responsibility off his shoulders. Just like a well-trained soldier, he will be happy and content knowing his place, his role in the pack and what's expected of him. He will be more than happy to defer to your leadership knowing you'll take care of the "big stuff" and he can eat, sleep and play!
