Are you a leader?

Are you?  Are you your dog's leader?  How about your pack, are you the leader of the pack?  No matter what your pack exists of; whether it consists of one dog, three or more, you should be leader of the pack.

Leader -  a person who manages or controls other people, esp. because of his or her ability or position.

So what does this mean?  A canine pack leader guides, educates, creates rules and enforces them.  A leader is understanding, patient and firm.  Being a great K9 leader is about giving your dog the tools to maneuver seamlessly through their life in a human world.

From the moment your dog becomes a member of your family; it is time for you to be a leader.  Feedback is a huge part of living with dogs.  Feedback is a great thing for humans as well.  If no one ever offers us feedback we are at a disadvantage, so too are our dogs.  

Just yesterday I called Elsa into the house.  She is typically very obedient and comes in quickly.  But there is a rabbit that has taken up residence in our backyard (wonderful).  This means that Elsa is very preoccupied much of the time that she is out there, even if the rabbit is not present.  There are many footprints to smell and trails to follow.  I needed her to come in, so when I called and she ignored me, out I went, immediately.  If I didn't need her in and saw that she was otherwise preoccupied I would not have called her.  She was having fun being a dog and I like her to have fun.  But I needed her to come in.

I kept my very serious body posture and said "in now."  She looked at me like "crap, really?"  With one last look over her shoulder she did as she was told.  Much of our day to day is very casual; as I offer suggestions of things to do rather than strict rules.  "Wanna come in?" I ask her and leave the decision up to her.  But when I give a rule that must be followed it is essential to enforce. 

Life rules are all about what is okay and not okay to do.  Many puppies will leap all over their new guardian at feeding time that might seem cute and funny at the time.  If you do not change this at that point in time then you will have a large adult dog trying to get the bowl of food away from you at feeding time.  Not okay.  

If you don't teach your new family member not to dig in the backyard or give them an alternative activity to replace that; you may come home one day to your yard totally destroyed or a missing dog who dug underneath a fence.  

Being a leader is not about being bossy.  A leader offers guidance to their dog so that they don't make mistakes down the road.  It is our job to do this.  Often we fail to educate and then become furious when our dog acts like a dog.  That is our failure, not theirs.   

When to start the training?

      I took this photo years ago.  An irresistibly adorable Havanese puppy in need of an education. 


"When should I start?" the woman asks me with an adorable bundle in her arms.  We started up a conversation while standing in line at the store.  She'd had her puppy for 4 weeks and he was a cutie for sure; what puppy isn't right?  She had gotten her puppy at the age of 12 weeks so that meant that he was now 16 weeks and she was just thinking about looking into training.  "Now, right away," was my response to her question.  Right now. 

Looking back at the beginning of my life with dogs; I cannot believe the change from then and now.  Back then there was no positive reinforcement training, no clickers, no treat training.  It was all done with extensive use of the yank and choke'm method of training.  Thankfully there is less of that now but with the fame of a television dog trainer; force training has reared it's ugly head once again.  It is sad when I see people following his guidance and even sadder to see evolution in dog training taking a step backwards.

Many people are just now venturing into the waters of life with dogs.  It is a good time to be coming in; at least there are choices where there were none before.  Of course maybe twenty years from now choke collar training will be a thing of the past and no one will consider throwing a chain around a dog's neck to educate them.   We can only hope.

Okay, back to when, when do you start all of this education?  Immediately, as soon as you get that little bundle in your hands, start.   I have taught 6 week old puppies to sit and down within a matter of minutes.  Those little brains are working on overtime at a very young age.  The longer you wait the harder it is to get started.  Learning to learn is the first step and when it is done very young; you set the ground work for a great learning future for your dog.  Teaching an adult dog who has never been taught anything can be a challenge.  Asking a dog to oblige you and perform some sort of task that is trained but completely out of the ordinary can raise flags.  This means a dog that has been taught but is never asked to do anything. 

During a photo shoot I will often ask if a dog can sit or stay.  As you all know I do not like posed images but sometimes I just need a dog to hover in a particular spot.  I don't want them to smile at the camera but just hold still for a moment.  I know the answer immediately by the owners hesitant response if that is doable or not.  Often I will forgo any sort of manipulation due to the dog's lack of education.  Asking a dog to do something that they are not familiar with or don't normally do can cause stress.  Stress does not make for good images.  The dog may have been taught how to sit or lay down but it is never, ever used so when we pull it out of nowhere, they grow suspicious. 

Educate your dog as soon as they join the family.  Now, right now.  The old school train of thought was to wait until 6 months.  I cannot even believe that 6 months use to be the age.  The reason behind that 6 months starting age was the puppy's ability to withstand neck yanks.  Just imagine.  I can't even, honestly.  It makes me shudder to think about it.  Puppies can learn pretty much as soon as they can walk; and when you are not using any physical force to teach, why not start then?

I often ask 7 week old puppies to do a sit for me during temperament testing. I like to see what sort of focus they have and their level of food motivation.  It always makes me smile when they plop that tiny rear on the ground within a split second.  Little smarties they are.   If you have a new puppy, get started.  Do not wait for bad behaviors to start.  It is much easier to teach good manners rather than try to undo bad ones and then teach the good. 

When you are looking for a dog trainer, go positive.  Any mention of a choke or prong collar, make a quick exit.  They may have lots of experience but negative experience in my mind means that they are stuck in the dark ages; no evolution going on there.   

What are you teaching?

It's going to be another scorcher today.  Thankfully I spent much of yesterday in San Diego where it was at least 8-10 degrees cooler.  Still hot but not scorching hot.  When it is as hot as it's going to be today we spend much of our time indoors.  We will head out nice and early before the searing heat hits for a bit of exercise but then we'll be in the AC.  Because today will be another "inside" day I've decided to teach Elsa to go through my legs.  She already knows how to go through; but it is sort of willy nilly style.  She runs through getting all excited but now I want to fine tune the act. 

The other day as I was putting both Luke and Elsa's harnesses on when I thought about the lesson.  Hmmmmmm, I'd like Elsa to come through my legs from the back and slip into her harness.  She already does the very cute and adorable 'latch on' exercise before we leave; which is much like a seeing eye dog does for their owner.  I go to the place where the open button for the garage door is;  she pushes under my hand until I grab her harness.  Then the button is pushed and we can leave, but not until then.  I love it, she is so cute pushing under my hand trying to get me to grab a hold of her harness. 

So now I'm going to teach her to go through my legs and into her harness.  Luke and Elsa both where the Easy Walk Harness by Premier.  This harness is perfect for the exercise because the action required to get it on is exactly what is needed.  She will have to come from behind me; go through my legs, putting her head into the harness.  From that point she will be asked to continue moving forward while I do it up under her chest. 

Elsa gets very silly and overly excited when we are learning new behaviors.  She wants to cut to the chase and get the treat.  Being treat motivated is wonderful for learning new stuff.  Dealing with her over zealous behavior takes calm and cool behavior on my part.  I need to create a black and white scenario, no gray tones for this girl.  If she is on the wrong path I will mark that with a vocal error marker and stop.  Then we start again.  (More detailed instructions on working with over enthusiasm on my website soon).

So while the sun is at it's fullest and the heat is on; we'll be working hard on learning a new behavior.  It doesn't matter what you teach your dog; any new behavior or exercise is a good one.  Many dogs who have never been given the chance to learn have a difficult time with the concept.  Once a dog understands the premise behind learning; they are typically on board for more.  What are you teaching today?